(Alter)narratives of ‘winning’: Supermarket and healthcare workers’ experiences of COVID19 in Aotearoa New Zealand

Appleton, Nayantara Sheoran; Long, Nicholas; Aikman, Pounamu Jade William Emery; Davies, Sharyn Graham; Deckert, Antje; Fehoko, Edmond; Holroyd, Eleanor; Jivraj, Naseem; Laws, Megan; Martin-Anatias, Nelly; Roguski, Michael; Simpson, Nikita; Sterling, Rogena; Trnka, Susanna; Tunufa’i, Laumua

doi:10.11157/sites-id471

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The notion of an obligation to sacrifice without extra resources (PPE, occupational well‐being support, etc.) has been used to portray nurses as model citizens, as if being framed as ‘heroes’ were a reward in itself, conferring status on previously invisible groups (Appleton et al., 2020; Wilson et al., 2020). However, this places extreme pressure on this workforce (Shan et al., 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community healthcare workers' experiences during and after COVID‐19 lockdown: A qualitative study from Aotearoa New Zealand

Holroyd

Long

Appleton

et al. 2022

Health Social Care Comm

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Shortly after the COVID‐19 pandemic reached Aotearoa New Zealand, stringent lockdown measures lasting 7 weeks were introduced to manage community spread of the virus. This paper reports the findings of a qualitative study examining how lockdown measures impacted upon the lives of nurses, midwives and personal care assistants caring for community‐based patients during this time. The study involved nationwide surveys and in‐depth interviews with 15 registered nurses employed in community settings, two community midwives and five personal care assistants. During the lockdown, nurses, midwives and personal care assistants working in the community showed considerable courage in answering their ‘call to duty’ by taking on heightened care responsibilities and going ‘the extra mile’ to help others. They faced significant risks to personal and professional relationships when they were required to take on additional and complex responsibilities for community‐based patients. Despite the hypervigilant monitoring of their personal protective equipment (PPE), the need to safeguard family and community members generated considerable stress and anxiety. Many also faced personal isolation and loneliness as a result of lockdown restrictions. Moreover, the negative impacts of experiences during lockdown often continued to be felt once restrictions had been lifted, inflecting life during periods in which community transmission of COVID‐19 was not occurring. This article makes five core service delivery and policy recommendations for supporting community‐based nurses, midwives and personal care assistants in respiratory disease pandemics: acknowledging the crucial role played by community‐based carers and the associated stress and anxiety they endured by championing respect and compassion; demystifying the ‘heroism’ or ‘self‐sacrifice’ projected onto care workers; the timely provision of adequate protective equipment; improving remuneration, with adequate provision for time off; and regular counselling, peer support groups and education on work‐life balance delivered by support workers in recognition of stressors arising from these complex and isolated working conditions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community healthcare workers' experiences during and after COVID‐19 lockdown: A qualitative study from Aotearoa New Zealand

Holroyd

Long

Appleton

et al. 2022

Health Social Care Comm

Self Cite

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“…Our usual actions and activities are disrupted and we are required to adapt in a way that is often beyond our existing repertoire and knowledge. Sensemaking requires us to relate to the unknown through experimenting with alternative actions, and then reviewing and revising these actions as we experiment with what works in a shifting reality (Ancona, 2012).…”

Section: Conceptual Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Frontline nurses’ sensemaking during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 Aotearoa New Zealand

Cook¹,

Brunton²,

Chapman³

et al. 2021

Nurs Prax ANZ

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The aim of this study was to identify the COVID-19 pandemic impacts on nurses' sensemaking and explore resilience and mitigation strategies nurses adopted to sustain their wellbeing. Frontline clinical nurses are an essential population within the health workforce. Although they are educated to deal with the many challenges working in health presents, this pandemic has created new stressors and vulnerabilities, placing strain on their wellbeing. This article reports on the qualitative data from a national mixed methodology study undertaken between October and December 2020. Twenty-nine interviews were conducted remotely using Zoom and telephone with nurses in a wide range of clinical front-line roles. Data were analysed thematically drawing from the theoretical lens of sensemaking, and related concept of liminality. Findings identified that early in the pandemic, participants who were frontline nurses prioritised patient care while negotiating shifting uncertainties, fear, under-resourcing, and variable leadership. They watched the unfolding international crisis and anticipated that we, in Aotearoa New Zealand, faced a similar disaster. Amidst significant stressors, they endured separation from their families while acting as substitute family for patients and residents isolated from whānau. Six themes were identified: liminality; teamwork and leadership; relational dynamics; health and safety precarity; care ethics; and heroes and pariahs. The study highlights that organisational culture, communication, and clinical leadership either fractured or strengthened nurses' professional commitment.Keywords / Ngā kupu matua: altruism / te whakaaro atawhai i ētahi atu; COVID-19; frontline nurses / ngā tapuhi i te aroākapa o ngā mahi; leadership / te mahi arataki; liminality / panonitanga o te āhua tangata; sensemaking / te mātai āhuatanga; wellbeing / hauora Te Reo Māori translation Te mātai āhuatanga a ngā tapuhi i te aroākapa o ngā mahi āwhina tūroro i ngā marama tuatahi o te mate urutā o Covid-19 i 2020 i Aotearoa New Zealand Ngā ariā matuaKo te whāinga ia o tēnei mātainga tūāhua he tautuhi i te pānga o te urutā o COVID-19 ki te mātainga āhuatanga a ngā tapuhi, he tūhura hoki i ngā rautaki tū pakari, whakangāwari hoki a ngā tapuhi kia mau tonu tō rātou hauora. He taupori taketake ngā tapuhi i te aroākapa o ngā mahi āwhina tūroro i roto i te kāhui kaimahi hauora. Ahakoa kua ākona rātou mō ngā tini wero ka tūponotia e te hunga mahi i te ao hauora, i tēnei o ngā urutā kua puta ake ētahi atu pēhitanga, whakaraeraetanga hoki, ā, hei whakataumaha ēnei āhua i tō rātou hauora. Tā tēnei tuhinga he tuku pūrongo mō ngā raraunga inekounga mai i tētahi rangahau tikanga-maha i kawea i waenga i ngā marama o Whiringa ā-

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Fighting COVID-19 with the team of 5 million: Aotearoa New Zealand government communication during the 2020 lockdown

Beattie¹,

Priestley²

2021

Social Sciences & Humanities Open

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(Alter)narratives of ‘winning’: Supermarket and healthcare workers’ experiences of COVID19 in Aotearoa New Zealand

Cited by 6 publications

References 19 publications

Community healthcare workers' experiences during and after COVID‐19 lockdown: A qualitative study from Aotearoa New Zealand

Community healthcare workers' experiences during and after COVID‐19 lockdown: A qualitative study from Aotearoa New Zealand

Frontline nurses’ sensemaking during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 Aotearoa New Zealand

Fighting COVID-19 with the team of 5 million: Aotearoa New Zealand government communication during the 2020 lockdown

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