An Old Man in the City

This poem was written by my mother, Beth Jordaan,  after visiting her elderly father in Johannesburg. He moved there from his Karoo farm with his second wife.

"When one is old one no longer looks up"
But the stars are still there,
not here, not in the city.
In the Karoo the nights are dark and still
and great stars quiver just out of reach.
They are so clear and so lovely
that one's heart aches with longing
just to remember them.
In the silence an owl calls
and from somewhere near the dam
sounds the melancholy whistle of the Dikkop,
the ghost bird.
The bare thorns of the mimosa
appear white and wonderful in the moonlight.
A morning in winter is crisp and clear
brittle with frost whitening the grass
and crackling underfoot,
the wind is cuttingly cold
The scent of herbs comes from the Karoo bush,
Dry hard sticks which at the first rain
draw sap from the good earth
to feed the merino herds.
In long rows sheep follow the trodden path
to the watering holes.
They drink greedily and drink again.
Then graze quietly.

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Desiderata - a 1927 prose poem by American writer Max Ehrmann (1872–1945).

Go placidly amidst the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its shams, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy.

On any given day, I treat about 10 or more pets, generally successfully and  always to the best of my ability. And yet it is the occasional failures that stand out in my mind, and the bad days that get remembered best. Yesterday was one of those days! First we received a phone call from a very irate pet owner, refusing to pay for the vaccine we did the previous day, because we vaccinated the wrong dog.  We vaccinated the only dog his driver brought to the practice - a middle aged Dachshund whose boosters were long overdue! It turns out he should have brought the Labrador puppy! He was told to take the "small dog" to the vet for a vaccination. As the Dachshund was the smallest dog on the property, the driver brought him! We vaccinated the Labrador later, and gave him a discount. Now we wait.... .

This crisis averted for the time being, I had to concentrate on operating a very small very old Toy Pom with a heart murmur. Thank goodness she was fine. Hungry and tired after all that concentration, I emerged from theatre, only to walk into a screaming client. The people who cremate pets for us, had failed to return her pet's ashes.  When I phoned the company, they screamed at me as well. Facts are they removed the pet from the freezer, but seems to have lost it. Of course they will never own up to it being their mistake. So why am I feeling personally guilty for something totally outside of my personal control! If there is one thing I should have learn't at university, it is how to let things I cannot or could not control, and are really not my fault, roll of my back and not lose any sleep or develop any stress because of it.

Then someone phoned because a dog I treated for biliary with low parasitaemia the previous evening, died unexpectedly. Although it was getting progressively worse for over 6 hours after being treated, they did not phone while I could still help. Now they do not want to pay  (after hours, blood smear and 4 injections) and I feel really terrible that I apparently did not realize that the dog was most likely developing cerebral biliary.

Finally, as the day was drawing to a close, we received a fax. A very unsuitable staff member, who resigned very emotionally during a performance review, has taken us to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration  for unfair dismissal.  So another drama unfolding!

And we are admitting puppies with Parvo virus almost daily - unvaccinated of course, hopeless prognosis in many cases too.

Ah well, there are those we actually do help as well - best concentrate on them!

What you wish you learnt at Vet School (but didn't)

I recently asked for input from colleagues about what skills, other than technical skills, they wish they had learnt at Vet school.  I was pleased to receive a great deal of comment on this subject. Most of the issues boiled down to communication and/or money in some form or another. And no, the vets are not money hungry greedy individuals  but treatment and medication is expensive and there are few things more frustrating than continually being hampered in your ability to treat an animal because the owner is unable or unwilling to pay. Of course this situation could be alleviated if more owners would take up pet's health insurance. For a regular budgeted expenditure most major illnesses and injuries can be dealt with. I find it inexplicable that take up worldwide is so low.

I quote from some of the replies I received:
Ability to deal with difficult, unreasonable clients.
Teach them how to talk to vet nurses without being condescending.
Time management.
How to balance what you should do with what you can do while taking into account what the owner wants or can afford and the pet will tolerate and what your ethics say is acceptable.
Talking money with clients and accepting the 3 options of care 1. gold standard, 2. budget and 3. doing nothing.
How to increase pet insurance uptake from the current 5% (in Australia) to the UK's 55%.
Teach new grads not to feel guilty if owners cannot afford treatment.
How to talk to people and like them.
Financial  and career advice. A vet degree costs $250 000 (AUD) plus the opportunity cost  of 5 to 7 years out of the workforce.
Talk to them about when the job is not right and it is time to leave.
How to recognise and deal with workplace bullying.
Teach students that it costs a lot of money to run a vet clinic and that vets need to generate enough income to cover these costs, their wages and the wages of support staff. Even though to a new vet prices might seem high in comparison to their wage, excessive discounting or not charging properly because of guilt or the "cringe" factor hurts the business and makes it difficult to impossible to maintain a high standard of practice.

Comments welcome!

Conflict in the workplace

Unfortunately teamwork does not always occur naturally. All involved needs to be invested for it to succeed. People who work together are not automatically a team. They may be a cooperative group who work together. Feelings are not part of work and conflict is accommodated. Information is shared on a need to know basis and trust and openness  is not absolute. Goals and objectives are personal or unclear.

In teams, on the other hand, people trust each other and express their feelings openly. Conflict is worked through and resolved and people support one another. Information is shared freely and objectives are common to all.  Teams cooperate to achieve more than the sum total of the individuals' achievements, they are united by a common purpose and enjoy working together to achieve high quality results. Team members have complementary skills and shared goals for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.

Effective leaders should make things happen. They should inspire and trust people and delegate fairly. Leaders should express their views and be willing to take risks. They must also be able to troubleshoot, use tactical planning, negotiate, trust their judgement, accept responsibility and achieve results.

Know why the team exists.
 Objectives are needed to harness the energy, enthusiasm and skills of all team members. Have statements that capture the imagination and help to achieve the overall vision.
Identify skills and experience. Ideally teams should have a balanced mix of skills and experience. A leader should encourage team members to talk about all skills they have developed, both at home and work. A knowledge of the skills available within your team will make it much easier to assign roles and responsibilities,.

In well functioning teams individuals have a clear understanding of the roles they are expected to play, and although roles may overlap, they do not conflict. Good teams also possess sufficient skills for the roles that are expected of them.

Communication within teams are essential to minimise conflict. Regular meetings are essential for effective communication. There should be opportunities to air grievances and concerns in a secure forum without being interrupted or judged. All staff members should be encouraged to participate. Decision making and problem solving should be structured.  Team meetings should be inspiring and stimulating.

Team progress should be reviewed regularly.

Do not forget to have fun! Work can be all too serious. A team leader should consider ways to make work more enjoyable and exciting and people more enthusiastic.

A team leader should be the centre of power. However another team member may become the centre of power through manipulative or other undesirable behaviour. Conflicts may arise and relationships come under pressure. General resentment and discontent may develop.  This may cause staff to become demoralised and demotivated. Communication may suffer and sick leave may increase. Where a team breaks down because of weak leadership, lack of guidance and poor communication, play-ground -style games may manifest. Insecure people who wish to retain power and feel threatened by others often instigate games. Power is a bargaining chip which people will often try to acquire by manipulation. When power is abused or mismanaged the results will inevitably lead to a dysfunctional work place.

Social loafing may occur when individuals feel less valued and believe that their contribution to the team is dispensable. Role clarification techniques may be used  to overcome these feelings of worthlessness of an individual in the team environment.  In a veterinary practice meeting staff should be divided into same role groups, i.e. vets, nurses, admin staff, receptionists.

Ask each group to brainstorm, using a flipchart, on what they believe the role of one of the other groups is. Reconvene after 10 minutes and ask one of the groups to present their findings, Then give the other groups not under discussion an opportunity to add any comments. Then invite the group under discussion to either endorse, add to or challenge what they have heard. When this last group is satisfied that that its role has been fairly represented, the next group may present until groups have been covered.

A veterinary practice can be a very stressful work environment for both vets and staff. It is normal for conflict to occur and they need to be addressed appropriately and without delay. If conflict is not recognised and dealt with there may be a breakdown of relationships which affects the practice negatively.

By establishing a dynamic team, destructive conflicts can be minimised or avoided. An effective team may make the differences between team members' views and those of vets and management obvious. This may also lead to conflict, but this kind of conflict is necessary for organisational adaptibility, a quality which is essential in a dynamic practice.

keywords: conflict, team, workplace, dynamic, practice, role clairification, leadership, communication.


References
Dale C 2001. Coping with conflict in the practice 3. Prevention is better than cure. In Practice 23, 44-46