It is not new news, the economy is affecting veterinary medicine. We may not be considered recession “proof” any longer, even though we appear to be more recession “resilient” than a lot of industries. But still, we are getting hit…not as many pet owners can or will pay for our services, particularly in the event of an unexpected crisis with their furry family member? How does this affect compassion fatigue? Picture this…
An emergency practice, highly capable of helping pets through extreme illness or injury, isn’t given that opportunity to save their patients as often as before. The effect on the veterinary technicians and indeed the entire team is obvious…they are in this profession to save animals, and they are less often given that chance now.
How does it feel to have owners selecting euthanasia, instead of giving this team the opportunity to perform their life-saving techniques and treatments? Awful, frankly speaking. The team is seeing more loss, more grieving families, more dead ends than ever before.
All this at a time when although there is help for compassion fatigue, the practice may hesitate to bring that help in to support the team. It’s a double-edged sword, to say the least. There ARE methods to help the team recognize and become resilient to compassion fatigue, but the practice has to realize the advantage of this help. It could be the difference between life and death…of your team, not just your patients.
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