As a caregiver you are rewarded in your field in special ways. The ability to heal and help is virtuous and important. You dedicate your life to this work knowing that the magnitude of your efforts and the outcomes are genuinely rewarding at the most satisfying level. But you also know that it can come with great internal costs – vulnerability, occasional helplessness and that there will inevitably be a small number of failures, even if they are often out of your control. So, if you are finding that your days are not as sparkly as they once were, that kittens don’t make you smile quite as often or that a senior dog still vigorously wagging their tail doesn’t make you feel as warm inside as it once used to, you may well have Compassion Fatigue, the emotional and physical exhaustion that often leads to a diminished sense of satisfaction in both work and life generally.
Exploring these suggestions may help you return to being vigorously passionate about your profession…

Setting boundaries means being honest about what you can and cannot handle right now…and often that is a daunting admission…an admission that we are indeed human, have our limitations and need to be constantly balancing and rebalancing work, life and play. So, perhaps if we all learned how to set better boundaries, we could foster more mutual respect and compassion, rather than resentment and anger, and we might just be on the right path to improving the overall mental health of the veterinary profession. Here are some key steps towards setting mutually beneficial boundaries…

Most veterinary practices are small to medium businesses that don’t run with much spare capacity. This means that things can feel pretty tight when you have a staff member away on annual leave or due to sickness! That’s where locum relief staff comes in. But how do you go about finding the right locum relief veterinary professional – be that vet, nurse, or tech?

Like Liam Neeson in Taken, you have a very particular set of skills, acquired over your career, but unlike Liam, your skills make you a joy for employers and recruiters. But when they look for you on LinkedIn, as 77 percent of recruiters and employers do, you want them to find you and be impressed enough to reach out and connect. And when they do find you (and they will if you follow this advice), they will employ you…possibly not on-the-spot, but if you apply these tips, you will be well on the way to your initial interview…

So, unless you have been hiding under a warming blanket for the last few years, you know that your services as a Veterinary Professional are in high demand*, perhaps even more so with the recent pandemic, and that demand is only going to increase over the coming few years*…but before you head out for an innocent coffee with that recruitment consultant who has been so persuasively persistent of late, the best way to start is to have “that chat” with your current boss first…and here are the seven steps you need to create a mutually beneficial outcome…

Here are a few of the many reasons veterinarians say practice ownership is not for them – I want work-life balance, I have a lot of student debt, I do not know how to run a business – sounds familiar? However, with recent advances in business processes, structuring, and technology, practice ownership is not only possible, it’s worthy of serious consideration. Here are some valuable insights for you to consider…

So, you’ve worked hard to pass all of your exams and obtain certifications to become a qualified Veterinarian, Veterinary Nurse or Veterinary Technician and you have just started in your very first job. Congratulations! But your first year as a brand new veterinary professional can be a bit like a roller coaster with many ups and downs, and with a global pandemic added to the mix, it all can seem a little intimidating at first. You may be feeling too overwhelmed to be planning what your next steps should be, but thankfully there are many kind and helpful fellow industry professionals and remarkable resources that you can call on to ease you through the transition. It’s time to remember all of the reasons why you chose this amazing career path and to get ready to kick start your veterinary career! You know you can, and will, succeed. And to assist you on your journey, here are a few essential early veterinary career tips that we sourced from Veterinary Professionals who have “been there, done that” and thrived…

Nobody really saw it coming…a pandemic…there were rumblings and mentions but it’s a shock to anyone’s system when it really happens…but now that we are beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel, opportunity lies ahead and there is room for optimism…they say “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”…If you think, “well, I made my bed, so I guess now I have to lie in it,” think again – this pandemic, as awful as it is, brings with it the prospect of diversification and new veterinary career opportunities in a post-COVID-19 world. If you’re willing to research and explore new horizons with an open mind (which could be quite an adventure in its own right), you’ll find a host of interesting (and in some cases surprising) veterinary career specialties that you may not have considered that may reinvigorate your veterinary career as things begin to return to some modicum of normal, including these…