Autumn is here again—a time for change, a time for renewal. The veterinary profession continues to be pushed to the limits with an increased number of patients, pet owner demands, and changing hospital protocols instituted in an attempt to keep up with the change. At times it seems overwhelming and even daunting.
Let’s embrace the season. Let’s renew our love for our profession and, most importantly, ourselves. Autumn is the time of year to find contentment at home by paying attention to what we already have. If we work together as a true veterinary team, we learn one another’s strengths, we see one another’s passion, we develop and encourage our teammates. Veterinarians: Please see your veterinary nurses/technicians for what they truly bring to the practice, to the patient, to the pet owner, and to you. Leverage us and utilize our knowledge and skills. My veterinary nurse/technician colleagues: Work with your hospital team and show them the value of a skilled, knowledgeable, and fully utilized veterinary nurse. Through two-way communication, we show one another that many of the answers to our frightening predicament are right here at our own hospital if we can see one another and understand the value offered by each person.
Celebrate you. Celebrate your veterinary nurse/technician team. Celebrate National Veterinary Technician Week (October 16-22). Use this celebration to educate the veterinary healthcare team, including the pet owner, on what a veterinary nurse can do and how this impacts the life of the pet.
Think of autumn and how it parallels what the profession is seeking. As author Ruth Ahmed wrote: “There is something so special in the early leaves drifting from the trees—as if we are all to be allowed a chance to peel, to refresh, to start again.” Let’s allow each other this time for renewal. Let’s truly see each other for the value brought to the team and to the patient. It is through this view we begin to find contentment and we reignite our passion. People with great passion make the impossible happen!
Author Delia Owens writes: “Autumn leaves don’t fall, they fly. They take their time and wander on this their only chance to soar.” I see you. I see the change and the passion, and it is beautiful. You are soaring!