When Speaking Up Feels Risky: Psychological Safety in Veterinary Medicine
There is a moment that happens in vet clinics more often than we probably admit. Someone notices something that does not feel quite right, but before speaking, they look around the room and make a quick calculation: "Is this the right time? How are people behaving and feeling right now? What if I am wrong? Will I be perceived as questioning someone’s competence?
Sometimes they speak, and sometimes they simply decide it is safer not add that voice to the equation.
After more than two decades in veterinary practice, I have come to believe that this small moment tells us so much about the health of a veterinary team. We can have talented doctors, experienced technicians, excellent protocols, and beautiful mission statements, but if people are afraid to ask a question or raise a concern, we have created a system that looks great but isn't functioning in a way that is supportive of the team members. This type of cultural infrastructure does lend towards sustainability and longevity.
Psychological safety in veterinary medicine means that people can speak honestly about patient care, workload, mistakes, uncertainty, conflict, and their own well-being without expecting humiliation or retaliation. It does not mean that everyone agrees, and it does not remove accountability, professional standards, or difficult conversations. In fact, I think it allows us to have those conversations more honestly because people are not spending all of their energy protecting themselves.
Psychological safety should not be confused with comfort. Tough conversations are often uncomfortable, and most of us know the hesitation that comes with adding our voice when we are unsure how it will be received. In a psychologically safe workplace, that discomfort is acknowledged rather than dismissed, and the person’s voice is welcomed into the conversation. The goal is not to eliminate discomfort, because some of our most necessary conversations will always require courage. The goal is to make sure that discomfort is not reinforced, prolonged, or turned into fear because of a toxic or unsafe response. In a safe environment, we can move through the discomfort and discover that it begins to dissipate because someone listened, responded with respect, and treated our concern as worthy of consideration. We move from discomfort to validation, from validation to connection, and from connection to a stronger belief that speaking up was the right thing to do.
Veterinary medicine is complicated work, and it depends on the observations and actions of the entire team. I have worked with many people who became better because someone gave them the freedom to be curious or even provided training in curiosity (yes, curiosity can be taught, trained, and practiced). They asked more questions, accepted feedback, took on greater responsibility, and eventually became the people training others. That growth does not happen in a workplace where every question is met with sarcasm, an eye roll, or a reminder of who has the higher title. People may still complete their tasks in that environment, but they begin to withhold ideas, concerns, and eventually parts of themselves.
If team members do not feel like they can effectively and safely contribute to the conversation, they will privately carrying confusion, resentment, or even fear; and over time, that lack of communication affects patient safety, veterinary team belonging, employee retention, burnout, and the basic sense of purpose that helps people stay connected to their work.
Veterinary leaders have an enormous influence on this culture, often through ordinary responses. When someone raises a concern, do we become defensive, or do we first say, “Thank you for telling me”? When a mistake happens, do we immediately search for the person to blame, or do we also examine the workload, training, communication, and systems surrounding the event? When a team member says they are overwhelmed, do we treat that as a character problem, or do we become curious about what is making good work harder than it needs to be?
Those choices accumulate over time, and they teach people whether speaking up is welcomed or punished.
The strongest veterinary workplace culture is not one where mistakes never happen, conflict never appears, or everyone feels comfortable all the time. It is a culture where people can tell the truth early enough for the team to respond. It is a place where high standards and human dignity can exist together; where we protect the patient without sacrificing the people providing the care.
At GRIT + LOVE, we believe that supporting veterinary mental health and building healthier team cultures are connected to good medicine, ethical leadership, and a more sustainable veterinary profession.
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