The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Australian hospital-based nursing and midwifery educators

Australian nurses' and midwives’ perceptions of their workplace environment during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Research reports estimate between 30% and 80% of nurses do not wish to attend work during disasters, further highlighting the need to understand nurses' and midwives' workplace experiences during a pandemic event ( Labrague et al, 2018 ). While the majority of the COVID-19 nursing and midwifery research has been carried out overseas the limited nursing and midwifery research conducted in Australia is consistent with the international findings ( Fernandez, Lord, Moxham, Middleton, & Halcomb, 2021 ;Halcomb et al, 2020 ;Hammond et al, 2021 ;Homer, Davies-Tuck, Dahlen, & Scarf, 2021 ;Ion et al, 2021 ;Middleton et al, 2021 ;Rasmussen et al, 2022 ;Wynter et al, 2021 ). Nurses and midwives have reported poor mental health ( Al Maqbali, Al Sinani, & Al-Lenjawi, 2021 ;Jarden et al, 2021 ;Middleton et al, 2021 ;Varghese et al, 2021 ), burnout ( Galanis, Vraka, Fragkou, Bilali, & Kaitelidou, 2021 ), and sleep disturbance ( Al Maqbali et al, 2021 ) due to workplace stress and stigmatisation during COVID-19 ( Schubert et al, 2021 ).…”

“…While not reported in this study, internationally, nurses and midwives have identified working in clinical situations where access to essential equipment is limited or denied, they have been exposed to heavy COVID-19 viral loads and have worked long hours, and in some instances with suboptimal nurse-patient ratios to manage the surge in healthcare demand ( Fernandez et al, 2020 ). Overall, nurses and midwives have responded to COVID-19 challenges with maturity, responsiveness, and agility ( Stokes-Parish, Elliott, Rolls, & Massey, 2020 ;Wynter et al, 2021 ). Despite this responsiveness, nurses and midwives have reported ongoing challenges in adapting to COVID-19 because of a lack of preparedness ( Fernandez et al, 2020 ;Ion et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Despite this responsiveness, nurses and midwives have reported ongoing challenges in adapting to COVID-19 because of a lack of preparedness ( Fernandez et al, 2020 ;Ion et al, 2021 ). Organisational pandemic plans need be to be clear, transparent and constantly reviewed and evaluated to ensure nurses and midwives working during pandemics have access to relevant safety equipment and are appropriately educated to enable safe use ( Wynter et al, 2021 ).…”

“…However, lack of adequate staffing, increasing patient acuity and frequently changing models of care during COVID-19 has demanded nurses and midwives develop new skills and knowledge ( Almomani, Sullivan, Hajjieh, & Leighton, 2021 ). This has required many nurses and midwives to simultaneously upskill and develop new ways of working ( Almomani et al, 2021 ;Jarden et al, 2021 ;Williams, Gunn, & Sweeny, 2021 ;Wynter et al 2021 ). Developing and implementing new models of care gave participants access to education, developed and expanded their scope of practice, knowledge and skills and offered more flexible care models, all of which were viewed as positive outcomes.…”

We're on mute! Exclusion of nurses' voices in national decisions and responses to COVID‐19: An international perspective

“…Nevertheless, the exclusion of nurses from decisions about the COVID‐19 vaccine rollout in Australia has also been noted. Our recent study of Australian nursing and midwifery educators (Wynter et al, 2021 ) highlighted the lack of input that many nurses feel they have in COVID‐19 decisions. One participant commented: ‘Feeling like things are being planned behind the scenes that will perhaps affect us but perhaps we're not included during the planning stages…’ (Wynter et al, 2021 ).…”