There are a number of different career options for veterinary professionals. Two paths in particular - clinical practice and laboratory animal medicine - regularly involve physically interacting with animals (e.g., examination or procedures) and performing euthanasia. In the laboratory animal setting - perhaps even more than clinical veterinary practice - professionals routinely face ethical complexity related to animal welfare and engage in emotionally charged procedures, including euthanasia.
A recently published study of laboratory animal professionals, by Kogan et. al.,1 asked about their work-related activities and the impacts on their well-being. The findings provide some powerful, practical insights.
Members of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science were invited to participate in a survey that included questions about the species they work with and contact time (daily), their emotional levels of attachment to the animals, and several pertaining to euthanasia practices. The survey also included questions about organizational training and support related to difficult work-related experiences. The researchers wanted to better understand the impacts of these workplace characteristics and organizational support on burnout, professional fulfillment, and life satisfaction.
The results were striking:
- Nearly half of the respondents in the survey reported that they performed euthanasia of < 10 animals at least weekly (23%) or monthly (23%). Over half of those (57%) indicated that euthanasia had negative impacts on their mental health.
- One of the strongest predictors of professional fulfillment was satisfaction with debriefing opportunities after difficult work-related experiences. However, respondents indicated that these opportunities were not common occurrence. Informal debriefings (after difficult experiences) were reported to occur just a few times a year and formal debriefings even less frequently.
Greater satisfaction with debriefings was also associated with lower burnout and higher overall life satisfaction. In addition, individuals who were least satisfied with the quality of offered debriefings had lower fulfillment scores compared to those who were most satisfied with debriefings. Notably, the frequency of debriefings did not predict better outcomes. Instead, it was the quality and perceived effectiveness of the debriefings that mattered.
These findings underscore the need for intentional, structured support following challenging work-related events. Of course, euthanasia and difficult work experiences are not unique to lab animal professionals. Critical or adverse medical events, due to errors or just unfortunate results, happen frequently in clinical practice. Regardless of patient come, these experiences can have long-lasting impacts on individuals as well as future patient care.
Good debriefings make a difference! Critical incident debriefings are increasingly recognized as a cornerstone of a systems-based approach to addressing medical errors and adverse events. Rather than blaming involved individuals, effective debriefings:
- Help teams understand what happened
- Identify contributing factors and system vulnerabilities
- Foster shared learning and continuous improvement
- Provide emotional support and psychological safety
When conducted well, debriefings have been shown - in both human and veterinary medicine - to improve patient care, teamwork, confidence, resilience, and organizational trust. Debriefings can reduce distress, absenteeism, and attrition. However, the authors of this study emphasized that poorly conducted debriefings can actuallly do harm. Debriefings that lack structure, perceived psychological safety, or genuine support can exacerbate distress rather than relieve it.
Despite the growing body of evidence supporting debriefings, they remain underutilized in veterinary medicine. Prior studies have shown that debriefings occur after only a small fraction of critical events, even in high-intensity environments like emergency and critical care.
In this study of laboratory animal professionals, nearly 60% reported working in settings where debriefings were rare or nonexistent and, among those who did experience them, fewer than half found them satisfactory. This gap represents both a challenge and an opportunity. Veterinary teams across all practice settings need to be empowered and trained to conduct effective debriefings after adverse events. How we support one another after critical events - through skillfully facilitated debriefings - has profound implications for clinician well-being, burnout, and, ultimately, future patient care.
Learn more about Debriefing and Coaching Your Team Through Adverse Medical Events
Reference:
[1] Perceived animal welfare and quality debriefing practices are linked to laboratory animal professionals' job fulfillment and burnout. JAVMA 2026. https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.25.06.0367
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