Workplace Wellbeing: Support for stretched frontline workers

An upcoming conference aims to offer essential workers, who were pushed to their limits during the pandemic, a safe space to reflect on how their work affects them

Mon, 22 May, 2023 - 09:59

Sharon Ní Chonchúir

IRELAND’S frontline workers are buckling under pressure. These are people who deal directly with the public and in the case of medics, teachers, childcare workers, and members of An Garda Síochána, they fulfil a vital role in the community.

Statistics show they are finding it difficult to cope with the stress of their work. The Nursing and Midwifery Survey published earlier this month found that work negatively impacted the psychological wellbeing of 94% of nurses and midwives. And the Irish Medical Organisation’s most recent survey of doctors’ health and wellbeing found that 90% experienced some form of depression, anxiety, stress or other mental health condition related to or exacerbated by work.

Teachers are suffering too. In February, the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation published a survey in which 90% of respondents said teaching had become more stressful in the past five years and that they struggled with the workload.

A national conference at Nano Nagle Place in Cork and online on May 30 aims to offer some respite to this pressure. It’s being organised by the Heart of Frontline Practice Alliance, a collaborative initiative providing frontline practitioners across all sectors with safe spaces to reflect upon the impact of their work.

Dr Maeve Hurley is one of the conference organisers. She is a former GP and a trainer with Relationships in Practice, a programme that helps frontline practitioners to develop and maintain supportive relationships with those around them.

“People who work in caring professions go into that work for a reason, to make a difference and to look after others,” says Dr Hurley. “But often the stress of their work erodes that, and we wondered if there was something that might allow them to reconnect with what drew them to their work in the first place. That’s the aim of the conference.”

Jim Sheehan, Director of SHEP -The Social and Health Education Project. Pic: Darragh Kane

Taking time out

If frontline workers were overloaded pre-pandemic, they are even more so now. That’s according to Jim Sheehan, a former secondary school teacher, director of the Cork-based Social and Health Education Project (Shep) and one of the conference organisers.

“Covid pushed people to their limits, adding an extra level of stress and compounding the already-challenging reality of frontline practice,” he says. “People are still recovering from that trauma and finding it hard to recalibrate.”

Add the current staffing shortages and the picture that emerges is of a frontline workforce under severe strain. Take nurses and midwives, for example. Some 85% of those interviewed for the nursing and midwifery survey said that staffing levels cannot meet work demands and 89% said they felt burnt out.

It is vital frontline workers take steps to safeguard their health and wellbeing. “As practitioners, it’s important to take time out of our daily routine to reflect on what sustains us and keeps us well in our work,” says Sheehan. “You can’t care for or support others if you are unwell in any way.”

Connecting with colleagues and setting time aside for reflection are two such steps. “Having someone to talk to and being able to speak from the heart about your shared experiences can be enormously beneficial,” says Sheehan.

Hurley refers to a 2022 study of frontline workers in Ireland and Britain during the pandemic. “It found that the sense of solidarity within teams helped people through that difficult time,” she says. “Being able to talk to someone who understands your reality makes a big difference.”

Reflective spaces

Dr Nicola O’Sullivan is an independent social care consultant specialising in offering reflective spaces where frontline practitioners can process their experiences.

“These practitioners often carry an immense weight of responsibility in their work, living with anxiety about the decisions they make concerning the life, death or ongoing wellbeing of their patients, service users or clients,” she says.

The stakes are high in the work and the pace can be relentless. They may not have the time or the inclination to slow down and reflect on what is happening and how it affects them.

O’Sullivan thinks this is a mistake. “In my experience, any group of practitioners working closely with complex human experience need to have the opportunity to make sense of it and be able to think and talk openly about it,” she says.

“If we do not consider and reflect upon our emotional experience at work, we run the risk of struggling on with them and we may miss vital information about how to help ourselves and those we work with as we become more psychologically burdened.”

Hurley agrees that taking time to process difficult experiences at work can prevent problems further down the line. “It can stop people from becoming stressed or distressed at work, which can then minimise the risk of accidents happening, or mistakes being made, which can have huge fallout for the person involved and the person affected,” she says.

Professor Maeve Eogan, obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Rotunda Hospital

Difficult line of work

Prof Maeve Eogan is an obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Rotunda Hospital and the clinical lead for all six sexual assault treatment units in Ireland, which provide care for anyone over 14 who has experienced sexual crime. The HSE introduced a programme of reflective practice in 2021 to reduce the attrition rate in her health service sector.

“This means we have group sessions a couple of times a year and individual sessions once a month in which we are given time to talk through what’s been difficult at work, what’s caused us stress or posed a challenge,” says Eogan.

She has found it therapeutic. “I experience its benefits in all aspects of my life,” she says.

“In the health service, we are expected to be present, compassionate, caring, and non-judgmental. We have to manage our emotions when dealing with patients’ traumas. But we can’t pour from an empty cup and to be the best version of ourselves for our patients, we have to look after ourselves first. Having this support helps us to do that.”

Eogan finds her work in the sexual assault treatment units particularly challenging. “There are times when I can see my kids in their eyes and I realise that I don’t want to bring that feeling home with me or to let the stress of work impact my life at home or my role as a parent,” she says. “Being able to talk those cases through with someone helps me to balance my responsibilities in life while continuing to offer patients the very best care.”

She would like to see reflective practice offered more widely. “It could have a huge impact on enhancing staff wellbeing, reducing attrition and saving on the costs related to that as well as bolstering the health service so that it delivers the quality care that people need,” she says.

The team behind the Heart of Frontline Practice Alliance is advocating for this practice too.

“We know that people are resilient and capable of finding ways of supporting themselves such as attending conferences like ours,” says Sheehan.

“But the organisations they work for have a responsibility to support them in dealing with the psychological impact of their work too. Small changes such as giving people the opportunity to reflect regularly upon their work can be massively transformative for people.”