workforce
workplace stress is a major issue for them.
Indeed, it’s so much of an issue, they feel
the need to call our service, which is great,
to seek support. Workplace stress for them
relates often to the nature of the work that
we do as nurses and midwives. Also, to
the clinical placements that students find
themselves in or to the study pressures that
they face. Some of those stressors relate
to the fast-paced nature of the work that
nurses and midwives do.
They say that there’s a constant feeling
of rushing to complete tasks, so there’s
not often a sense that they have time to
spend with patients, clients or families.
They need to rush through things to get
the work done. Also, they describe the
unpredictable nature of the work. They
get patients or clients to look after, but
naturally we’re dealing with people and
things don’t always go according to plan.
Sometimes that can be quite stressful, re-
juggling priorities and meeting the needs of
patients and clients. They describe finding
it difficult not being able to stick to the plan
that they have for caring for the person, or
the people they care for.
The exposure to trauma and suffering,
which is obviously part of nursing and
midwifery work is stressful for people –
for nurses, midwives and students. They
describe missing breaks, so not getting a
circuit breaker in the shift, or not having
meals or adequate nourishment to see
them through the shift. They describe
regular staff shortages, then not getting
replacement, or working with people
who don’t have the same awareness or
knowledge of the patients or the service
they need to provide.
Exposure to workplace aggression is
given as a cause of stress, and there’s a lot
of media and a lot more awareness now
of the general public being aggressive to
nurses, midwives and students. They find
it stressful not being able to meet work
deadlines. So having a feeling that their
work isn’t satisfying because they actually
can’t get the work done that they need to
get done. Then that leads often to feeling
out of control, and a lack of resources to
get the job done.
Of course, when those areas or those
aspects are cumulative, that often leads
to burnout and feelings that the job is
really not satisfying and perhaps there’s
something else that they need to be doing.
Now, in relation to bullying and
harassment, they describe that as the way
they’re feeling, sometimes in relation to
colleagues or managers, or other health
professionals they work with. But as we
know, there’s a clear, legal definition of
bullying and harassment. What we find
is that people describe feeling bullied
or harassed in the workplace, but they
actually don’t have the evidence to meet
the legal criteria. But it’s still very much a
feeling they have, and we say that feeling
that way is your reality and if you feel that
way, clearly it’s going to lead to stress or
lack of work satisfaction.
Physical health problems and mental
health worries were also raised by
students, nurses and midwives. What
were some of their key concerns?
Nursing and midwifery, by nature, is
physical. Even though we have systems,
processes and equipment to support
manual handling, it’s often because we’re
dealing with people – they’re unpredictable
in the way they interact with us. Nurses and
midwives describe physical issues related
to muscular tension, aches and pains,
gastrointestinal type symptoms like nausea,
diarrhoea and irritable bowel syndrome,
headaches, dizziness, and feeling
lightheaded, and being more susceptible to
colds, flus or gastrointestinal symptoms.
In relation to mental health, some of
those issues relate to prolonged stress and
burnout. They might relate to a sense of
despair around lack of control in relation
to workload that may lead to anxiety and
depression – a feeling of being consistently
overwhelmed. And then they’re feeling
isolated because they feel a bit antisocial.
Because they still feel so overwhelmed by
the stress of the work that they do, they
find it difficult to go home from a busy shift
and then go out and socialise.
Have you received much feedback
about NM Support as a service? One
year on, how do you feel it’s tracking
against its aim of supporting nurses,
midwives and students?
Overwhelmingly, we’ve had positive
support. I visit a lot of stakeholders. I meet
a lot of nurses, midwives and students who
tell me their story. They overwhelmingly
tell me how pleased they are that the
service is now available to support them,
and it’s available 24-7, nationwide, by a
1800 number and interactive website.
Which means that no matter where
nurses, midwives and students live, work
and study in Australia, they can access
a service. They can speak to a nurse or
midwife who understands their world.
I think the key elements for people too is
that it’s anonymous and confidential. So
people don’t have to tell us their name, or
[fear that] we’ll be releasing information to
other people.
Were there any other surprising findings
in this early research?
I guess from my perspective, as somebody
who’s been a registered nurse for over
30 years, it’s been quite concerning to me
to connect with the high levels of stress
that nurses, midwives and students are
experiencing.
We need to have a conversation in
the profession about what that means,
and I have a view that highly stressed
healthcare professionals don’t necessarily
provide high quality care.
In a profession that is fundamentally
about caring, why don’t nurses and
midwives feel cared for themselves?
In a profession that is
fundamentally about
caring, why don’t nurses
and midwives feel cared
for themselves?
Why are they experiencing a feeling that
they’re being bullied and harassed in the
workplace?
While those things haven’t necessarily
been surprising to us, there is a need for
further discussion and further research.
What do you hope organisations and
their leaders, or nurses who might
identify with some of these issues, take
away from these early findings?
I hope they feel that they now have 24/7
national support whenever they need it,
that they can speak to a nurse or a midwife
qualified to talk to them about their issues,
and that they can, through that process,
get the support and referral pathways they
want and need.
We really try and position ourselves in
the space of health promotion and early
intervention, so we can hopefully work
with the profession to better equip nurses,
midwives and students to recognise their
own stress and manage it much earlier. ■
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