Burnt out and disillusioned
At the beginning of the pandemic, I was a highly experienced and capable, mental health community based, frontline nurse, seeing the most vulnerable of patients, postnatal women and their infants. When COVID19 hit, the distress, the isolation and the risks, for these women and their infants, increased tenfold. Intimate partner violence (IPV) increased in these families too, along with the scope of practice and the burden of care for us nurses. I was so traumatised by the intensity of the clinical nursing care, that I became physically unwell with a stress related illness. There was no understanding (from management) of the toll this work was having on me (and all nurses!), nor acknowledgement of vicarious trauma. My GP supported me and my requests to work less (as did the NSWNMA) but the LHD wouldn’t accept this, sending me through the impersonal HR process and insisting I got an “independent health assessment”. I realise now I could have made a WorkCover claim but I just wanted out so I resigned. Now I work part-time supporting others to do this important work. I feel angry and disillusioned that LHDs and Mental Health Services across this state claim to provide trauma-informed care to patients and consumers but cannot use the same trauma lens to care for their nurses. So much State and Federal funding has gone to projects and NGOs during the pandemic, when help is needed on the frontline. Mindfulness courses for us just don’t cut it!