How well do you perform underpressure?
- managementforlocums
- Jan 30
- 2 min read
Dr. Hannah Godfrey BVetMed MRCVS, Client Relationship Lead, VetLed
How do you feel when an emergency comes in?
Stressed?
Overwhelmed?
On-edge?
Focused?
Prepared?
How do those feelings affect your ability to do your job well?
In one of VetLed’s recent blog posts, Dr Emma Tallini shared her own experiences of being inhibited by stress, panic, and task fixation during an emergency GDV surgery. Here’s an extract from it:
‘All was going well. but pexying this now significantly shrunken organ to the body wall was far more challenging than I had anticipated. In the process, I nicked the diaphragm. I felt a jolt of panic as the adrenaline surged through me. I tried to think of what I needed to do, but my brain felt like treacle; I couldn't achieve any clarity of thought. I just didn’t know what to do next. As I flustered and tried to correct the situation, I completely failed to communicate with the nurse or other vets, my focus condensed to a pinprick on the one problem I was trying to solve, and I lost all situational awareness and perspective. I made increasingly irrational decisions, unable to evaluate the situation as it was evolving. A tension pneumothorax developed, and the dog crashed again, at which point a colleague scrubbed in to take over. He recovered the dog and successfully completed the surgery.
I felt broken. I was a good surgeon and a logical clinician. If a colleague had asked me for help in that situation, I would have been able to advise on exactly what to do. Instead, I had felt completely lost in that moment, and my lack of ability to make decisions combined with my lack of awareness was dangerous.’
Dr Emma Tallini, VetLed Associate Trainer
That’s when Emma looked into simulations training – a tool that’s increasingly used for undergraduates, but has so much potential for helping vets and vet nurses of all experience levels cope with unexpected or stressful events.
Together with Emma, VetLed have created ‘Supporting Your Teams to Perform Under Pressure’, a simulations-based open training course, that’s part online and part in person.
But I’m a locum, I hear you say!
I don’t have a consistent team to support… my team changes every shift…
It’s true, the title of the training might make it sound like it doesn’t apply to locums, but as a locum don’t you:
- Want to feel confident handling stressful or emergency cases?
- Want to feel calm and think clearly during an unexpected event – so that you havemore brain power available for navigating it with a new team or in a less familiar environment?
- Want to be able to access and rely on the amazing knowledge and skills that you
already have, even when the pressure is on?
That’s why simulations training is helpful, whether you’re a locum or in a permanent role –because we all want the best for our patients, and we deserve to be able to have greatpatient outcomes without compromising our wellbeing.
