The practice of mindfulness meditation has been shown to reduce burnout, enhance self-care, decrease mistakes, and improve focus among healthcare providers. When practiced routinely, mindfulness also has mental and physical health benefits including reduced depression and anxiety, enhanced energy, and improved cardiovascular health. This 20-minute mindfulness meditation session is brought to you by Thrive! and guided by Marie Holowaychuk, DVM, Dipl. ACVECC, CYT. Listen to Dr. Marie’s voice as...

The holiday season is a stressful time of year for many of us due to family obligations, financial concerns, and other commitments. More than one third of individuals surveyed report an increase in stress levels this time of year, which makes taking steps to preserve our mental and physical health that much more important.

Approximately 1 in 3 Canadians will experience insomnia as an adult with difficulties falling asleep or staying asleep to feel sufficiently rested. While there are many medical reasons for insomnia that would benefit from a physician’s advice (e.g., sleep apnea, gastroesophageal reflux), most individuals who experience insomnia do so because of stress or worry.

World Mental Health Day is on October 10th and is a reminder of the importance of preventing mental health stigma. Individuals with mental health stigma are less likely to seek support and more likely to resist treatment for mental illness. Some steps can be taken to mitigate mental health stigma among individuals and veterinary teams.

Healthy boundaries are prudent to preserving relationships, coping with stress, and preventing burnout. Setting boundaries can feel uncomfortable and intimidating for veterinary professionals who are often people pleasers used to prioritizing others’ needs before their own.

Veterinary professionals often take work home by completing medical records on the couch, talking about the day’s events with a partner, or ruminating on a case while lying in bed. These activities can impede a sense of work-life separation, resulting in compassion fatigue or burnout.

Disagreements between co-workers are inevitable due to differences in knowledge, experience, and opinion. When co-workers experience conflict over how to manage a case or which applicant to hire, avoiding the argument or ignoring the issue can erode morale and create toxicity.

Mindfulness is a mental state attained by focusing on the present and acknowledging and accepting any thoughts, feelings, or bodily sensations that come up without judgment or reactivity. Research demonstrates a wide array of physical and mental health benefits when practising mindfulness, which can be done using breathing exercises, meditation, body scans, or other grounding techniques.

Mistakes are inevitable in veterinary practice, because we are human. Sometimes mistakes are made that do not reach the patient (near-miss) or they reach the patient but do not cause harm (harmless hit). Other times an error causes harm to the patient resulting in an adverse event. Test your knowledge regarding the impact of adverse events on the well-being of veterinarians.