This article discusses the high rate of suicide among veterinary professionals. If you are struggling with depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts, please speak to a healthcare professional or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or text HOME to 741741.

This past week, I engaged in some conversation started by an article on Dr. Andy Roark’s website.

The article suggested that we help battle the disturbingly high veterinary suicide rate by instituting a “Four Eyes” approach to handling controlled drugs, i.e. no one is able to dispense/use controlled drugs without a second person, so that access to lethal drugs is limited. The idea behind this is limiting access to what Dr. Roark named “the most available, accessible and common method of suicide”. (Pharmaceutical routes of suicide account for 37% of veterinary suicides, which is 2.5 times higher than the general population. Overall, firearms were the most common route for veterinarians, but pharmaceuticals were the method for 64% of female veterinarians. Data here and here. ) The article included an example of a veterinarian alone in the clinic, mentally and emotionally exhausted after a terrible 12 hour day without a meal.

I found myself emotional and wanting to scream at the computer a little bit when I read this.

Okay, I screamed at the computer a little bit. I wanted to write a scathing rebuttal to the idea that we add extra controls to the already-controlled drugs while we continue to accept that being mentally and emotionally exhausted after a terrible 12 hour day without a meal is “normal”.

Of course it’s normal, right?

Haven’t we all had this day, again and again, even if we didn’t contemplate something drastic?

Instead of a scathing rebuttal, I would like to thank Dr. Roark for continuing the conversation on this very serious crisis. His ideas are useful, and I don’t think he means vet staff need to accept terrible days. I would also like to offer what I hope is a constructive addition to the conversation.

We need to change our view of normal.

Veterinarians, veterinary technicians, veterinary assistants, veterinary receptionists/client care, and kennel staff deserve better, and our lives depend on it.

We are caregivers by nature, but we can’t care for our clients and patients unless we care for ourselves. I propose that compassion fatigue, physical and mental exhaustion, and moral trauma are real factors in our profession’s state right now. I propose that symptomatic therapy is not as effective as treating the underlying cause.

I propose the Veterinary Professional’s Bill of Rights.

1. The right to a lunch break. This is already guaranteed by law in many states for hourly employees, but a real break for lunch (or dinner or breakfast if you are in a 24/7 hospital) should be a basic requirement for a job – hourly, salary, or commission. Fasting is great if that is your personal religious or spiritual path, but it shouldn’t be a workplace requirement.
2. The right to a bathroom break. I can’t believe I had to write this one down. But we all know I had to write this one down. (Again, many states do guarantee short breaks, in addition to meal breaks, by law, for hourly employees).
3. The right to be free from workplace abuse by clients. Clients can be, understandably, very emotional when faced with illness or injury of their beloved pets. That doesn’t give them the right to abuse you verbally, emotionally, or online. A well-managed hospital should see management intervene rapidly to stop the abuse, and not to apologize for your hard work. (It’s okay, and expected, to apologize if you/your hospital actually made an error. It’s not okay to apologize needlessly just to deflect the abuse. That devalues our staff.).
4. The right to be free from workplace abuse by management or coworkers. You should be treated with respect, recognized for your successes, and trained for your weaknesses and errors.
5. The right to practice good medicine. You should have the proper equipment and supplies to do your job, hospital protocols that encourage a high standard of care, and the appropriate time allotted to do it. If your appointment times/caseloads don’t allow you enough time to properly care for your patients and clients, your hospital may need to rework the appointment schedule and/or hire more staff. If you are constantly out of stock of necessary supplies, ordering many need to be streamlined. If your hospital standards of care don’t meet your standards of care, you may do best seeking another hospital. Operating above your capacity for care ends in poor care.
6. The right to financial security. You should be paid a reasonable living wage for your area. If you can’t pay your rent, you probably won’t be fully present at work.
7. The right to a day off and a good night’s sleep. When you leave work, leave work. On-call duties should be remunerated and limited. If you are routinely being asked/required to work overtime, come in on your off-days, or answer questions in your off-time, your hospital may need to hire more staff. Boundaries matter.
8. The right to contribute to the team. Every member of the team sees a different aspect of each patient and client. Every member of the team should have the opportunity to make suggestions and contributions to patient care and to hospital protocols and policies and to be heard.
9. The right to a safe workplace. You should be provided with appropriate Personal Protective Equipment when working with radiology, cleaning supplies, chemotherapeutics, etc. and instructions on how to use it. You should not, in fact, be bitten or scratched at work by patients as a matter of routine, and you should not be required to risk your safety to manually restrain fractious patients; low stress handling, safe staffing levels, rescheduling, and sedation can prevent injury. (You actually already have this right. It’s federally mandated by the Occupational Safety and Health Act.)
10. The right to reasonable accommodation for disabilities, including a number of mental and medical conditions. Yes. You should be able to schedule your work around your healthcare – yep, even mental healthcare – treatments and take time off work for illness. (You actually already have this right. It’s federally mandated under the Americans With Disabilities Act.)
11. The right to collective bargaining, discussion of wages and benefits, and union activity. (You actually already have this right. It’s federally mandated under the National Labor Relations Act.)
12. The right to express your frustration. Our jobs are hard. Some cases, some clients, some days are hard. You should have a space to vent that, whether it’s a break room away from client ears, an involved and interested practice manager, a supportive coworker. Pretending everything is okay when it isn’t is not helpful. Our jobs are hard, but we are not alone.

If these rights don’t apply to your job, talk to your management, join coworkers and talk to management together if you need strength in numbers, or find a different job where these rights do apply. Check in with your coworkers when they are struggling. We don’t have to accept bad workplace conditions. We can say no. We can change our profession to accept wellness as normal not just for our patients but also for ourselves. But for that to happen, we all need to say no like our lives depend on it.

If you are currently struggling with depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts, please speak to a healthcare professional or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or text HOME to 741741.