This week, The Association of Shelter Veterinarians’ 2016 Veterinary Medical Care Guidelines for Spay-Neuter Programs was published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. With this new publication, the 2008 Guidelines have been updated to reflect findings from new research as well as to integrate research and ideas from beyond the traditional confines of the veterinary field into recommendations for spay-neuter practice.
Why am I so excited about this publication? Not just because I had the honor to work on its creation with a brilliant and kind group of veterinarians who passionately believe in elevating spay neuter practice. Not just because of the thoroughness of the research that went into this update, and the hours of work this entailed.
I am excited because this is the first time I have ever seen a veterinary practice guideline that takes a deep and practical view of operations management. By devoting nearly 2 full pages to human factors and ergonomics, the 2016 Guidelines acknowledges the central role that humans play in veterinary practice—that is, human bodies, human cognitions, human emotions, and human behaviors. The addition of this new section demonstrates a recognition that safe performance relies on close evaluation of procedures, and on redundant systems that can handle the unexpected. High quality, high volume spay neuter practices can strive to become high reliability organizations by exploring and implementing the ideas in the operations management section of the 2016 Guidelines.
The operations management section in the 2016 Guidelines shows that spay neuter practice— and indeed all veterinary practice— is an integrated system in which performance of each part affects the others. The 2016 Guidelines makes the connection between leadership style, work satisfaction, and musculoskeletal discomfort. Between process management and safe practice. Between ergonomics and performance. Between safety and leadership. And by making these connections, the 2016 Guidelines give practitioners the tools to accomplish continuous improvement in their workplace.
I’m also excited because the 2016 Guidelines is the first veterinary practice guideline that includes specific ideas in physical ergonomics, rather than simply stating that ergonomics is important in surgery (leaving the practitioner on their own to discover or research ergonomic solutions, or, more likely, to discover the scarcity of accessible ergonomics publications for veterinary practice). Musculoskeletal discomfort limits the practices of many veterinarians, but its causes and mitigation are rarely addressed in veterinary publications. It’s time that we recognize that our bodies and our minds are the most valuable pieces of veterinary equipment we have. That we need to learn, and to teach each other how to protect against wear and tear, and to alleviate the physical and mental stresses that accumulate. And that physical and mental discomfort are, after all, closely linked, so that making improvements in one is bound to improve the other.
In short, the 2016 Guidelines are a great reference for anyone working in veterinary medicine, and especially helpful for anyone working in spay neuter or shelter practice.
Want to learn more about human error and safety in complex systems? Here are some interesting books (also, explore other works by these authors):
The Human Contribution: Unsafe Acts, Accidents and Heroic Recoveries by James Reason
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande
Thanks so much, Sara, for the important work you do that made these updated guidelines so much more holistic.