"These incidents have changed me": a thematic analysis of highly distressing events in veterinary practice.

Objective: Define the types of events veterinary professionals report as highly distressing in the workplace and compare the frequency of exposure between veterinarians and veterinary support staff.

Methods: 359 veterinary professionals (veterinarians, n = 281; veterinary support staff, 78) participated in an anonymous online survey between January and June 2016 and provided open-ended narratives about their exposure to highly distressing events in the workplace. We conducted thematic analysis to define the narrative themes, determined the frequency of highly distressing events, and used χ2 tests to determine whether the frequency of highly distressing events differed between veterinarians and veterinary support staff.

Results: The most frequently reported events were procedure-related complications, client difficulties, being bitten, and exposure to pain and suffering of animals. Most (n = 224 [62%]) participants reported exposure to one or more highly distressing events at work, and there was no statistically significant difference between veterinarians and veterinary support staff for overall frequency of exposure. However, veterinary support staff were more likely to identify difficult euthanasia cases and exposure to unethical practices as highly distressing than veterinarians.

Conclusions: The current study defined the types and determined the frequency of highly distressing events among veterinary professionals.

Clinical relevance: These findings can be used to inform veterinary medicine procedure/policy changes to prevent highly distressing events from occurring and/or to plan intervention strategies to ameliorate any negative effects of highly distressing events.