Does your veterinary practice know how to deal with staff shortages? Learn more about what to do below.

Even missing one employee can throw not only your entire schedule but your entire practice off. So much so, that your remaining staff gets overworked, your clients experience longer wait times, and this results in an overall poor client experience.

Currently, the veterinary field is having serious trouble filling all positions. Veterinarians all the way down to receptionists. No one is safe from this industry-wide staffing shortage.

Below, we discuss the current labor shortages and tips for helping understaffed teams keep their practices running smoothly.

Why the Veterinary Industry Is Facing Unprecedented Labor Shortages

While the trend was occurring before, once the pandemic hit, practices began closing up shop overnight.

As the shutdown continued, pet owners put off routine and elective care appointments for their pets for months. Once restrictions eased up, the rapid increase in client volume created an inevitable bottleneck.

Roughly 40% of veterinary practices in America were actively searching for knowledgeable employees to fill open positions as of August 2022.

Furthermore, 90% of those practices found it “extremely difficult” to find suitable candidates. Nationwide, veterinary practices are dealing with overworked staff, months-long scheduling backups, and loss of productivity.

5 Ways to Deal with Shortage of Staff at Your Veterinary Practice

1. Start Every Morning with a Daily Game Plan

If your veterinary practice is short on staff, getting through the workday without any bumps or obstacles can be a challenge. 

In addition, your team has to pick up the slack and handle the extra work until you hire a suitable candidate. 

With Chckup’s Morning Huddle and other software solutions, you can increase veterinary production and start the day with clear communication between your staff for a more efficient workflow.  

2. Streamline Scheduling and Client Care Systems

When you’re down a staff member and facing a busy day and full appointment schedule, every minute counts. 

Investing in Online Scheduling and systems for client care and practice management can help you streamline your workday, increase efficiency, and create a more convenient and positive experience for your clients.

However, using two or more systems can be cumbersome. 

Instead, look for a single, centralized system that makes it fast and easy to switch between tasks and facilitate all your essential workday tasks at once. 

Veterinary practices with more than one location will particularly benefit from this time-saving solution.   

3. Go Paperless with Cloud-Based Platforms

When learning how to deal with a shortage of staff, one of the best things to do is go paperless.

Veterinary practices generate a lot of paperwork, from treatment plans, to consent forms, to medical records, to billing, and more. 

Dealing with all this paperwork makes it harder to manage proper care for your clients and can put extra stress on staff. Not to mention the security risk it poses. 

However, you can eliminate that issue and save time by going paperless with a cloud-based platform that offers features like Digital Forms, flexible payment options, Virtual Check-In, and more.

4. Be Proactive Against Burnout

Veterinary professionals working in an understaffed practice are at a high risk of suffering from burnout. 

Being proactive in fighting against this issue is important, as employee morale significantly impacts the quality of care your practice provides.

For example, you can take steps to pinpoint the triggers that affect your staff the most through anonymous surveys. Some factors might include 

• Excess overtime hours

• Lack of support

• Working through breaks 

Then, you can determine which problems are the most pressing and how to solve them. This ensures your current staff remains happy, productive, and engaged.

5. Cast a Wide Net When Hiring

Veterinary staff recruitment can be a challenging and time-consuming process. When searching for suitable candidates, use every resource available to you. 

Look on LinkedIn, post jobs on your Facebook page or website, use online job boards or post openings at nearby veterinary schools.

Put time and effort into creating job postings to entice qualified candidates to apply. Casting a wide net can help you fill job openings faster and reduce the time and money spent recruiting.

Advanced Software Solutions for Veterinary Professionals

Knowing how to deal with a shortage of staff at your veterinary practice is critical to its continued success. 

With our cutting-edge solutions at Chckup, you can drive growth, streamline your workflow, and keep your practice thriving even when understaffed. Schedule a demo today!