That sounds like a top-of-the-list differential diagnosis for the burnout that ails our profession. According to the Job Demand-Control Model (JDCM), workers in high demand jobs who lack autonomy over their work environments are at extreme risk for prolonged work stress. This is the definition of a high demand job. Karasek named these tendencies the Job Demand-Control Model.Įvery job position in a veterinary clinic requires maximal effort from each team member to provide safe, consistent, and compassionate care to patients whose lives are on the line. In contrast, workers in low demand jobs with rigid work parameters became passive and bored, while workers in high demand jobs given no opportunity to influence their work space were prone to psychological strain and physical illness. In 1979, sociologist Robert Karasek observed that workers, regardless of how demanding their jobs were, experienced improved mental and physical health when given increased control over their work environments. Modern veterinary professionals do not feel they can control their own destinies. What do all of these explanations have in common? Work overload due to unprecedented patient demand.Frustration over effective treatments that clients cannot afford.Compassion fatigue in the face of constant exposure to suffering.Student debt outstripping the rate of projected salary increases.Industry articles propose a variety of causes: What is it about modern-day veterinary medicine in particular that is leading to so much burnout in our colleagues? Where compassion fatigue produces a sopping wet mess, burnout results in a crispy, bone-dry cloth that can no longer bend to fulfill its original purpose. To speak metaphorically, if each contact with suffering is a spritz of water on a cloth, the compassion-fatigued worker is a water-logged towel that cannot hold another drop of moisture.īurnout, in contrast, is defined as severe physical and emotional depletion due to prolonged work stress. First, we must understand some terms.Ĭompassion fatigue is the emotional burden felt when caring for those who are suffering. Thankfully, more literature is coming out now to unravel why burnout has become so prominent in the veterinary realm as well. Burnout has been studied extensively in human medicine for more than a decade. We’ve all been touched by the reality of veterinary burnout in our work lives.
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