Full disclosure: This is what happens on a toxic team

What's all this noise about toxic teams? Get all the info you need by clicking this logo. An overwhelming majority-92 percent, to be precise-of veterinarians, practice owners, practice managers, technicians, receptionists and assistants say they have worked on a toxic team, according to the 2017 Toxic Teams survey* we conducted recently.

Now, we can all agree that the overwhelming majority of veterinary professionals only want the absolute best for their patients-the best treatment, the best care and the best possible experience at the veterinary hospital.

But we must also be honest: How can you possibly offer the best care if you're distracted or emotionally hijacked by the people you work with?

The bitter truth is, you can't. Worse yet? You know it.

Sixty-six percent of survey respondents say that their toxic team affected patient care, and 34 percent acknowledged that pets actuallysuffered because of a toxic team. In the pages that follow, we bring you 100-percent authentic testimonials, verbatim, from our survey, when we asked what a toxic team does to the care patients receive.

Let's be clear: This is by no means an indictment of the profession. (Believe us, we know you all have it hard enough.)

But it is our ultimate job at dvm360 to shine a light on the profession, in all its flawed beauty, in hopes that you will be inspired to make difficult changes-speaking up, working on your conflict resolution skills, even quitting your job-especially when something as important as patient care is at stake.

Read on, with fair warning: Some of the material contained in this article is troubling. 

Next: Making clients wonder, patients seen as "a job" and inaccuracy ....

*The 2017 dvm360 Toxic Teams Survey was sent to subscribers of dvm360, Vetted and Firstline. The survey generated 776 responses, creating a margin of error of about 4 percentage points.

Next: Leaving the clinic short-handed, unmonitored patients and clients that stay away ...

Next: Inappropriate language, bad apple employees and conflicting instructions ...