Retrospective review of a Schwartz Rounds service for a veterinary team

Schwartz Rounds were set up by the Center for Compassionate Care in memory of Kenneth Schwartz, a medical attorney who developed terminal lung cancer. He noted that it was the moments of compassion shown by healthcare teams which meant the most to him during his treatment. The premise of Schwartz Rounds is that, in order to offer compassionate care to patients, healthcare teams need to be offered the same (Firth-Cozens and Cornwell, 2009). Noting the evidence in human-centred healthcare settings for Schwartz Rounds, transferability into the veterinary setting needs to be understood. As veterinary professionals experiencing compassion fatigue may have a reduced empathy for coworkers, this can result in reduced quality of care (Foote, 2000). Schwartz Rounds can provide a countercultural or third space for teams, which gives attendees a forum to reflect in a group setting.

Rounds usually last 1 hour, have two trained facilitators (who introduce and set the parameters of the Round) and two panellists, who start the reflective discussion by recounting experiences from their daily working lives. Audience members are invited to reflect as the stories stimulate similar memories or experiences – food is provided as part of the format of the Round (Martin, 2022).