Here's how to never, ever get a complaint as a veterinarian
Here's how to never, ever get a complaint as a veterinarian:
Stay at home and watch Netflix 📺.
The End.
Not an option? Ok, read on:
If you’re working as a veterinarian, you WILL get complaints at some point.
It DOES NOT MATTER
- ✨how amazing you are
- ✨how clever you are
- 🥵how many hours you spent trying to save a pet
- 🤗how well YOU thought it went.
And here’s why:
➡️ A complaint was never really about YOU AT ALL.
➡️ A complaint is about one thing and one thing only:
The owners perception of the events. It’s about them and their perspective and their education and their background and so many other factors that are out of our control. It really has nothing to do with us.
All these factors determine:
➡️ what feeling that creates in them
➡️ how they respond to that feeling.
I have made terrible mistakes and didn’t get a complaint 🤷🏻♀️
And I have gotten complaints about stuff that really didn’t have anything to do with me or what I did, and some were essentially right down lies 🫠
A dog at the clinic I work at CAUGHT FIRE 🔥 in a surgery due to a malfunctioning cauteriser, and the lovely owner’s first question after making sure their pet was taken care off was:
“Is the vet ok???”
Never complained.
Let me repeat it:
🐾 A complaint actually doesn’t have anything to do with you and your work.
🐾 You cannot prevent people from complaining about you.
🐾 You cannot control their perception nor reaction.
You can INFLUENCE it - slightly- by being a kind, honest person that does the best they can with what resources they’ve got (and then YOU know you've given it your all)
And I know it hurts, and it can feel really personal 😟
In my next post I’ll give you my 6 essential tips to survive and thrive no matter the complaints and internet-trolls coming across your path.
Most importantly, right now: You're not alone. And it's not about you, really ❤️