Building a durable vet team: Practical strategies to reduce injury and burnout

Veterinary teams are expected to perform at a high level every day—physically, mentally, and emotionally. Yet in many practices, musculoskeletal strain, fatigue, burnout, and turnover are still addressed as separate problems rather than connected signals of overload. A more useful leadership question is this: what would it look like to build a team that is not just productive, but durable?

That question matters because the physical demands of veterinary work are substantial. In a US study of veterinarians and veterinary technicians, 12-month prevalence of musculoskeletal discomfort exceeded 60% in the neck, low back, and legs/feet, and more than 85% of participants reported that work activities worsened discomfort in at least 1 body region.¹ Other research in a small-animal clinic identified lifting, repetitive motion, awkward postures, and forceful exertions as leading ergonomic risk factors for veterinary technicians.² On the psychological side, recent work on veterinary technician burnout found that 66% of respondents met burnout criteria in at least 1 dimension, with workload and lack of support emerging as major contributors.³

Taken together, these findings suggest that injury prevention and burnout prevention should not live in separate silos. Physical discomfort drains energy, patience, and focus. Heavy workload and poor recovery increase irritability, emotional exhaustion, and disengagement. Durable teams are built when leaders reduce unnecessary strain while also improving the conditions that support recovery and sustainable performance.

Three small changes that reduce strain and support recovery at work

One practical place to start is by reducing repeated physical wear during the day. Clinics do not need perfect ergonomics to make meaningful progress. Small changes in table setup, equipment placement, lifting support, restraint strategy, and task organization can reduce avoidable reaching, twisting, gripping, and static loading that accumulate across a shift.²

A second strategy is to normalize movement and recovery during the workday. Short posture changes, brief walks, quick mobility resets, and even 30- to 60-second transition breaks between appointments or procedures can help interrupt sustained loading and stiffness. These habits are simple, but they signal that recovery is part of a good workflow, not a reward saved for after work.

Third, leaders can support energy stability more intentionally. Readily available hydration, realistic access to quick nourishing food, and better awareness of long blocks of uninterrupted demand can improve focus and decision-making while reducing the “push through it” culture that often accelerates both physical and emotional wear.

Finally, durability should become part of routine team conversation. Asking where the day feels hardest physically, where workflow bottlenecks create unnecessary stress, and what support is missing helps shift durability from an individual burden to a shared operational goal. Evidence from a veterinary hospital study suggests that supportive leadership and accessible team-based well-being practices can improve professional quality of life, particularly compassion satisfaction.⁴

Building a durable vet team does not require a dramatic overhaul. It requires leaders to see injury, fatigue, and burnout as related outcomes of how work is currently done—and to make small, repeatable improvements that help their people stay strong, engaged, and effective over time.

References

1. Seagren KE, Sommerich CM, Lavender SA. Musculoskeletal discomfort in veterinary healthcare professions. Work. 2022;71(4):1007-1027. doi:10.3233/WOR-205043.
2. Arias OE, Proulx JA, Taveira A. Exposure to ergonomic risk factors to veterinary technicians at a small animal clinic. J Agric Saf Health. 2023;29(1):71-82. doi:10.13031/jash.15223.
3. Chapman AJ, Rohlf VI, Bennett PC. Understanding veterinary technician burnout, part 1: burnout profiles reveal high workload and lack of support are among major workplace contributors to burnout. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2025;263(S2):s18-s27. doi:10.2460/javma.25.03.0163.
4. Alwood AJ, Ferrentino DA, Olson SA, Rodriguez VI. The positive impact of daily well-being practices on individual veterinary professionals’ professional quality of life self-assessment scores within an emergency and specialty hospital. Front Vet Sci. 2024;11:1381090. doi:10.3389/fvets.2024.1381090.