Practice Management

Professional development is an essential part of the successful veterinary practice. While credentialed technicians and veterinarians are required to maintain a certain number of training hours annually to keep their license, all team members can benefit from professional development. In a 2016 survey on practice culture, the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) found that supporting …

Roughly 1 in 5 veterinarians surveyed by the AVMA reported that they had themselves been victims or knew colleagues who had been victims of cyberbullying. In this electronic age, it’s all too easy to be targeted by this type of attack, but it’s not as easy to know what to do to protect against, prevent, and fight back against a cyberbully. “Enough is enough,” writes Editor-in-Chief Simon Platt.

Veterinary support staff are essential for a successful client experience and exceptional patient care. These valued team members hold many roles including client service representatives, kennel staff, veterinary assistants, and certified veterinary technicians or veterinary nurses. Despite their critical role in practice success, many team members feel undercompensated, underappreciated, and overworked. These feelings can contribute to high employee turnover rates, which impact overall morale of the team and the clinic’s bottom line. There are many factors that play a role in employee turnover. Some of the top challenges faced by technicians include low pay, lack of recognition, underutilization, and burnout. While all team
members should be appropriately compensated for their work, there are many ways beyond a higher paycheck that veterinary clinics can improve employee retention.

Mental and emotional health is becoming less taboo in the veterinary world as compassion fatigue, cyberbullying, and more escalate. Banfield is realizing the importance of transparency and assistance.

A healthy workplace contributes greatly to a veterinary professional’s personal wellbeing and productivity. Read more about how to prevent a toxic workplace.

We value members on the veterinary team who are passionate about their life’s work, but is it possible to create a workplace environment where the staff can devote themselves to their jobs at a very high level, and still have the energy and time to devote to the other, very important part of that equation—their lives outside of work?

Banfield is invested in supporting credentialed veterinary technicians. In addition to increasing hourly pay and continuing education funding for all our veterinary technicians in 2018, Banfield is supporting the Veterinary Nurse Initiative.

From the Field shares insights from Banfield Pet Hospital veterinary team members. Drawing from the nationwide practice’s extensive research, as well as findings from its electronic veterinary medical records database and more than 8 million annual pet visits, this column is intended to explore topics and spark conversations relevant to veterinary practices that ultimately help …

Creating a highly effective team can change everything about how we practice veterinary medicine and experience fulfillment in our careers. effective team as maximizing profit and providing exceptional patient care. Establishing a place for open communication, practicing and promoting nonjudgment, and providing tools to cultivate wellbeing provide us with a framework to build a great team!