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Veterinary Practice News Editorial Blog:
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Speaking of Compassion Fatigue
By Katherine Dobbs, RVT, CVPM, PHR
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It’s been a busy week here in Orlando at NAVC, the largest veterinary conference in North America. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to present three “briefs” on compassion fatigue. Briefs are barely a glimpse into a topic, where the material is presented in 10-12 minutes, then allowing time for a few minutes of questions. This was my first time speaking on the national level about the topic of compassion fatigue, so I wondered what to expect.
My briefs that afternoon followed Dr. Ernest Ward, a highly energetic and entertaining speaker. When I entered the room for the shift change, so to speak, there was bouncy music playing and a packed room. I wasn’t surprised to see it clear out, but hoped that some folks would come back of course.
The audience for compassion fatigue was not large, but it turns out they were very dedicated. In the huge ballroom that easily sat over 1000 people, there were probably less than 200 when I began. Forty five minutes later, my presentation done (and barely scratching the surface of all the material out there…I can present this topic for 5-7 hours in fact), the listeners stayed, some asked questions, we learned from each other, and still…they stayed. It was a smaller group by now, but they remained in their seats (and this at the end of a very busy day of CE), and stayed. It seemed that they wanted more. Perhaps they were profoundly affected by the information, and simply needed time to digest it all. But it was an interesting moment for me to realize how hungry they were for information. I suspect there are a lot of veterinary professionals out there just as hungry, and I appreciate the fact that several state VMA’s and 2010-11 conferences are accepting my abstracts to present compassion fatigue to every type of veterinary professional.
We talked about how to acknowledge an animal’s passing, particularly in a busy practice when we often have to move from a pet that we have lost, to a pet that is new to our practice. We move from a very sad and often heartbreaking situation, find that smile in our pocket to put back onto our face, and enter the next exam room happy and ready to greet a new family we will care for…for many years, we hope.
One of the participants here at NAVC asked how we should acknowledge a pet’s passing, because simply becoming aware of the profound emotional effect of our care giving jobs will help minimize compassion fatigue. Another participant, and forgive me for not knowing her name, offered a wonderful tip that I wanted to pass along: when the animal has expired, those who have cared for him or her gather around and lay a hand on the animal together…a simple and quick gesture that for that one moment, connects us as care givers to that special animal that we cared for, and connects us to each other as we share this common bond. What a truly special way to pause and remember the gift we are given as care givers for the animals to whom we devote our lives.
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