Enhancing the wellbeing of veterinarians

The issue of veterinary wellbeing is raised in an illuminating article written by Moir and Van den Bink (2020) and published in this issue of the New Zealand Veterinary Journal. These authors outline the types of psychological distress that can be experienced by veterinary practitioners and then highlight some of the possible causes of this compromised mental health. Methods available to optimise wellbeing are explored and this paper is insightful for acknowledging the multiple levels of responsibility for improving veterinary wellbeing. The responsibility for wellbeing has traditionally rested on the individual, including the use of peer-support groups, counselling services and the practice of mindfulness and self-compassion, but the authors insist that organisations, including veterinary employers and governing bodies, must also assume some responsibility for this. The article directs us to research on factors affecting medical clinicians’ wellbeing, conducted by Brigham et al. (2018), which show that it is organisational factors such as the work environment, levels of workload and degree of autonomy that impact well-being. Brigham et al. (2018) state that

Focusing on the individual suggests that burnout arises as individuals are unable to adapt to the learning and practice environment; focusing on the organization suggests that it is the environment that should adapt to promote quality of care and clinician well-being.

The Veterinary Council of New Zealand’s (VCNZ) Code of Professional Conduct (CPC) stipulates the need for veterinarians to ensure that veterinary colleagues within the practice are appropriately supervised and supported at all times, particularly those who are newly registered or inexperienced (Anonymous 2017). In light of the above research, perhaps the VCNZ (or the New Zealand Veterinary Association) need to provide clear guidelines to assist employers to create working environments that promote optimal mental wellbeing amongst their veterinary employees. Brigham et al. (2018) derived a conceptual model that considered external factors that affect clinician wellbeing and resilience. These factors included the levels of bureaucracy, diversity, harassment, discrimination, compensation, workplace safety and mentorship in the work place. These factors could serve as a starting point for the development of these wellbeing guidelines for veterinary employers to implement. These guidelines could also incorporate findings from research conducted by Shanafelt and Noseworthy (2017) on organisational strategies to promote work engagement and minimise burnout amongst physicians. These strategies include cultivating a community at work through the celebration of staff achievements and through the support of individual staff members during challenging experiences. The provision of work flexibility and work-life integration are also identified as having a profound positive effect on wellbeing, especially as today most practitioners are juggling their careers with family and community commitments (Shanafelt and Noseworthy 2017).

The veterinary profession in New Zealand is, however, awash with stories about new veterinary graduates entering stressful working environments with demands placed on them that are beyond their personal and professional capabilities. This includes expectations to commit to long working hours. The Code of Professional Conduct prescribes that veterinarians must act to remedy situations where they have cause to suspect unreasonable or unnecessary suffering in animals (Anonymous 2017). Could that code not include more prescribed instructions for veterinary employers, guided by the recommendations of Brigham et al. (2018) and Shanafelt and Noseworthy (2017), to help minimise unnecessary suffering in their veterinary employees?

The role that veterinary education institutes play in the improvement of wellbeing needs to also be considered. Moir and Van den Bink (2020) address this in their article, describing how wellbeing can be improved by targeting the admission process into veterinary school as well as by developing wellbeing curricula that focus on increasing resilience. They describe the veterinary science undergraduate curriculum at Massey University in New Zealand, which incorporates training in stress management, recognising and minimising compassion fatigue and burnout, personal grief and vicarious grief management, promoting self-esteem, building resilience and practising mindfulness. At any tertiary veterinary training institute it is imperative that this instruction is not embedded into the curriculum as isolated modules, but should instead be integrated longitudinally throughout the curriculum (Mossop and Cobb 2013). Wellbeing training should, therefore, be integrated into the fabric of the curriculum. Goldie (2008) proposed that the outcomes of this training should include recognising personal and professional limitations, adapting to continuously changing circumstances throughout a veterinary career, working effectively with colleagues and demonstrating effective team work, communicating effectively with clients, colleagues and agencies and engaging in personal development by demonstrating self-awareness, self-regulation, self-care and self-confidence. In order to fully achieve this, Mossop and Cobb (2013) recommended that psychologists, bioethicists and sociologists should be conscripted to assist in the delivery of wellbeing instruction, in addition to the traditional veterinary school academic and clinical instructors.

While the article by Moir and Van den Bink (2020) contributes further to the burgeoning body of literature on veterinary wellbeing, it is particularly refreshing for providing information on effective interventions to enhance the wellbeing of veterinary practitioners. As the authors conclude, however, governing veterinary bodies must assume responsibility for providing frameworks to guide veterinary employers to provide comprehensive wellbeing strategies that allow veterinary practitioners to thrive at work.