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The importance of a great team of qualified staff and institutional knowledge cannot be denied; yet, constant turnover plagues animal welfare organizations. Take the time to test your stress level and learn how to control burnout through caring for self, staff and team!
A daily challenge for animal welfare organizations is creating and keeping a productive team of staff and volunteers. Constant turnover damages the integrity of the organization as highly trained individuals burnout and are replaced over and over. Learning to assess and identify the symptoms of compassion stress in self and others is a crucial management tool. Recognizing compassion fatigue triggers and early warning signs is crucial so that intervention is possible before another valued team member is lost. Creating organizational rituals that build and support coping skills plays a key role in creating a culture of compassion satisfaction. During this session attendees will learn how to measure the negative and positive effects of working in a mission driven caring profession. Utilizing the PROQOL (Professional Quality of Life) as the measurement tool for both short term and long term well-being assessment, the attendee will learn how to balance work and play to help themselves and their team become healthy, productive and effective.
Karen S Walsh, CAWA, LVMT, CFE is the Director of the Animal Relocation Initiative for the ASPCA. Her previous positions were as Program Manager with the PetSmart Charities Rescue Waggin’ and as the former executive director of the McKamey Animal Center in Chattanooga, TN. She graduated from Blue Ridge in Virginia with a degree in veterinary technology and has achieved designations as a Certified Animal Welfare Administrator and a Certified Compassion Fatigue Educator. Karen has held leadership positions in both veterinary and animal welfare organizations and was appointed by Governor Haslam to serve on the Tennessee state Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners. Karen lives in Tennessee with her husband, Tom, their four children, and a menagerie of furry and feathered family members on their small, but beautiful farm.
