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Veterinary Practice News Editorial Blog:
Friday, September 25, 2009
The Moment I Knew
By Katherine Dobbs, RVT, CVPM, PHR
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This past week, I gave presentations on Compassion Fatigue to a team that is like ours in veterinary medicine, only different. The only difference is that their patients do not have fur; the audience was the staff of an assisted living and nursing home complex in a nearby town. I began by explaining how we have something in common: when I worked in an internal medicine specialty practice, some of my patients were recovering from a sudden illness or injury, others we were helping to manage a chronic disease or condition, and still others spent their last days in our care. They could relate, since their “residents” (what we call patients) experience the same variety of care in their various facilities.
Then I explained how burnout is a matter of WHERE you work, and accumulates over time. If you leave that place of employment, you will leave behind burnout (if you choose your next employer well). However, Compassion Fatigue can hit you like a train, all of a sudden, and you cannot walk away from it…it will follow you. Then I described how the moment I knew I had compassion fatigue was when I said goodbye to Queenie. I came to know Queenie and her Mom very well over the years we helped them monitor Queenie’s immune-mediated thrombocytopenia. Then Queenie was afflicted with severe pancreatitis. The treatment for one complicated the other, and for two weeks Queenie put up a brave fight. Finally, it was time to say goodbye.
As the family gathered in the room to say goodbye, I entered. Without hesitation, I flung myself into Queenie’s mom’s arms sobbing. I’m not sure which one of us was more surprised, since this was not my typical reaction…I had said goodbye to so many families and patients over the years. Then I simply said to her, “I will never see you again.” It was not a question, but a statement, and I knew it was true. She patted my back and promised to visit, but I had heard that before from special clients. Sure enough, I never saw her again.
Years later, I left that practice, and it has been even many more years since that moment. Yet I still carry the memory of Queenie and her family, and all the hundreds of families I knew and lost during those years. When I started my presentations this past week, the audience was asked how many had heard of compassion fatigue before that day. Only a few raised their hands. That was surprising to me, since compassion fatigue seems to be a common topic discussed in nursing. So it should not be surprising that we in veterinary medicine know so very little about this “cost of caring.” Compassion fatigue is a very real reality that we as veterinary professionals must learn to cope with if we are to remain in the profession of caring.
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