The challenge of meeting pet healthcare demands with inadequate staff resources creates legal and ethical considerations for the veterinary profession. Inadequate staffing can result in access to care issues that impact companion animal health, public health, and the human animal bond. An overburdened work environment may also result in liability issues related to standard of care, client dissatisfaction, and subsequent complaints. The following recommendations may ameliorate the legal and ethical impacts to include: a focus on how to optimize current resources (human and technology); improve client communications and medical record-keeping strategies; promote preventive care; develop and memorialize clinical standard operating procedures; and prioritize staff well-being to prevent burn out. These recommendations should be considered good practices when functioning under optimal conditions but are even more valuable to implement effectively in an overburdened companion animal medicine environment.
Keywords: access to care; communication (oral and written, ie, medical records); liability (ethical and legal); spectrum of care; standard of care.