Wellbeing project seeks veterinary volunteers
Morally injurious events are defined as experiences which violate an individual's moral or ethical code.
Volunteers are being sought for a King's College research project exploring the impact of upsetting workplace experiences on veterinary wellbeing.
Funded by an RCVS Mind Matters Sarah Brown Mental Health Research Grant, the project will investigate the impact of ‘moral injury’ on veterinary professions, including the types of moral injuries they might encounter and how they come about.
Researchers hope their findings will lead to interventions to better meet the needs of veterinary professionals who may find themselves in distress owing to morally injurious events in the future.
Dr Victoria Williamson said: “If you have experienced an upsetting event in your veterinary role, it would be really helpful if you could fill in our questionnaire which is anonymous and confidential.
“As part of this study, we are particularly interested in hearing about experiences that may have caused you to question the kind of person you are or the kind of world we live in. These are things that you feel you may have done or failed to do, or things that others did or failed to do.”
Morally injurious events are defined as experiences which violate an individual's moral or ethical code. Led by psychologists Professor Neil Greenberg, Dr Dominic Murphy and Dr Victoria Williamson, the project also aims to explore what support is needed when such injuries occur.
Dr Williamson continued: “We hope our results will help us to find better ways of meeting the needs of veterinarians in future so we would encourage veterinary professionals to also circulate this study to colleagues. Some participants may be invited to take part in a follow-up telephone interview; however, we would like to assure you this element of the project is completely voluntary.”
The online questionnaire should take no longer than 20 minutes to complete. The follow-up telephone interviews, for those who wish to participate, will concern the participant’s thoughts, feelings and beliefs since their challenging experience and how the event may have affected them.
Two independent vets have launched a podcast to help owners strengthen their bond with pets. Dr Maggie Roberts and Dr Vanessa Howie, who have worked in both veterinary practice and major charities, are keen to use their experience to enable people to give pets a better life.
