‘Relax and try again tomorrow’: How do Southern Utah’s vets keep their chins up?

ST. GEORGE — Studies show that veterinary care workers are at high risk of emotional distress and suicidal thoughts. So how do Southern Utah’s vets keep their spirits up?

Toast, the clinic cat at Lava Rock Veterinary Hospital, St. George, Utah, Dec. 15, 2022 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren. St. George News

A 2022 study from the Irish Veterinary Journal reviewed 21 studies published between 2000 and 2021, all of which “indicated a high prevalence of psychological stressors in veterinary practice.”

“The risks of burnout, anxiety and depressive disorders are higher in this occupational group than in the general population and other occupational groups,” the study reads.

Additionally, one in six veterinary professionals has considered suicide – triple the national average, according to Not One More Vet.

Gertrudis “Tru” Colon, a veterinary assistant at Zion Veterinary Hospital, told St. George News that her day-to-day work depends on how she is scheduled but could include working reception, helping with medications, drawing blood, and assisting the veterinarian with other duties based on their patient’s needs.

The hardest part of her job is when they have to say no, Colon said.

“Because obviously, in this kind of field, you want to be able to help everyone that you can, but sometimes you’re just unable to do so,” she said. “Sometimes the doctors are overbooked, overworked and they just can’t take on any more.”

Veterinary assistant Gertrudis “Tru” Colon working with a dog, St. George, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Gertrudis Colon, St. George News

In those cases, the clinic staff reminds the vet to stop and take care of themselves, Colon said.

“Because if it wasn’t for us helping them, telling them, ‘OK, you need to take a break right now’ – they’d work themselves to the bone,” she said. “And so I think it’s hard to explain to the clients that it’s not that we don’t want to see them; it’s just that we can’t.”

Additionally, Colon said it’s difficult to see a heartbroken client when they learn their pet won’t recover or when the animal’s health suddenly fails.

“Because it’s part of their family,” she said. “You just have to silently support them while they’re going through this process of trying to understand their pet is no longer with us.”

Dr. Kristen Lucibello, who has been in the field for about 12 years, was previously employed at Zion Veterinary Hospital and currently works independently as a relief vet.

“(I) just go where work is needed,” she said. “I guess you can kind of compare it to travel nurses.”

Working in a clinic, particularly in the ER, is “complete chaos” all day long, Lucibello said. Emergency medicine is the “hardest.”

“Essentially, it’s getting people through very, very difficult situations,” she said. “Unfortunately, there’s a lot of euthanasia at the emergency center. And, of course, these are the most sick – the most injured patients.

“Honestly, I feel like a lot of my job is really just consoling people and giving them crumby options.”

Dr. Amy Murdock, a veterinarian and the owner of Lava Rock Veterinary Hospital, St. George, Utah, Dec. 15, 2022 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren. St. George News

When handling emergencies, vets, techs and assistants will sometimes stay late or arrive early, Colon said. Additionally, Lucibello said her longest scheduled shift is 15 hours.

Dr. Amy Murdock has been a veterinarian for 15 years and owns Lava Rock Veterinary Hospital, which opened in November. The clinic doesn’t typically take appointments because it functions as an urgent care, treating animals that have been hit by cars, injured in dog fights, are very ill, or similar cases.

“We see more life and death situations,” she said.

Additionally, Murdock said it’s hard when a person brings a pet in that looks normal but is in pain, but the clinic hasn’t determined “that piece of the puzzle yet.”

“People value their pets the way they value people – the way they value their family,” she said.

“Burnout is real,” Murdock said, adding that the profession is “emotionally taxing” for veterinarians, as well as the clinic’s support staff. While they try to treat as many animals as possible, there is a limit to what they can do.

A veterinarian at Red Hills Animal Hospital performs surgery on a dog who suffered a gunshot wound to its face, St. George, Utah, Sept. 6, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Liana Cooper, St. George News

“People can be mean, you know,” she said. “They’re so attached to their animals that they just take it out on people who are just trying to help.”

Sometimes vets “have bad days,” Lucibello said. 

“And maybe we won’t see an obvious illness or give the best advice or get that shot in just right,” she said. “If you ever had a bad experience with a vet, sometimes it does benefit to give them another chance.” 

Additionally, Murdock said the community could also support local vets with patience and understanding.

“There’s not enough vets in this area and a lot of people have acquired more pets with COVID and with being home more and so maybe that’s why there’s just a shortage of vets in this area,” she said, adding that vets hope the community realizes that they are humans too.

Colon said she employs several strategies to cope with difficult days and burnout, including letting her co-workers know she needs a break, listening to music, or watching animé during her lunch break. Clinic staff also keep tabs on each other because individuals may not always realize they are overworking themselves.

While she still cares for her patients, Lucibello said she can dissociate from her work to a certain extent, which helps her to navigate difficult cases. Additionally, she makes time to enjoy her hobbies like hiking and photography, and takes a walk every day.

Murdock said she snuggles her pets and takes time for herself after a hard day.

“Whether it’s just evaluating everything that’s happened throughout the day or trying to say, ‘Ok, well, this is how I could have handled this differently, or this is what I could have done better,'” she said. “Or even just taking a bubble bath to decompress and say, ‘Alright, what’s done is done. I can’t change the past, and I just got to relax and try again tomorrow.”‘

The practice also has its high points, Colon said. For instance, she enjoys interacting with pet owners and giving them peace of mind when she can.

Fin, a dog that belongs to a staff member at Lava Rock Veterinary Hospital, St. George, Utah, Dec. 15, 2022 | Photo by Alysha Lundgren, St. George News

“There are things that are going to be outside of medical reach that we just can’t figure out, but we’re going to do what we can to help your pet, and I just love being able to do that,” she said.

Lucibello said that it’s “awesome” to “pull patients away from the brink.” In a recent case, she treated a diabetic cat that was having a seizure. The feline was given anti-seizure medication and sugar, and within “literally seconds, the cat was awake and almost back to normal.”

“It always feels good to be able to do something like that,” she said. “Because honestly, if that poor cat stayed in that state, he would have died. And … I guess that’s what keeps us going.”

While many veterinary workers feel that euthanasia is the worst part of their jobs, Murdock said it’s also a service for people whose pets are not going to recover that “someone else can’t perform.”

File photo: Brian Hamrick and veterinarian Cameron Norton with a dog named Kira on the operating table, St. George, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Lulu Hart, St. George News

“I see some pretty horrible things and to know that we’re at least easing some suffering and alleviating some pain is one of the main reasons I get up every day and continue to come and do my job,” she said.

Dr. Virginia Stout, a wildlife veterinarian with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, said that she’s really passionate about helping wild animals. Still, the job also requires working with some that are sick or dying. What “keeps her going” is handling live, healthy animals or watching populations recover after a disease event and seeing those creatures on the landscape.

“I think a lot of reward comes from that,” she said.

Those working in veterinary medicine are “very giving,” Colon said.

“At the end of the day, everyone is a giver,” she said. “Sometimes they give a little too much because they just care for the field so much and that’s one thing that I would love to have everyone know because you can’t make all the clients happy.

“But when we’re showing up to work, it’s because we want to be there and we love getting to help people’s animals and doing what we can just to save one little person – one little fur baby and it can be very hard because you can’t save them all.”

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

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