The ability to sit with uncertainty is a valuable asset. In these unpredictable times, it is a necessity, writes Kathleen Smith, PhD. She shares two steps to cultivate a skill that has never been more vital: Recognize your anxiety fixing Work on your cognitive flexibility Source: FORGE, March 23, 2020. Link. You can’t control the future, but you can begin to work on … [Read more...]
Posture, movement, variety matter working from home
Before you buy the new office chair, desk or start remodeling, consider what Arianne Cohen shares about managing your office responsibilities from home. Source: Fast Company, March 23, 2020. Link. Cue the stabbing back pain and weird neck spasms. . . . the same desk habits that suited you at the office will not work at home, where you move much less. Also see: How working … [Read more...]
Been there. Done that. But, have you recently?
Our world IS scrambling to deal with immediate and mid-term fallout caused by COVID-19. We are dealing with a global five-alarm fire. Local levels, however, may only be a one- or two-alarm fire that can be managed proactively. Proactivity requires setting priorities. It may have been years since you were trained on the urgent/important principle President Dwight D. … [Read more...]
Getting our minds around pandemics and their history
Context is key when seeking to understand how our current situation with SARS-CoV-2 fits in the overall view of pandemics. The selections below warrant a hard look. “F-E-A-R has two meanings: 'Forget Everything and Run' or 'Face Everything and Rise.' The choice is yours.” – Zig Ziglar Source: Visualizing the history of pandemics, Visual Capitalist, March 14, 2020. … [Read more...]
How employers can manage employees during the coronavirus crisis
HRE provides a snapshot discussion of the impact of COVID-19 from an employer perspective. Privacy and nondiscrimination should be chief priorities as organizations grapple with the growing crisis. Source: Human Resource Executive, March 4, 2020. Link. Employers must be mindful of all legal obligations and cannot prioritize employee health and safety over providing a … [Read more...]
Horses, horse owners and coronavirus (podcast)
Complimentary Sponsored Content from Merck Animal Health Dr. Nicola Pusterla, an equine infectious disease expert from the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine, talks about coronaviruses and answers key questions in late February 2020. Can horses contract coronavirus? What is equine coronavirus? How is equine coronavirus spread? How … [Read more...]
AAHA’s NEWStat: Special COVID-19 edition
See what AAHA provides for member practices to deal with the impact of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19. Source: AAHA NEWStat, March 17, 2020. Link. How to communicate with staff and clients about COVID-19. AAHA responds to COVID-19 virtually What’s up with that dog in Hong Kong who keeps testing positive? Plus, visit NEWStat’s COVID-19 page for regular updates and new … [Read more...]
Leading and working through a pandemic
HBR is publishing daily articles and resources on how to manage yourself, your team, and your company through the coronavirus crisis. The resources are provided at a dedicated Coronavirus Special Coverage page < link >. HBR opened access for these resources to all visitors, so this content can be easily shared with your own teams, colleagues and network. Source: … [Read more...]
Owner contact guidelines algorithm for COVID-19 pandemic
Brief Media’s Chief Veterinary Officer, Indu Mani DVM, ScD, shares the algorithm developed by J. Scott Weese, DVM, DVSc, DACVIM, for the benefit of veterinary clinic teams, their clients and animals. It is a step-by-step COVID-19 protocol for receiving patients in small animal veterinary clinics. Keep disinfecting and be safe.” – Indu Mani, DVM, ScD Source: Clinician’s Brief, … [Read more...]
EPA expands COVID-19 disinfectant list
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released an expanded list of EPA-registered disinfectant products that have qualified for use against SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The new expanded list adds nearly 200 products. This includes 40 new products that passed through the agency’s expedited review process. Source: PORK, March 16, 2020. Link. To … [Read more...]
Understand how to manage employee safety
Wondering how to manage employee safety and sick leave during the coronavirus pandemic? You should. Employers are obligated to protect their workers from communicable diseases and should follow the CDC's recommendations, including: Encouraging employees with respiratory illness to stay home Be prepared to separate sick employees Routinely clean frequently touched … [Read more...]
Telemedicine is getting a big thumbs-up from veterinary practices
Today’s Veterinary Business asked people to talk about what they’re seeing and hearing as the United States deals with the COVID-19 pandemic. Some hospitals are putting remote consultations to greater use, meeting clients in parking lots and doubling down on cleaning and sanitizing. Source: Today’s Veterinary Business, March 2020. Link. Mia Cary, DVM. shared this. I’m seeing … [Read more...]
7 key actions business can take to mitigate the effects of COVID-19
No crisis is an isolated, neatly contained incident, and the COVID-19 outbreak is exceptional by any standards. It comes with extreme scope and levels of uncertainty. It’s a situation that is well beyond the experience of most business leaders. Source: Strategy+Business, March 6, 2020. Link. Preparation is key during crises.. Here are seven actions that leadership can take … [Read more...]
Accurate information during pandemic is critical
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, accurate and timely information is particularly critical. Although businesses may be focused internally on managing their business and staff during this period, focusing on communication with customers and clients remains important, too. Twitter offers suggestions for business communication via social media channels at this … [Read more...]
You, me, us, and them as SARS-CoV-2 disrupts our world
CORONA VIRUS PANDEMIC EDITION These days of myriad, progressing and conflicting COVID-19 articles, blog posts and news releases should be the stuff on which a curation business thrives. The AHD team will do our best to provide factual SARS-CoV-2 material that supports our objective to focus on sharing actionable information in the context of how animal health pros live, work … [Read more...]
Protecting your eyes in a screen-focused world
Modern demands on vision, especially our constant focus on close-up screens, is causing our eyes to make unhealthy adaptations. But you can do something about that! Marc Grossman, OD, Lac, shares steps that can keep your eyes healthier in a near-focused world. Grossman’s steps include: Keep neck muscles loose Avoid extremes of light/dark contrast Lounge consciously … [Read more...]
The state of high stakes learning
Intrepid Learning recently published an infographic to share the results of their 2020 learning and development survey. The results indicate little change compared to 2019 including weaknesses from the top down. The main findings are: Leadership is still the most critical topic Learning with and from others remains the best modality Learning cultures are still seen … [Read more...]
Tips that make working from home awesome
Doug Aamoth has been working from home nearly 20 years. He offers some tips to improve the experience. If you’re being forced to work remotely amid the coronavirus pandemic, take heart: You might find that you love it.” – Doug Aamoth Source: Fast Company, March 17, 2020. Link. One of the best things about not being in an office all day is that if you’ve set yourself up … [Read more...]
Buck trends all the way to success
Trends influence what we eat, how we conduct business, what we wear and even what movies we see. But, as evidenced in the documentary, Country Music, trends have the power to change industries. Source: Purpose Unlimited, Link. Hank Williams made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry in 1949. At the time Roy Acuff was known as the King of Country Music. “I was a pretty good … [Read more...]
Train the whole team on dentistry, oral care
Midmark’s Danielle Heberle, CVT, VTSH (Dentistry), provides sound reasoning for total clinic team dentistry training in this SPARK video. She discusses the practice development opportunities as well as Midmark’s training services. Traditionally we have seen that the client care people get left out of the education process. It is sad considering how integral these staff members … [Read more...]
Adjust inventory to account for supply chain disruptions
Original material from AHD The COVID-19 situation is stressing various supply chains. Adjustments to inventory management, especially for SKUS needed for caring for animals, will be critical for the foreseeable future. AHD founder, Kirk Augustine has helped develop and teach inventory management curricula for veterinary teams. He created a short inventory management paper … [Read more...]
Virox announces free webinar on COVID-19: Protecting People and Animals
Complimentary Sponsored Content from Virox Animal Health™ Webinar: Coronavirus (COVID-19) in veterinary and animal group settings: Protecting People and Animals TODAY: Thursday, March 19, 2020 - 2:00 p.m. Eastern time Top infection prevention and epidemiology experts will provide a brief summary of the current COVID-19 status in people and animals, along with specific … [Read more...]
2019 Triennial Heartworm Symposium selective summary
Marisa Ames, DVM, DACVIM, provides an informative and actionable summary from the September 2019 heartworm symposium. The topics in the presentations and poster included: Heartworm vectors and transmission Heartworm prevention Heartworm pathology Heartworm diagnosis Wolbachia and heartworm treatment protocols . . . a strong correlation was noted between … [Read more...]
Marketing: no time, no money, no expertise
In a recent article and podcast, George B. Krueger, MBA, DBA, shares research that explores the theme of microbusiness marketing with no time, no money and no expertise. Microbusinesses were defined as small businesses that employ nine or fewer people, including the owner. Source: bizTimes, March 5, 2020. Link. White paper copy of article < link > The research … [Read more...]
Sometimes the wrong words just come out
Most people mean well. Veterinary teams often face clients whose prized animal should be put down or has died. It’s an emotional time for all. Despite best intentions during these times we end up eating our foot. The folks at CareBridge offer some perspective worth consideration. Source: CareBridge. Link. So why do insensitive and downright dumb things pop out of the mouths … [Read more...]
Keep work out of personal social media posts
There is a growing trend where carelessly made social media posts cause a furor in the workplace while harming the organization’s interest or reputation. Iffy posts also cost people their jobs. Source: Harvard Business Review, January 17, 2020. Link. The authors share simple safeguards you can follow to stay out of trouble: Don’t tag your company in your personal posts … [Read more...]
8 tips to get your messages read
Emails, memos and requests often go ignored likely because they’re hard to understand. However, individual success depends on the help of others. Thus, success for a sale, a project, even a career likely depends on getting others to read and act on our messages. Here are eight ways to help get people to respond to them. Source: New York Times, March 8, 2020. Link. (paywall) … [Read more...]
Stifle surgery and treatments: Guarded prognosis and more doesn’t help
Horses have been observed to have problems with the stifle joint for a long time. In recent years, these joints are getting noticed and treated more, yet remain an uncommon area from which lameness arises. The stile is a big joint and it’s an important one overall. Davey Ramey, DVM, discusses the challenges of stifle surgery, realistic outcomes and therapeutic options that … [Read more...]
Veterinary Feed Directives improving use of medically important products
VFDs imposed by the Food and Drug Administration in January 2017 are required for livestock feed products that contain medically important ingredients, such as tetracyclines. David Williams, owner-operator of Burkmann Nutrition, explains how feed retailers can play a leading role helping livestock operators and their veterinarians operate well with VFDs. His and other … [Read more...]
Rural Media Group announces new streaming service, RFD-TV Now (video)
Complimentary Sponsored Content RMG has just announced expanded streaming service under a new name: RFD-TV Now. It offers improved searchability, increased security, and added features such as the ability to “favorite” shows or binge watch them by season. This is good news for animal health pros who enjoy FarmHer, rodeos, horsemanship features, cattle topics like DocTalk, … [Read more...]