From the Trenches. Thoughts from from Julie, RVT
Real Life, Real People, Real Skills.
A shared experience that resonates with all.
I love the work I do. I love the world of veterinary medicine. I love connecting with people. I love communication. I love being a Communication Nerd and sharing that with others. I love bringing as much JOY as I can to each day.
And I love hearing the real life stories of veterinary professionals.
I am so moved and inspired by this story from fellow RVT, Julie Kerr, who not only provides relief to veterinary teams through her locum business, but inspires and shares her knowledge in several speaking platforms.
Her recounting of a particular client and the connection through skilled dialogue she had confirms and reaffirms what the research continues to show us, that communication skills matter, they create connection and they are powerful and they give us a way to navigate those ‘difficult’ conversations.
She took the time to share her story with me and with her permission, I am honoured to share it here. I hope you are as moved and motivated as I was.
Becky
Hey Becky,
I just finished watching the webinar associated with your talk for the BCVTA conference on Oct 15. As always, I love listening to you talk about communication. What you have to say, the work and teaching you do, is SO powerful and I’d like to say thank you for that work and the impact you share with the profession. I want to tell you a story. I work as a locum, in addition to doing contract work with Animal HealthLink and in 2022 I had the opportunity to do your training as provided to AHL and I feel so blessed as that communication training is with me in all walks of my RVT career.
(Ok, here comes the story 😉. It’s a bit long, but there we are)
I have provided locum RVT coverage to an ER/speciality hospital in southern BC and when I am there, I am learning as I am mostly a GP RVT. Dropping in as a locum when I need to learn so much and when the hospital is short staffed means that sometimes, my brain is rushing around and feeling like I don’t have time to connect with owners or busy trying to judge myself on what I don’t yet know. These things aren’t true and I’m mindful to slow it down for owners who are worried and also…sometimes that’s easier than other times to provide to owners.
One of my shifts, the hospital was wildly busy with cases, wait times were hours long, the entire team was exhausted and the need (and patients) just kept coming. That’s a hard day. I had a pet I was triaging with a client, and sometimes I think I let people talk too much and have been working on finding the balance of talking and also focusing the owners when I’m in a busy scenario like that day. This owner, when I said, “What brought you in today?”, sighed and said, “well it’s a story let me tell you…”. And I thought to myself, SIGH, I truly do not have time for a ramble, I have so many patients and doctors and colleagues who need me. So, I was attempting to focus this individual, as he was telling me a long story, and I listened, and then went to my computer to sum it up for him and get my triage complete so I could get going and then he said “and then that other clinic called the SPCA on us and reported us for animal negligence because we said we couldn’t afford the speciality dental care you referred us to them for”. And, I believe because of the training I’ve done with you on communication, I stopped everything I was doing, turned completely to him (and away from the computer) and thought this man needs nothing more in this moment than for me to listen to him. I actively listened to him, I offered empathy statements and Becky, they landed with such impact on this man in the middle of living this story he had been experiencing over the course of a week, that he started to cry. (which was not the energy he came into the room with and now I’m making myself tear up).
We were able to, as a team, he & I, come up with solutions that worked for him, his family and their cat and this situation. Was it a perfect plan? Probably not, but it was a workable, liveable plan and while that was months ago now, I doubt I will ever forget the power of that moment and the impact we had, or the owner himself.
So, while I know you know, thank you for the impact you are having on this profession and the power you are instilling in veterinary teams.
Thank you, Julie.
If you want to learn more about Julie, check out her website HERE.
Julie’s Vision:
“To provide RVT relief and inspire culture shifts with my fresh energy and unique perspective - leading to industry shifts resulting in improved culture, boundaries and mental health. Let's stand together.”
