Ellen Preußing is a communication coach and specializes in communication in the veterinary practice. Her practical experience as a veterinarian helps her to understand and cope with the specific challenges in this work environment.
Communication in the veterinary practice
13 June 2022 — by VetLounge
What constitutes successful communication - and why does it deserve special attention in veterinary medicine? Ellen Preußing addresses this question in VetLounge - the podcast for veterinary practices from Inuvet. Here's an excerpt from the podcast "VetLounge 1" with Ellen Preußing as guest.
What specifically constitutes communication in the veterinary practice for you?
Communication itself is relatively universal, but the situations in which communication takes place are all different. For example, there are typical personalities that occur more frequently in a particular professional context. Typical situations repeat themselves again and again. We may have a daily routine that is characterized by working with large animals, small animals, or perhaps even exotic animals, and this in specific and different places. Nevertheless, all these situations have in common that they are very strongly emotionally filled.
On the one hand, in the agricultural field, the financial and economic factors play a major role, but on the other hand, most farmers have a great interest in seeing that their animals are doing well. But when you work in the small animal field or with horses, there is a different emotional component there, almost comparable to a pediatric setting. In this way, communication within veterinary medicine can be quite different from communication in other professions, such as the bakery counter or at the car dealership. In my experience, these repetitive situations in practice reveal universal patterns.
My concern is to practically convey the design of these typical, repetitive situations and to provide concrete approaches.
Can communication be trained at all?
No one is born with communication talent. It just isn't something we're born with; it is clearly a skill that can be acquired. The way we communicate is shaped by our own experiences, our environment and our self-perception. Like most things in life, practice is crucial.
You can save yourself some stress by making sure you express yourself in a way that the other person understands what you want to communicate. This is similar to the situation in training where you have to do something for the first time, such as caring for a hospitalized animal. In these kinds of moments, you may simply be nervous or unsure. With time, and the practical experience that grows from it, this subjective feeling improves. It is the same with communication. This ability can be tested in relaxed situations, at the bakery or at the cash register, and then used confidently in more difficult situations.
And this should then be internalized and become "unconscious-conscious communication", so to speak?
The brain helps us to do this by programming and storing things that we do on a regular basis. Our software then receives an update, so to speak. Our brain gets used to certain formulations that we use regularly, so that they automatically flow into our own program. But especially when strong emotions are involved, it is easy to fall back into old habits and beliefs. If you catch yourself doing this, then you have to correct yourself and get back on track. But that's just part of it and it's completely human.
Is the nonverbal level of communication the source of many conflicts in the veterinary practice?
Especially in everyday veterinary practice, nonverbal communication is definitely a possible source of conflict. In practice, communication manifests itself in different ways - for example, between the TFAs, with superiors or with patient owners. In these different situations it is very helpful to be aware of what belongs to communication. In this context, non-verbal communication is not limited to our facial expressions, but rather a holistic package consisting of our clothing, body posture and so on.
As a communication coach, do you work with categorizations to summarize conflicts in the veterinary practice and have suitable solutions ready?
I think it's important to first pay attention to oneself and to notice when, for example, a person's appearance triggers me. I want to be aware of these situational aspects so that I don't just react passively, but act consciously.
On the other hand, I am concerned with interacting with and responding to the person facing me. So my conversation should be attuned to who my counterpart is and how that person behaves. And that's where schematizations can be used to have starting points for the concrete behavior that is adapted in this situation.
Here, a very crucial part of communication becomes crysal clear, namely: being able to listen attentively. In this way, we can filter out information on different levels, such as the emotional level. We need to first gain access to this important information content by actively listening and asking questions.
What do you think is the goal of successful communication?
In my eyes, the goal is for the communicators to achieve their goal and then really build collaboration and togetherness. It's never about communicating against each other, because that's not productive. Understanding doesn't mean agreeing. When I focus on what the other person is trying to say, my goal is to understand. It doesn't mean that I will then agree. Keeping that in mind is something that helps me have a constructive conversation.
