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STAF120-0311: Communication and Conflict Management Module 3: Balancing Your Life and Managing Your Stress

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INSTRUCTOR(S): Heather Howell, RVT, LVT, MBA and Lisa Dawn Stull, LMFT, MS

COURSE OPEN: March 9-April 9, 2011

REAL TIME SESSIONS: Wednesday, March 16, 23, and 30, 2011; 9:30pm-11:00pm ET (USA)
Course RTS Times in Your Area: World Clock Converter
Practice Sessions: In order to prepare you for a successful experience in your CE course, we request you attend a practice session prior to the first RTS. Times and dates will be listed in your course confirmation email. Expect to spend up to 1 hour at one of the 2-4 practice sessions held prior to the first RTS.

Level and Prerequisites: All members of the veterinary support staff may join the course and its discussions; however, this course is focused toward practice managers, office managers, supervisors and veterinarians. Module 3 may be taken without enrolling in Module 1 and/or 2; however there is a discount if participants enroll in all modules before the close of enrollment of the first module.
VSPN CE course: open to all VIN members and VSPN members. This course has been approved for RACE approval for veterinary technicians and is VHMA approved for CVPM credits.

Course Description:
Stress in the workplace affects us all. Add to that the stress we experience in our personal lives and the workplace can reach a boiling point. In this course techniques will be provided to improve and effectively balance the participant's personal and professional life. The course will also introduce stress management techniques that can be utilized in your home and work life. As a continuation of Modules 1 and 2, we will incorporate how your stress level affects your communication with others. The overall goal of all three modules of this series is for the participant to become a more knowledgeable and confident communicator.

Module 3 consists of three (3) real time interactive sessions of ninety minutes (90) each covering discussion of situations; homework reinforcing the handouts and real time sessions; interactive message boards to discuss the real time sessions and homework; and an online final exam. In addition multiple choice homework quizzes will be given online each week; the goal of the homework is to test the participant's knowledge of the material covered discussed in each session and presented in the handouts.

Upon completion of this course, the participant should be able to

Course Materials: Course materials will be available in the course library prior to each Real Time Session.

About the Instructors: Heather Howell has been a speaker both online and onsite for practice management and for basic veterinary assisting and veterinary technology courses for almost 10 years. As a practice management consultant her primary focus has been with communication of the team as well as intra- and interpersonal relations. Lisa Stull is a clinical psychologist and specializes in family and marriage counseling whose lectures and concentration areas include traumatic stress, children, and abuse and neglect.

Course Outline:
Week 1 (Real Time Session March 16): Assessing Balance
Content: This lecture will cover techniques to assess balance in key areas of your personal and professional life. We will introduce techniques for evaluating your life balance. We will also discuss techniques to improve areas of your life that are lacking balance.

Week 2 (Real Time Session March 23): Stress Management
Content: This lecture will cover stress, how it affects you personally and professionally. We will discuss coping skills and learning how to use them. We will discuss how balance in your life can decrease your stress and how to achieve that. This lecture will cover how stress affects the workplace and what can be done to improve the work environment.

Week 3 (Real Time Session March 23): Balancing Your Life and Supporting Coworkers
Content: This lecture will discuss how to introduce balance into your practice and support coworkers in finding balance in their lives. We will cover communication techniques to reduce stress, conflict, and avoid burn out. We will also cover how you can work as a team to improve the stress level in your practice; including training techniques

CE HOURS: 4.5

Tuition: $90 ($81 early bird special if enrolled by February 23, 2011).
*Enroll in all three Modules by January 5, 2011 and receive a 15% discount off the regular course price.
*Students currently enrolled in and taking at least 2 classes or 5 units at an AVMA accredited or CAAHT approved Veterinary Technician Program may be eligible to receive a 50% discount off the regular rate for this course (upon verification of student status). You must include the following information in the comments section of the CE enrollment form in order to be eligible for this discount: your program director's name and contact information (email/phone) and school name.

** To ensure participants are ready and prepared for classes, enrollment will close when the maximum number of participants is reached or at 5pm ET the day of the first Real Time Session unless otherwise noted. If the first Real Time Session is on a weekend, course will close on the Friday before the first Real Time Session.

**For more on how online CE works see the VSPN Participant's Resource Center

TO ENROLL:
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  1. Enrollment qualifications: VIN CE courses are open to VIN member and non-member veterinarians. Veterinarians enrolling in a VSPN CE course must be a VIN member. Veterinary support staff must be a VSPN member to enroll in a VSPN CE or a VIN CE course open to VSPN member enrollment.
  2. Each enrollee must be able to receive emails from @vspn.org and @vin.com addresses. Email is our major form of communication with participants; personal emails are highly recommended rather than clinic/hospital email addresses.
  3. Each person is individually responsible for his/her own registration. To ensure that all information received is secure and correct, please do not enroll for a course on behalf of another individual.
  4. For further assistance call 1-800-700-INFO (4636) or email (VIN CE) CEonVIN@vin.com or (VSPN CE) VSPNCE@vspn.org). Please include the course title, your full name, and contact information in your correspondence.
Note: "This course has been submitted for approval for 4.5 continuing education credits in jurisdictions which recognize AAVSB RACE approval; however participants should be aware that some boards have limitations on the number of hours accepted in certain categories and/or restrictions on certain methods of delivery of continuing education." Call VSPN CE at 1-800-700-4636 for further information. (Attendees are encouraged to check with their licensing jurisdiction(s) for information regarding recognition by their board).
COURSE WITHDRAWAL AND REFUND POLICY: Withdrawal prior to the listed start date of a course entitles the registrant to a complete refund or a credit toward a future VIN CE course, whichever is preferred. Withdrawal within 1 week after the listed start date (i.e. including no more than one real-time session) entitles the registrant to a credit toward any future VIN CE course. (Refund policy does not apply to courses with only one real-time session.) After the first real-time session, a registrant may withdraw due to special circumstances and receive prorated credit towards a future VIN course. These requests will be handled on an individual basis. The amount of the prorated credit will be determined based on 65% of the time remaining in the course at the time of withdrawal. It is not possible to withdraw retroactively.
Note: To ensure rapid handling of your request for withdrawal, we recommend that you call the VIN office at 1-800-700-INFO (4636).
** For More Information on VSPN's upcoming CE Courses, check out http://www.VSPN.org/CE

Nanette R. Walker Smith, M.Ed., RVT, CVT, LVT
VSPN Content Director & VSPN CE Director

VSPN CE Services: VSPNCE@vspn.org
1-800-846-0028 or 1-530-756-4881 or direct line to VIN/VSPN from the United Kingdom: 01452226154
Charlotte Waack (Charlotte@vspn.org), ext 193
Chris Upchurch (Chris@vspn.org); ext 197
Darci Palmer (Darci@vspn.org); ext 179
Debbie Bess (DBess@vspn.org); ext 178
Mary Mould (Mary@vspn.org); ext 159
Nanette Walker Smith (Nanette@vspn.org); ext 187

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