Why invest in communication (Part 2)

Working as a vet practitioner clearly put us at risk of “compassion fatigue”, a very tricky and devastating disease. The authors of this issue of Veterinary Focus are convinced that effective communication can prevent burnout. Unfortunately, there are numerous myths about communication, which we will clear up in this section. 

Myths about communication

During the past dozen years, interest in communication in veterinary medicine has really taken off among veterinarians, team members, educators, researchers and students. But beware! Mistaken perceptions by some people in the veterinary profession regarding communication continue to undermine effectiveness not only in challenging situations but also in everyday practice. We communicate all the time so why should we bother reading and taking classes about communication, especially when we have so many other more important things to learn about? Does this sound familiar? This article gets at why and how social talk is unlike clinical communication. In order to practice evidence-based medicine in the 21^st Century, we need to look carefully at what the research says regarding the role of communication in achieving economic viability and significant outcomes of care in veterinary medicine. In addition, we need to begin to dispel the myths about communication that may be holding us back from achieving a professional level of communication competence. The following aims to arm readers with the necessary rationale and scientific backdrop to lead their practice forward with success.

To begin, let’s get a handle on how we think about communication because the way we think about it has a significant impact on what we do with communication every day in practice. Some common myths about communication sound like this: [...]