A qualitative study exploring the perceived effects of veterinarians' mental health on provision of care

Campbell, Megan; Hagen, Briana N. M.; Gohar, Basem; Wichtel, Jeffrey; Jones‐Bitton, Andria

doi:10.3389/fvets.2023.1064932

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…We were surprised that even more responses did not include the experience of the animal given our survey topic and could demonstrate challenges faced by veterinary professionals. Research suggests veterinarians face burnout ( 52 ), poor mental health ( 52 , 63 , 64 ) which impact their perceived ability to provide medical care ( 65 ) and meet the needs of their clients ( 66 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived role of the veterinarian in promoting dairy cattle welfare

Brunt,

Haley,

LeBlanc

et al. 2023

Front. Vet. Sci.

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Improving the lives of animals in agricultural systems has primarily focused on minimizing negative experiences. Research is needed on the promotion of positive experiences (pleasure, enjoyment, play, choice, happiness) for animals and the role of veterinarians in their promotion. Our aims were to describe how Canadian bovine veterinarians and veterinary students perceive the role of a veterinarian in positive vs. negative experiences for dairy cows and to analyze the rationale provided to explain their answers. Canadian veterinary practitioners (n = 78) and veterinary students (n = 148) responded to an online cross-sectional survey and were asked, on a 7-point scale, how important the role of a veterinarian is to promote practices that influence the experience of dairy cows. We used qualitative description to analyse participants’ open-ended text responses. Practices to minimize negative experiences were most important (mean ± SE; 6.8 ± 0.03), a balance of positive and negative experiences was less important (6.4 ± 0.05), and encouragement of positive experiences scored lowest (6.0 ± 0.06), although all scored highly. Four themes were identified to explain participants’ reasoning regarding their perceived role of a veterinarian in the promotion of dairy cattle welfare, centered on: the animal, the producer, the veterinarian, and society. Participants indicated that promoting positive experiences was less important than decreasing negative experiences (5.9 ± 0.09). There were four themes identified to explain participants’ reasoning regarding the relative importance of promotion of positive experiences versus decreasing negative experiences which centered on: frameworks to compare positive and negative experiences, impacts on the animal, the participant’s view of their role, and the practicality of implementation. These results indicate modest differences in valuing avoidance of negative vs. promotion of positive welfare. There were no differences in the quantitative analyses between veterinarians and veterinary students. We conclude that veterinarians are favorably disposed to positive aspects of welfare for dairy cows but may be more focussed on avoidance of negative aspects of welfare.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived role of the veterinarian in promoting dairy cattle welfare

Brunt,

Haley,

LeBlanc

et al. 2023

Front. Vet. Sci.

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“…We hypothesized that the vast majority of problems facing small animal clinics in Western veterinary practice today are due to the inability of veterinary science to accommodate the nuances of the aforementioned paradigm shift to postspeciesism. Although a commendable number of coping mechanisms have been developed in addition to the existing knowledge of practicing veterinarians (13)(14)(15)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40), this is still inadequate, and the reason for the inadequacy is precisely qualitative. Not only are animals assigned additional functions to the preexisting ones, but their functions, status, and value have changed radically over the past 30 years.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this study, we aimed to explain the main causes of work-related stress previously reported in veterinary medicine (7-9, 13, 14) using the speciesism/postspeciesism distinction and to apply anthropological knowledge to recommend ways to reduce and/or mitigate the adverse effects of the work environment on clinicians and their work performance (10,32).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An anthropologist’s voice in a veterinarian’s noise: gearing up for new cultural realities

Šterk

Brložnik

2023

Front. Vet. Sci.

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Over the past three decades, the veterinary profession has faced a cultural shift towards postspeciesism that requires a reassessment of the foundations of the existing distinctions between human and non-human animals proclaimed by the speciesism paradigm, which represents institutionalized discrimination against species and recognizes only the subjectivity of humans. Based on ethnographic observations in anthropological fieldwork and using speciesism/postspeciesism distinction, we aimed to explain the main causes of small animal practitioners’ work-related stress and apply humanistic knowledge to recommend ways to alleviate the negative effects of the work environment. The explanatory model of disease, illness, and sickness, the example of the concept of family, and the circumstances of the feminization of the veterinary profession are discussed to illustrate the divergence between speciesist naturalistic veterinary knowledge and the postspeciesist cultural framework and its consequences. By failing to accommodate the changing values towards animals and by failing to challenge the anthropocentric hierarchy of values, the speciesist rationale of the veterinary profession contributes to many of the problems faced by practicing veterinarians. The incorporation of a modern moral-philosophical mindset towards animals may not even be possible because veterinary science is subject to a paradigm that is irreversibly tied to institutional discrimination against species and defies reflection on veterinary science itself. However, the veterinary profession has a privileged position in establishing an alternative ontological thinking and an alternative conception of “animal life.” Anthropological knowledge was applied to anticipate further intervention of social and cultural sciences in the problems of small animal practitioners. Rather than further diversifying and increasing expectations towards veterinarians by expecting them to acquire additional skills, we propose another practitioner who can support, mediate, and enhance veterinary performance – the cultural anthropologist. With their deep knowledge of cultural differences and social dynamics, they can collaborate with veterinarians to act as a liaison between cultures, paradigms, and species.

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Burnout and mental health among veterinarians: The role of self‐compassion and associated risk factors

Hernández‐Esteve,

Zumbado,

Henríquez‐Hernández

2024

Veterinary Record

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BackgroundVeterinarians represent a population at risk for burnout. The influence of self‐compassion on the development and consequences of burnout remains poorly understood.MethodsA validated 30‐item survey was disseminated to registered members of the College of Veterinarians of Las Palmas (Spain) via Google Survey between October and December 2023 to assess levels of burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory—general survey) and self‐compassion (self‐compassion scale) and explore the prevalence of anxiety, depression and benzodiazepine use.ResultsA total of 141 responses were received. Respondents exhibited high levels of exhaustion and cynicism. Older veterinarians exhibited lower cynicism, while those with 1‒10 years of experience reported higher exhaustion. Veterinarians with more than 10 years in their current role demonstrated increased efficacy. Females showed a lower likelihood of self‐compassion. Exhaustion and cynicism were negatively correlated with self‐compassion. A total of 19.8% of the respondents reported being diagnosed with anxiety/depression, and 19.1% took benzodiazepines, half of them without a prescription.LimitationsThis cross‐sectional study provides a snapshot of the situation at a single point in time and may be susceptible to response bias, such as the healthy worker effect.ConclusionThese findings underscore the urgent need for interventions to address the complex interplay of burnout, self‐compassion, mental health and demographic factors within the veterinary profession.

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A qualitative study exploring the perceived effects of veterinarians' mental health on provision of care

Cited by 9 publications

References 72 publications

Perceived role of the veterinarian in promoting dairy cattle welfare

Perceived role of the veterinarian in promoting dairy cattle welfare

An anthropologist’s voice in a veterinarian’s noise: gearing up for new cultural realities

Burnout and mental health among veterinarians: The role of self‐compassion and associated risk factors

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