Resources
Digital Awareness and UnpluggingStaff Meeting in a Box
Need staff meeting ideas? Welcome to our Staff Meeting in a Box! Each month, we provide a full staff meeting worth of materials on a particular topic, taking all of the planning off of your shoulders!
This month’s topic is Unplugging For Your Welbeing. By clicking on the link below, you will be directed to our online platform, where you will have access to a 20 minute video, created by Brenda Tassava Medina, as well as several downloadable resources and activities for your staff!
What people are saying about Staff Meetings in a Box:
“The Stress Management meeting in a Box what’s the perfect meeting at the perfect time! In the middle of the Covid pandemic stress management was a timely topic!”
“Great ideas with specific resource to make the celebration happen.”
“I like that it’s all laid out for me. I’m not very creative so I need something like this to help me.”
Wellness Tip of the Month
Employee Handbook Tip of the Month
Cell phone use in our daily lives is prevalent. Most people have their cell phone within arm’s reach almost 24 hours per day. Convenience and chaos, technology both serves us well and can be a deep source of stress. As such, we’ve added a voluntary clinic “un-plugged” pledge at the end of the cell phone policy. The “un-plugged” pledge should be followed by clinic management and can be encouraged by providing interesting reading materials in the break room.
This cell phone policy is meant to reflect flexibility and understanding. It can and should be modified to fit the clinic culture.
Cell Phone Usage Policy
1. Cell phones will not be used during active patient care or client service.
2. Team members are encouraged to take calls while on breaks and they will notify management if an emergency type call is expected that might contradict this.
3. ABC Clinic encourages (but does not require) the use of cell phones to enhance patient care or client service. Recreational use of cell phones is discouraged.
4. A cell phone ringtone going off in the middle of an appointment in an exam room is the height of unprofessionalism and will result in immediate disciplinary action. All cell phones are required to be on silent unless otherwise instructed.
5. At any time, ABC reserves the right to request cell phone disuse during working hours.
Voluntary Clinic “un-plugged” Pledge
There are many mental health benefits of “taking a break” from your cell phone/social media. To encourage this, we are dedicating <insert week> as an official ABC “unplugged” week. During this week, if you wish to participate, here are the following guidelines:
1. Leave your cell phone in your locker/cubby/car to discourage use.
2. Don’t use your cell phone on breaks/lunch – instead, chat with a coworker or read an article in one of our vet med magazines!
3. You can even extend this into your time at home, limiting either your social media or cell phone usage.
Prepare your family/friends for this week by giving them the clinic phone number in case of emergencies.
Gift Ideas (Also great gifts for yourself for the start of the year!)
Veterinary Practice Manager's Weekly Planner
Start the year off on the right foot with this year long planner! Give this planner as a gift to your manager friend, or invest in this planner for yourself! Specifically designed to organize each week in a straightforward manner, with a methodology that organizes your workweek by categories found on the CVPM Task Analysis list, you will want this planner to start the year off on the right foot!
The Wellness Journal For Veterinary Team Members
Do you need a gift for your team, for your manager friend, or your owner friend? Do you want to invest in your own well-being before the start of the new year? Look no further than our wellness journal with a 52-week spread containing thought-provoking questions geared towards the veterinary profession, wellness wheel activities and much more!
The VetSupport Social Team Planner
Need something for your team to stay on track with all things social media? We’ve got you covered! Our VetSupport Social Team Planner has a monthly layout that will help you stay on track with posts and help you brainstorm throughout any given month on any given social media platform. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to start the year off with a strong and consistent social media plan!
Podcast Recommendation: Vet Med After Hours
Tune in to The Vet Med After Hours Podcast Season 4, Episode 4 – Social Media SoapBox Lunch Chat.
Episode Description:
We need, now more than ever, as a community of veterinary medicine to be together, to support each other, and to be kind.
As our profession uses social media more and more we find ourselves wondering, does it help or does it hurt?
Join Tracy and Alec as they talk about what’s going on in their lives this week and how they feel that social media carelessness is really affecting our profession.
You should always strive to be kind because you never know who is looking to you for inspiration when you are simply being yourself.
Be you, because you matter and be kind because we all matter.
Recipe: Fall Root Veggie “Stew”
This is a great recipe for taking your mind off of the social media sites you would be scrolling 🙂
- 2-3 golden potatoes
- 3 medium parsnips
- 3 medium turnips
- 3 medium sized carrots
- 1 medium sized yellow onion
- 1/2 can crushed tomatoes
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 3 cloves of garlic
- a bunch of fresh thyme, rosemary, and oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 1/2 pints of vegetable stock
- salt and pepper
Peel and roughly chop all vegetables into the same size chunks. Peel and dice the garlic. Roughly chop the onion. Preheat the oven to 450. Toss the vegetable with olive oil until lightly coated. Lay out on an even layer on a baking sheet and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes, flipping halfway.
While the root vegetables are roasting, in a large stock pot or dutch oven add a few tablespoons of olive oil and sauté the onion until translucent. Add the garlic. Watch carefully and cook until just beginning to lightly brown. add the tomato paste and cook a minute longer. Lightly salt and pepper. Add the crushed tomatoes and half of the vegetable stock and bay leaves. Simmer gently until the vegetables finish. the vegetables should be starting to brown but may not be completely soft. This is okay.
Add the vegetables to the pot with the rest of the stock. Stir to combine. Add any water necessary to make sure vegetables are barely covered. Depending on the size of the pot, some vegetables may be left over. Gently place the bunches of herbs on top, gently submerging but keeping together. You will pull them out as soon as the vegetables are soft. Cover the pot and simmer gently until all vegetables are cooked through. Remove herbs.
Enjoy!