It's Time To Beat Burnout In Vet Med
My experience as a recovered burnt out veterinarian and certified health + life coach have given me a unique perspective about WHY the vet profession is struggling and how to create positive change today. This cannot be our norm, and it doesn't have to be. Change starts here. ❤️
Veterinary practice owners, what if this is true about your employee?
Your vet who has a devoted client base, always shows up on time, and is easy, agreeable, and always has a smile on her face is secretly miserable and looking for a new job. 😬
From your perspective, she’s totally satisfied! She’s stressed sometimes, but everyone is, right? She’s never told you she’s unhappy and you even just rewarded her with a nice bonus.
What you don’t see: on the inside she’s anxious, suffering from imposter syndrome, and so exhausted she feels like she has no life outside of work. She complains to her partner about her job every night.
She hasn’t told you because she’s convinced things will never change. Also, she’s convinced herself that what she really wants is unreasonable or you’ll think it’s “too much”. She has negotiated herself down from asking for what would make her feel valued and fulfilled at your hospital, so she’s looking elsewhere. It’s just easier to find a new job than to have an uncomfortable conversation she “knows” won’t go well.
This is the reality for a lot of vets.
Did you know the estimated cost of losing a veterinary technician is $59,000 and $104,000 for a veterinarian?
The cost of having a drama-free, thriving team? Priceless. ✨
How are you helping your team to feel safe, supported, and valued every day?
Here’s the thing: when your employees are empowered with the skills to instantly decrease stress, support their energy, and clearly communicate what they need to feel supported in their job, it’s a game changer for both of you.
Your amazing employee doesn't WANT to have to leave their job. They want to leave the feeling of being stressed, under appreciated, and stuck (because they want things to be different but haven't asked for it or don’t feel heard).
One in every 3 veterinarians and half of veterinary technicians are classified as having high burnout. Another quarter have "moderate" burnout! 😮 That means there's a very high chance someone at your hospital is silently feeling this way.
Bonuses and intermittent free meals or activities are nice, but they don’t impact how your staff feels every day. Investing in and prioritizing the well-being of your employees is the very best thing you can do if you want a thriving practice.
The unspoken messages through your actions speak the loudest. Have you created a safe work environment where your employees feel seen, heard, respected and valued?
- How do you respond to rude clients?
- How often are basic necessities treated like luxuries?
- How are you supporting your team's energy and culture every single day?
- Are you self-sacrificing and exhausted trying to take care of your overwhelmed hospital and team?
- What unspoken messages are you sending to your team every day?
If you want to thrive as a hospital, these are the fundamental questions you need to be asking. When your team feels safe and supported, the health, happiness and success of your hospital will flourish.
Do any of these signs of an unsafe workplace sound familiar?
- Tolerating verbal abuse from clients because of fear of losing a client
- Saying “yes” to more appointments even when fully booked because you want to help every animal and don’t want upset clients
- Multiple employees restraining a stressed patient because there “isn’t time” for fear-free techniques
- A culture where staff come into work even when sick and where asking for time off is treated like a burden because you're overwhelmed too
- Overextending yourself and staff with the belief that "things will get better" as soon as you find more help
What if learning effective anti-anxiety tools meant your employee was able to brush off and learn from difficult clients and tough cases instead of staring at the ceiling stressing over everything throughout the night and dreading going back to work the next morning?
What if she realized and expressed to you that one less surgery day per week and not being pressured to fit in another walk-in when she was already fully booked would dramatically impact her happiness at work and make her feel supported (and it turns out another employee would LOVE another surgery day)?
Instead of starting the morning exhausted and dreading another stressful day, she’d go to work feeling energized, valued, and resilient. Imagine how that would change interactions with clients and patients. The revenue she generates would increase because she has the time to educate clients in the way that she loves.
Imagine if that was the reality with every single member of your team. Imagine how that would impact the entire culture if everyone knew how to support their energy and they genuinely wanted to be at work. Imagine if you felt like you could take a deep breath and know your hospital was thriving and free of drama. Imagine if you had the confidence that your hospital was thriving AND you had a life outside of work.
That’s totally possible for you!
Here are ways to ditch the drama and to create a culture where your team is excited to go to work:
Create a safe and supportive environment where your team feels empowered and valued with these free Beat The Burnout talks:
"Anti-Anxiety Tools That Actually Work"
"No More Bullies: Overcoming Toxic Clients And The Negative Thoughts Weighing You Down"
Read the article “Flourishing in Veterinary Medicine and Beyond” to start leading by example.
Make the best possible investment in the health, happiness, and success of your practice by offering my programs as a benefit to all of your employees (group discounts available).
Schedule a complimentary consult to discuss your specific challenges and goals. We'll come up with a plan for how you can support the well-being of you and your hospital that feels like a huge weight lifted off your shoulders.
Here’s what one burnt out client had to say after the first month working together:
“In the first month of working with Amelia, I have noticed drastic changes in my life, body, and mental health. Prior to working with Amelia, I was burnt out, stressed veterinarian who would indulge in foods not healthy for me because I felt like I didn’t have time to cook healthy food. I’ve learned how to look at food labels and determine what foods would agree with my body the best. I’ve learned a bunch of new healthy recipes that I love and am no longer craving unhealthy tater tot’s or ice cream!
Before looking at my work schedule and appointments days before would give me anxiety, affect my home and sleep life if there was a difficult surgery on my schedule. I’ve now learned various calming techniques that I use on a daily basis to keep my stress at bay. I look forward going to work again and being able to take on the day with a new mindset that does not bring negativity. My fiancé has even noticed my new mindset and seen how much my stress and anxiety has decreased since starting the Life Boost program!”
All aspects of our life impact our health and our health impacts all aspects of our life. They are all connected.
As a burnt out vet, I was suffering from exhaustion, brain fog, and uncomfortable GI signs that distracted me from my work. Many vet professionals are silently living with physical discomfort like severe GI signs, frequent headaches/migraines, and low energy. Think about how often you hear members of your team complaining about another headache or the employee who calls out last minute because they're sick again! My programs provide the support and guidance so that they feel their best inside and out.
Learn More About My Approach Here
Schedule a call to discuss offering my programs as a benefit to you and your employees.
Here's what one veterinarian had to say about our time together:
"Amelia and I were able to have deep conversations to get to the root of why I was so stressed. I realized through talking to her that I have “people pleasing” tendencies and I would never say “no” at work even if it meant that I was being either overworked or was uncomfortable with situations. We also learned that my sleeping habits were getting disrupted by having my dogs in the bed, once they were no longer sleeping with me and sleep improved greatly which also improved my stress levels cause I wasn’t so tired!
Amelia has helped me so much pay attention to my body. I started picking up trends that I didn’t notice before, it made me go see a doctor and I found out that I had Celiac’s disease. Without Amelia’s help I don’t know if I ever would have gone out of my way to get my health checked out because prior I was always “too busy” and made excuses to not go to a doctor."
As a multi-passionate recovered burnt out vet, integrative health and life coach, change worker, hypnotist, and entrepreneur, I have a unique perspective about how the brain and body work and how to create sustainable change.
I have experience in general practice, urgent care, and relief work. Being a relief veterinarian has given me the opportunity to work in a huge variety of environments including corporate, privately owned, mobile, high and low income, and both toxic and thriving cultures.
My experience has given me an amazing opportunity to observe different approaches and styles to see what works and what doesn’t.
I take that expertise into my coaching to help veterinarians and hospitals thrive, and I’m using it to change the norm in the veterinary profession.
Learn More About Who I Am Here
Learn More About How I'm Helping To Beat Burnout In The Vet Profession Here
Here's what my clients had to say when asked "How does my program compare to others you’ve tried in the past?":
“It’s hard to compare because this program is so different. I’ve worked with therapists, nutritionists, doctors; no one ever focused on you as a WHOLE, as a body, mind and heart. And that was exactly what I needed.” - Sara (veterinarian)
"Everything else I have tried only lasted a few months/weeks. I would hop off the “bandwagon” and be back where I started." -Katie (veterinarian)
Here's what another client had to say about our time together:
“I happened to see a blog written by Amelia (shared by AAHA or AVMA?), and remembered her shadowing at the hospital I started working at after vet school - such a small world! I read the post, started exploring some of her other blog posts, her website, social media posts, etc — I was feeling burnt out as a vet through COVID, had been through so many medical challenges, food sensitivities, divorce, etc. I decided to reach out to her, I was so proud of all she was doing relating to vet well-being, burn out, self care, building an enjoyable, sustainable, healthy lifestyle. And I needed help. I started with her Life Boost Jump Start program - which was SO helpful, and decided to continue working with her 1-on-1. It was life changing. I honestly wish I could keep her as a coach lifelong! I wasn’t sure at first how coaching would go, I had worked with nutritionists and therapists previously, but Amelia is different. She focuses on everything - diet, mindset, boundaries, stress- and she understands the specific stressors of being a veterinarian, which is SO helpful. She is truly an incredible human, so warm, kind, intelligent, and incredibly talented. I’m so glad to have reconnected with her <3”