Starting from:
AU$31.95
Coping with Stress and Burnout as a Veterinarian
By Nadine Hamilton
The leading evidence-based resource supporting
better mental health for veterinary professionals
better mental health for veterinary professionals
"Your book is amazing and is helping me navigate the task of building a wellness foundation for BluePearl's 6,000 plus associates across the US.”
— Lori Harbert, Director of health & Well-being, Bluepearl Specialty and Emergency Pet Hospital
"There are copies of this book at every Greencross Vets clinic as a means to empower vets in their everyday routines. It's a tough conversation to have, but an important one.”
— Andrew McInerney, Chief Operating Officer, Greencross
"Nadine’s book greatly helps VetPartners meet its vital HR commitment to the wellbeing of all of our staff and our goal as a veterinary employer of choice.”
— Dr. Brett Hodgkin, Chief Veterinary Officer, VetPartners Australia New Zealand
"I greatly enjoyed reading this book. It is an excellent resource. Every third-year DVM student at our school gets a copy of this book.”
Prof. Anna Meredith, Head of Melbourne Veterinary School
The best way to tackle the unique nature of veterinary stress that can lead to anxiety, depression and suicide is to use evidence-based research to create an intervention able to have a scientifically measurable positive impact on wellbeing. That's why psychologist Dr Nadine Hamilton wrote this book after spending over 15 years researching, working with thousands of stressed vets, and consulting with industry associations, practice managers and owners. This unique resource combines reading on mindfulness, positive psychology, wellbeing, and resiliency training with a ‘toolkit’ of practical tasks and tips to teach people how to cope with everyday pressures, so they no longer feel like suicide is the only way out. Its approach has been tested with statistically significant results showing reduced stress, depression, anxiety, and negative affect.
Working in the veterinary profession can be a rewarding, challenging and demanding career, requiring a passion for animals, excellent interpersonal skills and a strong work ethic.
It also has a dark and very dangerous side.
The suicide rate for veterinarians as measured across Australia, the US, UK, New Zealand and Canada is almost four times higher than the general population. This suicide risk has been shown to surface at graduation and remain for the rest of a vet’s working life.
The veterinary profession faces a severe mental health issue.
The effects of working long hours, performing euthanasia on animals, emotional pressure, financial issues, unrealistic expectations, and dealing with distressed clients place considerable stress on both the vet themselves and their families at home. Failure to cope with such stress upsets mental wellbeing and can lead to serious emotional, physical, and behavioural issues.
Psychologist Dr Nadine Hamilton is passionate about veterinary suicide prevention, having been touched by the tragic effects of suicide within her own family. A chance encounter early in her psychology career led to her interest in the mental wellbeing of veterinary professionals. She has spent over 15 years in her specialty psychology practice working with thousands of stressed vets as well as consulting to industry associations, practice managers and owners to increase wellbeing, productivity, and retention in the workplace. In support of her aim to create a ‘paradigm shift’ within the veterinary industry, in 2018 she founded love your Pet Love Your Vet, a not-for-profit charity raising awareness about the issues within the veterinary industry and reducing stigma in veterinary professionals seeking help.
Her postgraduate research focussed on how key evidence-based psychological strategies could be used to decrease the risk of psychological ill-health and suicide by vets due to their day-to-day stress levels. What she found was that the best way to tackle the unique nature of veterinary stress was to combine certain psychoeducational elements. That meant specific education on the principles of positive psychology, mindfulness, and ACT along with a ‘toolkit’ of practical tasks from these fields. Combining these elements with supportive strategies such as stress management and communication tips results in a holistic intervention able to have a scientifically measurable positive impact on wellbeing. She uses this approach in her popular Coping and Wellbeing for Veterinary Professionals workshop.
Building on this workshop, she produced Coping With Stress and Burnout as a Veterinarian as a cost-effective highly accessible way to empower vets in their everyday work lives to use psychological knowledge and skills to combat stress, burnout, anxiety, depression and suicide. It is an easy read for individual vets both experienced and freshly minted and sits well with existing veterinary HR approaches as well as supporting face-to-face counselling and industry association mental health programs. It also provides a clear call-to-arms for veterinary industry leaders.
The book is structured in four sections. The first two provide vets with both an understanding and an acknowledgement of the uniqueness of their work and the mental health issues that come with that work. A section on psychology provides a comprehensive overview of several psychological fields that assist wellbeing. The final section includes specially selected strategies along with some references to a vet’s workday.
Together, these elements result in a unique resource able to provide self-help as well as support for existing vet wellbeing programs. Research has shown the importance of reinforcing the immediate-term effects of mental health interventions with take-home resources — something that reminds people of the information they have learnt and is able to be referred back to in difficult times. For some who take it off a practice shelf the book will simply be a confirmation that they or a colleague are not alone in experiencing stress and that their issues are understood, for others they will find practical tools helpful in their working day, for leaders it might help guide their interactions with staff, or it might help someone to seek professional help.
That’s why the book is not only popular with individuals working in local vet practices, it has also been taken up by vet schools, large vet hospitals and across hundreds of practices managed by ‘mega’ practice groups. For these corporate businesses, the book is seen as a major cost-effective mental health investment for the benefit of their staff and a commitment to the global fight against workplace suicide. Indeed, the 2018 Merck Animal Health Veterinary Wellbeing Study recommended that employers educate all team members on the importance of mental health and wellbeing.
Evidence-based and reader-friendly, the book is easy to keep on hand as a reliable staff resource or in support of employee assistance programs (EAP), continuing professional development CPD, or wellbeing support initiatives. Larger veterinary groups and hospitals benefit from special discounts for bulk purchases of the book and options for customised branding with a personalised opening page message.
Working in the veterinary profession can be a rewarding, challenging and demanding career, requiring a passion for animals, excellent interpersonal skills and a strong work ethic.
It also has a dark and very dangerous side.
The suicide rate for veterinarians as measured across Australia, the US, UK, New Zealand and Canada is almost four times higher than the general population. This suicide risk has been shown to surface at graduation and remain for the rest of a vet’s working life.
The veterinary profession faces a severe mental health issue.
The effects of working long hours, performing euthanasia on animals, emotional pressure, financial issues, unrealistic expectations, and dealing with distressed clients place considerable stress on both the vet themselves and their families at home. Failure to cope with such stress upsets mental wellbeing and can lead to serious emotional, physical, and behavioural issues.
Psychologist Dr Nadine Hamilton is passionate about veterinary suicide prevention, having been touched by the tragic effects of suicide within her own family. A chance encounter early in her psychology career led to her interest in the mental wellbeing of veterinary professionals. She has spent over 15 years in her specialty psychology practice working with thousands of stressed vets as well as consulting to industry associations, practice managers and owners to increase wellbeing, productivity, and retention in the workplace. In support of her aim to create a ‘paradigm shift’ within the veterinary industry, in 2018 she founded love your Pet Love Your Vet, a not-for-profit charity raising awareness about the issues within the veterinary industry and reducing stigma in veterinary professionals seeking help.
Her postgraduate research focussed on how key evidence-based psychological strategies could be used to decrease the risk of psychological ill-health and suicide by vets due to their day-to-day stress levels. What she found was that the best way to tackle the unique nature of veterinary stress was to combine certain psychoeducational elements. That meant specific education on the principles of positive psychology, mindfulness, and ACT along with a ‘toolkit’ of practical tasks from these fields. Combining these elements with supportive strategies such as stress management and communication tips results in a holistic intervention able to have a scientifically measurable positive impact on wellbeing. She uses this approach in her popular Coping and Wellbeing for Veterinary Professionals workshop.
Building on this workshop, she produced Coping With Stress and Burnout as a Veterinarian as a cost-effective highly accessible way to empower vets in their everyday work lives to use psychological knowledge and skills to combat stress, burnout, anxiety, depression and suicide. It is an easy read for individual vets both experienced and freshly minted and sits well with existing veterinary HR approaches as well as supporting face-to-face counselling and industry association mental health programs. It also provides a clear call-to-arms for veterinary industry leaders.
The book is structured in four sections. The first two provide vets with both an understanding and an acknowledgement of the uniqueness of their work and the mental health issues that come with that work. A section on psychology provides a comprehensive overview of several psychological fields that assist wellbeing. The final section includes specially selected strategies along with some references to a vet’s workday.
Together, these elements result in a unique resource able to provide self-help as well as support for existing vet wellbeing programs. Research has shown the importance of reinforcing the immediate-term effects of mental health interventions with take-home resources — something that reminds people of the information they have learnt and is able to be referred back to in difficult times. For some who take it off a practice shelf the book will simply be a confirmation that they or a colleague are not alone in experiencing stress and that their issues are understood, for others they will find practical tools helpful in their working day, for leaders it might help guide their interactions with staff, or it might help someone to seek professional help.
That’s why the book is not only popular with individuals working in local vet practices, it has also been taken up by vet schools, large vet hospitals and across hundreds of practices managed by ‘mega’ practice groups. For these corporate businesses, the book is seen as a major cost-effective mental health investment for the benefit of their staff and a commitment to the global fight against workplace suicide. Indeed, the 2018 Merck Animal Health Veterinary Wellbeing Study recommended that employers educate all team members on the importance of mental health and wellbeing.
Evidence-based and reader-friendly, the book is easy to keep on hand as a reliable staff resource or in support of employee assistance programs (EAP), continuing professional development CPD, or wellbeing support initiatives. Larger veterinary groups and hospitals benefit from special discounts for bulk purchases of the book and options for customised branding with a personalised opening page message.
About the Author
Psychologist Dr Nadine Hamilton is passionate about suicide prevention, having been touched by its tragic effects within her own family. She has also held a love of animals since childhood. A chance encounter early in her psychology career led her to become a proud supporter and advocate for the mental wellbeing veterinary professionals. In her private practice, she helped many vets develop better coping strategies to get on top of stress and psychological fatigue to avoid burnout and suicide. She has also worked with veterinary practice managers and owners to increase wellbeing, productivity, and retention in the workplace. In support of her aim to create a ‘paradigm shift’ within the veterinary industry, in 2018 she founded Love Your Pet Love Your Vet, a not-for-profit charity raising awareness about the issues within the veterinary industry and reducing stigma in veterinary professionals seeking help. Her book Coping With Stress and Burnout as a Veterinarian developed out of her earlier work developing and validating a group workshop to help vets build protective attitudes, enhanced wellbeing, and increased coping skills to try and prevent the psychological distress that can lead to suicide.
ISBN 9781925644197
Softcover 275
Released 2019