This article originally appeared in the Fall 2024 issue of EquiManagement. Sign up here for a FREE subscription to EquiManagement’s quarterly digital or print magazine and any special issues.
Employee recruitment and retention are among the primary concerns of businesses following the pandemic. Equine veterinarians feel these pressures keenly because of workforce shortages, increased market pressure, and the inherent stressors of the job. Why put people first? A cherished team works harder toward common goals, has more compassion to give, strives to improve, and is more likely to stay employed.
The cost of turnover is high. A study published in January 2024 by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) reports that at any moment, “30% or more of veterinary practice team members are considering leaving their current clinical practice.” The study outlines the 15 most important factors for the retention of veterinary staff, most of which involve operations and leadership. However, the design of the physical space matters greatly for three areas in particular:
- Practicing modern medicine.
- Resources to do the job.
- Support for well-being.
Using inspiration from the AAHA survey, as well as information from within and outside our field, we have compiled a variety of design-related ideas for supporting equine veterinary employees at the clinic.
Ergonomics and Injury Prevention
Employees in animal care have very physical jobs and encounter workplace conditions that could lead to safety risks.
Ergonomics Stationary employees should be using the right equipment to position their bodies. Seating and desks can be fitted to employees, so they sit without slumping and their hips are at the correct angle to protect their backs.
Injury Prevention Injuries result from many conditions in equine veterinary care. We recommend reviewing the following in your building and identifying possible improvements.
- Design of spaces.
- Design the space to be large enough. A spooked horse is much easier to handle in a bigger space. Sixteen-by-sixteen feet is a minimum for exam areas, but larger spaces are safer. A practical size for an equine treatment space is 20-by-24 feet.
- Keep storage items stored. Loose equipment easily becomes a hazard.
- Create walk-through spaces for horses. It is difficult to turn horses around after exiting a set of stocks, for example. It is easier to walk straight through the space.
- Study causes of injury in your own practice, and work to prevent them. For example, if the trailer unloading zone is chaotic, redesign it for safer flow.
- Lifting supplies. Identify places where supplies are moved, and find safer ways to work. For example, you can design your unloading and storage areas for use by a forklift to allow large items to be moved mechanically.
- Hose reel design and placement. Heavy hoses can injure shoulders. If you are purchasing new hose reels, it is best to learn which reels meet OSHA specifications.
- Preventing slips, trips, and falls. This is a consuming topic in human medical care, as workplace slip, trip, and fall injuries cost billions of dollars in workers’ compensation claims. In equine care, employees are often walking on wet floors, which increases risk to both the horses and people. Learn about flooring from your successful colleagues, as some equine floor products can fail. When evaluating a flooring product, it is best to consider its overall longevity (based on references from other hospitals) and its slip performance when it is wet as well as dry.
Reducing Errors in Your Equine Clinic Design
Human medical care is a great resource for information on strategies to reduce errors in complex environments. Many of these ideas translate directly to veterinary care. A few of our favorites include:
Decluttering. Clutter reduces the ability to concentrate, impedes cleaning efforts, and reduces efficiency of tasks. After deciding to tackle the clutter, these solutions might be helpful:
- Purchase an inexpensive storage warehouse. It is difficult to spend money on a storage project, but a warehouse can help clinical areas work more effectively. In our experience, employees are more likely to keep a large warehouse well-organized than a collection of small storage spaces.
- Move things off the floor. We love mop and broom hangers, wall-mounted boxes for PPE and other small supplies, ceiling-mounted lights, IV tracks, electrical drop outlets, and shelving to move bulky supplies off the floor. These measures will help with the cleanliness and tidiness of the space.
- User-friendly cabinet design. Most people store nothing much in lower cabinets, because they must bend to access these items. Therefore, wall-mounted cabinets are the most useful, as are lower drawers, which are more accessible than lower cabinets.
Same-handed design. In human medicine, a concept called “same-handed design” is associated with reduced errors. Items needed to care for patients are standardized and stored in exactly the same places in each room. Outlets are in the same places, the patient is positioned the same way, etc. We can apply this concept to equine care as well. Treatment areas could have standardized layouts, as could barns. We all have limits to our time and cognitive capacity. If we make routing workflow more streamlined, fewer errors will occur.
Communication improvements. Issues in any place of work often have to do with errors in communication. In veterinary environments, these can result in serious problems, such as missing a medication. Simple improvements such as centralized whiteboards or conveniently placed computer stations might be part of the solution, along with operational changes such as overlapping shifts.
Improving Environmental Quality in Your Equine Clinic Design
While a high-quality environment is not enough to overcome operational problems, good environments help support the work of highly functional teams by providing professional and enjoyable places to work. The most important qualities of a physical environment might include:
Good indoor air quality. HVAC complaints are very common in equine medical spaces, particularly older ones. There is a correlation between health and indoor air quality. This is documented across all industries, and it forms the basis of our commercial building codes. If your building is older or improperly designed, the air quality might be having a negative effect on humans as well as horses. It might help to undertake two steps:
- Have a qualified professional engineer evaluate the air quality. The engineer should be tasked with recommending small improvements, as large improvements might be too pricey. Even small improvements can make a positive difference, such as installing an upper air treatment system targeting areas to create a more sanitary space.
- Have your systems recommissioned. This means bringing them back to how they were intended to operate. We often visit practices and hear stories about equipment that used to work but no longer does. Simply getting equipment working properly can have a large positive impact on the building’s performance.
Proper lighting. Older lighting fixtures use more energy than necessary, and they typically emit poor-quality illumination. Budgeting for lighting improvements can boost well-being for both people and horses and can help you save money on utilities as well.
Creating a professional work environment. It is difficult to recruit staff members to work in poorly maintained, dated, and worn spaces. Invest in a facelift at minimum, so your building properly represents who you strive to be as professionals.
Employee Support Spaces
Good workplaces help support employees as people. We find never-ending promise within this core belief, even in the confines of existing spaces. Below are some of our favorite ideas:
- Breakrooms to support different types of breaks. Some people like downtime, and some thrive on connecting with others. Pay special attention to the design of your break spaces, so each individual gets to take the break they need. Great inspiration can be found in your favorite coffee shop. Coffee shops are designed with a variety of seating options to meet the needs of different people and tasks, all in a welcoming and communal space.
- On-call and wellness rooms. Sometimes people have personal health needs, such as lactation, or need space to lie down if they are working a late shift. A small, quiet room away from the action can fill this need. Large hospitals might need more than one.
- All-gender design. Single-use, nongendered restrooms work much better for staff members than multi-stall, gendered restrooms, because most practices don’t have an even split of men and women. Nongendered locker alcoves are more flexible than gendered locker rooms. Provide enclosed changing rooms off the common-use locker space for privacy.
- Supplement individual resources. Many equine hospitals provide intern and extern housing on site. In addition, consider employees who work long hours or might be paying down debts. Providing on-site personal laundry and/or a clean uniform service is one example of a perk that can help people bridge the gap until they can acquire more permanent living situations.
- Snacks and coffee. Employees—particularly those on ambulatory calls—appreciate healthy snack bars, vending options, and coffee machines. Equine veterinary work is unpredictable; therefore, having food options at the office can make workdays much more comfortable.
In Summary
Designing for employee well-being can work for any veterinary practice. It is based on a way of looking at the world. If we are kind to each other, together we can do our best work, retain employees, and build stronger teams.
Related Reading
- The Business of Practice: Building an Equine Veterinary Clinic Facility
- Fire Prevention Planning for Veterinary Practices
- Reduce Complications with Your Veterinary Construction Project
Stay in the know! Sign up for EquiManagement’s FREE weekly newsletters to get the latest equine research, disease alerts, and vet practice updates delivered straight to your inbox.
