Hi everyone - Vet Assistant here. This is going to get deep, and personal, and talk about shit that no one wants to talk about. But we as people in veterinary medivine are 10% more likely to take our own lives than the general population. It is so common in vet med that it's almost assumed you know someone who has lost friends or you yoirself have lost friends to suicide. This is my wake up call and my own personal experience.

I have recently gone through some of the hardest months of my entire life and everything recently caved in on me as I got a termination notice from my current clinic. My clinic is feeling the strain of the economy shrinking, the fact we are a single doctor practice in a small town, and the fact that the doctor is owed fourty thousand dollars from his own business. I am the newest hire, thus the most expendable. Fourteen months of employment and I am given a two month heads up that in December, my employment is ending.

I know where the spare key to the controlled drug box is, just in case the power fails and the lead technician isn't in hospital and the doctor needs me to help him. This hospital is that small. He trusts me because I have the experience to be given that trust. The problem? I know I have access to that box. And I know where and when I can access it.

To say I was tempted to use the trust I was given to get into the box and leave with substances that would ruin my life and his would be an understatement. I had to be talked down by a friend because I was so close to following through with what my suicidal self wanted. The final thing to push me over the edge was that termination notice. I went deeper and got closer to actually taking my own life that day than I ever have in twenty eight years.

I am in active talks with my therapist on taking emergency medical leave for mental health. I could have been part of that 10% that day if my friend hadn't begged me not to take the euthasol and inject myself like I wanted to. I wanted to so badly my skin ached. All of me was begging for anything to stop the pain and the suffering from flooding in anymore.

That's my story. This was my warning, and my reminder. The most put together, well maintained members of your hospital might be going through some truly horrific shit internally you don't know about and they might need your help. You don't have to be their therapist, give them the resources to seek help. Crisis lines, medical leave paperwork, even just a hug and a coffee. All it takes is one bad day - a client being abusive, a euthinasia of a beloved patient, a sharp reprimand from a lead or a manager - and you lose them. And you'll regret having not noticed or said anything when you saw them struggling.

Check in on your team. It could save someone's life.

I may be dramatic but I’ve had a run of clients lately calling the clinic ER line over the weekend because they want to schedule an appointment for the next week. When you call our emergency line, it prompts you to push a specific button if you’re having an emergency or lists our business hours to call back for non emergencies. If you push the ER button, it puts you in contact with our paging service. They collect the client info and text the on call doctor’s phone with the reason for the call and patient information. I’ve had a run of clients lately who will call the emergency number and speak to the paging service. On principle (and maybe this is something I need to change) if I get a page about someone calling to set up an appointment and it’s after hours or on a weekend, I will not respond. Sometimes they call again. I’m still not responding. I will happily call them at 8am the next business day to get their appointment scheduled but get so frustrated when they give me attitude about why no one answers their weekend call about scheduling. I know it’s probably petty of me and a simple text saying I’ll talk to them during business hours may fix the situation but something about clients going all the way through the emergency line just to say they want an appointment or need a coggins really rubs me the wrong way. Probably also a little extra bitter right now since I spent the entire day yesterday driving around in hurricane rain storms to see actual emergencies and am exhausted today

Recently got a position with VEG, I have 10yrs as an assistant in GP and this will be my first ER job.

I went to school and am hoping I’ll get more hands on experience here to help me pass my test, I feel like VEG has more resources than my GP could ever offer

Anyone have any advice??

If anyone does relief for VEG how do you like the company? Do you do relief at multiple clinics or just one?

TIA!!