The last 18 months has been incredibly tough. Nobody out there in veterinary land is going to dispute that statement. We, like most of you, have been busy doing the work and we haven’t got to writing about the work. But this post has been brewing for a while. Because as we do the work, […]
You join a Reflective Practice group utilising the Balint framework – that’s how! We know that we have problems in our profession. Here is an intervention aimed at those difficult interactions, the emotional burden we carry and the ethical dilemmas we navigate. Cathy is collaborating with Renske van den Brink and Prue Bonifant from NZ […]
Are you tired of putting out the fires? Would you prefer to invest in your or the teams well-being and avoid a lot of angst, time, expense, grey hair and fire-fighting? This research has been swirling around us for some time and now it is all captured into a short document specifying the reasons why […]
“If you want a thing done well, do it yourself” There is definitely some truth to this idea, commonly attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte. Only you truly know exactly what you want done, the pitfalls to avoid and the most efficient way for you to complete the job. And you also know how just how annoying […]
First of all – CONGRATULATIONS! Your hard work and dedication over many years has led you to this point – the culmination of what for many of us, was a childhood dream – to be able to help animals and improve their quality of life. You will have forged deep connections with your peers and […]
What??? Have we at Make Headway gone mad? Maybe, but the above equation is definitely true. Having an employee assistance program (EAP) available and sending a team member on a Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) course will NOT make a mentally healthy workplace (MHW). Don’t get me wrong, these are amazing initiatives and will definitely […]
Maybe I am a morbid voyeur? Maybe I am simply weird? I don’t know somebody that is sick that is likely to die soon. Nor am I in the age group where friends are regularly popping their clogs. And no – this is not a recent thing. Reading the death notices has been a regular […]
Compassion fatigue is a term that is often mentioned in conjunction with stress and burnout in the Veterinary world. It is defined as the combination of the emotional, physical, psychological, and spiritual exhaustion that can result when veterinary staff are repeatedly exposed to another’s pain and suffering. It suggests that caregivers are tired of feeling too […]
There is plenty of noise in the wider world around the way that KPI’s have driven staff behavior – but not in the way that the companies involved were probably envisaging! The stories that hit the news head-lines are the ones where the focus on particular KPIs has driven unethical behavior harming reputations and/or company […]