Coping with Mistakes in Veterinary Practice

There’s nothing more likely to evoke guilt or fear in veterinary practice than a mistake. Whether you’ve miscalculated a dose, miscommunicated with a client, or missed a diagnosis, these moments can feel overwhelming and disheartening. However, mistakes are an inevitable part of our work and can serve as powerful opportunities for growth if we approach them with the right mindset.

Here are some strategies to help you and your team cope with mistakes:

Acknowledge and Accept: It’s important to recognize and admit when an error happens. By acknowledging mistakes without blame or shame, we foster an environment where learning and improvement can flourish.

Focus on Learning, Not Blaming: Rather than fixating on what went wrong, focus on what can be done differently next time. This turns mistakes into opportunities for growth and helps prevent repeated errors.

Encourage Open Dialogue: Mistakes often carry emotional weight. Creating a culture of open communication and psychological safety allows team members to share experiences, seek guidance, and feel supported without fear of judgment.

Practice Self-Compassion: Be gentle with yourself when errors occur. Mistakes are part of being human, and self-compassion helps mitigate the emotional toll, allowing for a faster recovery.

Implement Systematic Changes: Mistakes are inevitably the result of a systems breakdown. Use mistakes as a catalyst for positive change. Whether that means improving protocols, enhancing communication, or fostering collaboration, every mistake is an opportunity for growth.

Remember, how we handle mistakes shapes the wellbeing of ourselves and our teams. By embracing these challenges, we can create a culture of resilience, where growth and learning take center stage.

Warmly,

Marie Holowaychuk, DVM, Dipl. ACVECC

CEO and Founder, Reviving Veterinary Medicine

Blog

10 Things I Wish I’d Learned in Veterinary School

While veterinary school prepares us for many things related to medicine and surgery, a lot of veterinary team members feel somewhat unprepared for difficult situations, such as when they make a mistake. As much as we want to be perfect practitioners, we are all human. This blog explores 10 topics we would include in the veterinary school curriculum if we had the opportunity to create our own!

READ NOW

Podcast

Coping with Mistakes in Veterinary Practice

If you’ve been in veterinary medicine for any length of time, the chances are you have made a mistake, whether it’s a miscalculated drug dose or something with more serious consequences. In this episode, we discuss the various types of mistakes, the emotional toll mistakes can take, and practical strategies for coping and thriving in the aftermath, including technical learning, full disclosure, expanding perspectives, finding support, and practicing self-compassion.

LISTEN NOW

Resource

Self-Compassion Exercises After Making a Mistake

Knowing that mistakes are bound to happen is not enough to avoid the pain of making them. Not only can mistakes erode the confidence of the veterinary team, but they can lead to harsh self-criticism or shame in individuals. Self-compassion is a powerful antidote to the suffering felt after a mistake. Download our free guide for research-based exercises to help you practice self-compassion after making a mistake.

GET PDF

Meditation

Giving Yourself the Gift of Self-Compassion

Are you quick to criticize yourself when something doesn’t go well? This tendency towards self-criticism can feel necessary to prevent future challenges or errors, but it also has been shown to activate our fight-or-flight response. On the contrary, self-compassion can enhance our ability to bounce back after facing difficult situations. This 15-minute meditation will engage your self-kindness, mindfulness, and common humanity to calm the nervous system so you can find resilience with more ease, including a brief body scan and a series of reflective prompts.

LISTEN NOW

Webcast

Mistakes Happen: Coping Compassionately When Things Crumble

Without intervention, the guilt, shame, and blame that we place upon ourselves in the face of a mistake can have major consequences. From negative self-talk to avoidance behaviors, this can lead a person to withdraw from work or leave the profession altogether. If you feel like you’re crumbling after making a mistake, watch this CommuniVET* webinar for practical strategies on how to cope, including the benefits of positive self-talk.?

*Membership required - it’s free! CE credit awarded upon quiz completion.

WATCH NOW

Reviving Veterinary Medicine aims to improve the mental health and wellbeing of veterinary professionals around the world.?

Please forward this newsletter to a friend or colleague who might find it helpful, or to support another team member on their wellbeing journey.