Table 7.

Themes constructed through reflexive thematic analysis of free-text responses to the question “Is there anything you wish to add about ethically challenging situations you have encountered in the course of your work?” in a survey of veterinary team members following participation in virtual ethics rounds (n = 89).

Theme	Example(s)
Types of ethically challenging situations encountered by veterinary team members	“The usual dichotomy of finances and the need to make money.” “The conflict between animal welfare and human welfare is also a significant challenge.” “…in a professional life, personal morals and ethics have to co-exist alongside regulation. For example, just because I don't like “x”, if it is regulated and permitted for it may happen. perhaps a role of the official veterinary service in this scenario is to be the champion of rigorous adherence to regulation and to keep an open mind to the possibility of improvements and changes in standards and ensure that they lobby for these to be included in the regulations”
Ethically challenging situations impact veterinary team members	“Some situations and events weigh on my mind post-event.” “The personal emotional effect that these situations present can be exhausting.”
There are barriers to resolving ethically challenging situations	“…we often believe that our fundamental beliefs are the right ones and everyone else is somehow not as legitimate a viewpoint as our own.” “I sometimes find it challenging knowing that there will be compromise in either animal needs, owner needs or my professional needs when dealing with ethically challenging situations.” “In the past power has tended to dictate which view wins which is both frustrating and demoralising.” “It's difficult because in some positions it is considered inappropriate to speak up in an ethically challenging situation.” “The “we” as a team does not always include the practice owners. Their viewpoints can be clouded with financial considerations.”
Veterinary team members have a variable degree of autonomy of in making ethical decisions	“Discussion of ethical scenarios within a practice is appropriate. However, if colleagues each have a solid moral compass, then each has the right to decide how to respond to ethical situations which arise.” “As a government employee, at times, I feel that I am not in a position always to question and or deal with ethically challenging situations which are already known to senior personnel.”
Underlying factors that may increase the risk of encountering ethically challenging situations	“Animals are still regarded as chattels despite the closer attachment to the family compared with previous years and also finances play an important part in the decision making for the owners.” “I actually think the profession itself is highly conflicted and has inadequately thought through animal welfare, business interests etc.”
There is a need for ethics training for veterinary team members	“I think we have opinions but may not be skilled to discuss it from ethical points of view, or be aware of how to describe our underlying ethical opinion.” “We are not trained in ethics at uni” “The vet I worked for was very old school so he had a bit of a black and white concept of ethics and didn't really train his workers in this concept. He was less compassionate to those who had to follow through with his instructions.”
There are factors that help veterinary team members navigate ethically challenging situations	“Legislative changes in this area have helped support people who would have refused on ethical grounds.” “We need to recognise how we are viewing the situation and what framework we are using to assess the situation.” “Each situation has to be handled as its own entity, having different context and considerations that need to go into the decision making process.”
Concerns about the survey or terminology used	“Ethically challenging maybe a bit ambiguous as one who feels they have a strong ethical compass may find most situations not at all challenging.” “I found the questions above that referred to “we” [in the MCD instrument] difficult to answer. It's difficult to generalise in a meaningful way about how ethically challenging situations are handled with colleagues due to the wide variety of ethically challenging situations and which colleagues or combinations of colleagues might be involved in dealing with them.”