Bullying in the workplace is never OK, but it is a reality for many. The experience can have a detrimental impact on health and wellbeing and may be related to long-term negative impacts.

In this special double episode of the podcast we discuss workplace bullying and harassment and what kind of support is available for those who experience it. 

In this episode, our host Mark Aiken speaks to Karen Gately, HR Consultant and Director of Corporate DOJO. They provide information, insights, resources, tips, strategies and explore the choices you may consider enabling you to return to your best self if your experience of workplace bullying has knocked you for a six.

Karen explains the workplace factors that put people at risk of bulling and harassment and the importance of leadership that fosters a culture of trust and respect where workplace bullying is not tolerated to ensure that staff are supported to thrive. We also discuss the ‘unconscious bully’ and factors that may cause a person to engage in bullying and harassment. Karen offers her thoughts on solutions to help prevent or solve the issue of bullying in the workplace.

You can also check out part two of this podcast, Workplace bullying and harassment – personal stories and help-seeking with Tessa Moriarty and Elle Brown

Workplace factors for bullying and harassment with Karen Gately

Our Summer Newsletter is all about supporting culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) nurses, midwives and students. We’ve partnered with the New South Wales Nurse & Midwives Association (NSWNMA) to offer you two podcasts with six passionate nurses committed to empowering CALD nurses and midwives. This is the second of two episodes, Episode 37. 

In this episode we speak to four members of the NSWNMA CALD reference group. Julie, Merilyn, Bukwa and Marty share their lived experiences and the importance of addressing racism in the nursing and midwifery professions.

Our guests candidly discuss the harmful effects of racism, the benefits of being part of the CALD reference group and their motivations for putting discrimination under a spotlight.

It is a privilege to hear from passionate nurses who use their voices to highlight the issues, challenges and the pernicious impact of discrimination and racism. We thank our guests for sharing their insights and identifying opportunities to address racism in the workplace. 

As Marty says on the podcast:
“Let’s use our voices so that our future (CALD members) don’t have to use theirs.”

You can also check out Episode 36: Addressing the Cultural Safety Gap with Catherine and Helen, where we discuss the findings of an NSWNMA survey on the wellbeing of CALD nurses and midwives and how the CALD reference group was formed in response. 

If you need to chat about any of the issues raised in this podcast, we’re here 24/7 on 1800 667 877, or you can email us: https://www.nmsupport.org.au/support.

Calling Racism Out with Bukwa Madzinga, Julie Ngwabi, Merilyn Homes, and Marty Williams

View the transcript: https://www.nmsupport.org.au/news/podcast-stories-graduate-year-francis-and-robyn

Mark and special guest co-host Celeste Pinney talk to Francis and Robyn, inspirational recent graduates who fearlessly share their stories of the highs and lows of their grad year. They share their vulnerabilities and offer tips to support other graduates.

We’re not using Francis and Robyn’s last names to protect their privacy.

Robyn discusses the importance of support mechanisms so you can debrief, reflect, and recognise what you need:

“Asking people if they have room for you, if they can hold the space for you to have that deep chat about whatever was going on during a shift or how the whole week was...
 
Allow yourself to feel your emotions. Your feelings are valid. What you're going through is valid. You're not the only one experiencing it. Try and find if you can. Try and speak up. Talk to your other peers, your fellow grads, and just ask if anyone else is feeling the same way. Because when you find someone that is feeling the same way, it can make you feel not so alone in the emotions you're going through and the experiences that you're having at that time.”

Francis encourages graduates to make the most of your graduate year, to learn as much as you can and enjoy it. He advises to try and let go of your fear and trust in the process.

Francis acknowledges that stressors and difficult times will be inevitable but focus on the pleasure and joy of learning, making connections and setting up your career.

For more tips you can also check out the next episode, Episode 39: A Graduate Coordinator’s advice for new grads with Joanne Purdue. https://www.nmsupport.org.au/news/podcast-graduate-coordinators-advice-new-grads-joanne-purdue

You can also check out our resources for students and graduates. https://www.nmsupport.org.au/students-and-graduates

Support is available. Nurse & Midwife Support is here to talk to you — free, confidential, and 24/7 on 1800 667 877 or by email. https://www.nmsupport.org.au/support

Your graduate year matters!

Stories of the graduate year with Francis and Robyn

View the transcript: https://www.nmsupport.org.au/news/podcast-graduate-coordinators-advice-new-grads-joanne-purdue

NSWNMA Senior Professional Officer Joanne Purdue was a whole hospital nurse educator and ran a new graduate program for eight years. She is still passionate about supporting new graduates to flourish in their chosen career. Joanne joins the Nurse & Midwife Support Podcast to discuss what she’s learned about supporting grads and to offer advice and resources to new nurses and midwives preparing for their graduate year.  

Joanne tells us that being prepared for the year is vital to your success, as is seeking support when you need it. She also wants grads to know that despite the stress, nursing and midwifery are wonderful professions: 

“Even if it's challenging at times, you do make a remarkable difference in people's lives when they're at their most vulnerable. So be proud of yourself, and proud of what you've achieved because you're the future of our workforce, and you're important, don't ever think that you're not.”

Listen to the episode for more wisdom on how to thrive in your grad year. You can also check out Episode 38: Stories of the graduate year with Francis and Robyn, recent grads who joined us to share their experiences and what they’ve learned. https://www.nmsupport.org.au/news/podcast-stories-graduate-year-francis-and-robyn

Nurse & Midwife Support is here to support you: 1800 667 877 or by email. https://www.nmsupport.org.au/support

Your graduate year matters!

A Graduate Coordinator’s advice for new nursing and midwifery grads with Joanne Purdue

https://www.nmsupport.org.au/news/podcast-your-financial-wellbeing-matters

In 2022 Beyond Blue released research showing that financial challenges and mental health problems are common issues that frequently go hand-in-hand. Find out more in the report: Money and Mental Health. 

There is substantial evidence that financial wellbeing and mental health are linked. Analysis of HILDA data shows 14% of Australian adults experienced both financial hardship and mental health symptoms at any time over the five years from 2014 to 2019. Recent economic disruption such as rising rent, interest rates and cost of living has led to many Australians feeling increasing levels of financial stress and elevated risk to mental health. 
At Nurse & Midwife Support, we’re committed to supporting your health and wellbeing, but we’re not financial experts and providing financial support is not our core business. However, we often hear from nurses, midwives and students who are experiencing financial anxiety. 

When a registered midwife, Sophie, reached out to let us know about her journey to improve her financial wellbeing, we saw an opportunity to invite her and her financial coaching team onto the podcast to discuss financial management for healthcare workers such as nurses and midwives. 

Sophie was able to turn her financial wellbeing around by seeking the financial advice of experts, and wanted to share what she has learned with our listeners. Sophie and Wealth Health Co’s Ben and Steve share practical information about what to consider when you are planning your financial future, why it’s important to have goals, a plan and active engagement in pursuing financial wellbeing. We also discuss what to do if you experience financial difficulties.

Ben has also written two blogs to support your financial wellbeing:
> A financial advisor’s tips to support your financial wellbeing at any life stage https://www.nmsupport.org.au/news/financial-advisor-tips
> Your financial wellbeing matters: 4 tips to build a financial foundation https://www.nmsupport.org.au/news/tips-build-financial-foundation

It may be that you are already an exceptional manager of your finances and have some tips to share with fellow nurses and midwives. We would love to hear from you. Email us at mark@nmsupport.org.au.

We hope this podcast and blogs are useful. We know your financial wellbeing matters. If your mental health has been affected by your financial situation, please reach out to Nurse & Midwife Support. Call us 24/7 on 1800 667 877 or email us.

Your financial wellbeing matters with Wealth Health Co

View the podcast transcript: https://www.nmsupport.org.au/news/podcast-Burnout-in-nursing-and-midwifery

Registered psychologist, coach and author Sharee Johnson talks burnout in this podcast episode with new co-host Celeste Pinney. Sharee shares the wisdom of many years of experience working with doctors who have lived through burnout. Sharee offers insights and practical strategies for nurses and midwives to improve health and wellbeing and prevent or recover from burnout.

Sharee explains the importance of understanding burnout as both an individual and organisational experience:

"The very first, and most important thing, that everybody needs to hear is that burnout is not a mental illness, it's not something wrong with the individual. It's a mismatch or a relationship difficulty, if you like, between the individual and their workplace…

When we're thinking about burnout, we do want to think about individual responsibility. It is about how you cope, how you ask for what you need, and how you develop support networks around yourself. We often talk in the work we do about having an internal scaffold and an external scaffold, both of which help hold you up, if you like. But we need to think about those individual skills of asking for help, regulating ourselves, being able to manage our mind effectively, having enough sleep, all of these things.

(But) even if we do all of those things beautifully, if the workplace is toxic or dysfunctional, then it won't matter how skilled we are as individuals, the workplace is still problematic. So we need to use a both/and lens when we're talking about burnout."

Listen to find out more about how you can identify if and why you may be experiencing symptoms of burnout, how to get the right support, and how we can gradually begin to create habits to shift our state and find our way back to wellbeing.

If you’re dealing with burnout, Nurse & Midwife Support is here to support you: 1800 667 877 or by email: https://www.nmsupport.org.au/support

Check out the rest of this newsletter: https://www.nmsupport.org.au/resources/newsletter/20

Burnout in nursing and midwifery explored with Sharee Johnson

https://www.nmsupport.org.au/news/podcast-lesley-salem-first-aboriginal-nurse-practitioner

Wonnarua woman Lesley Salem was the first Aboriginal Nurse Practitioner. She has dedicated her career to improving care for people experiencing chronic illness in rural and remote communities. She joined us on the podcast to share her story and the insights earned from her experiences, including her passion for diverse forms of education and the importance of mentoring the next generation of First Nations healthcare workers. 

Lesley tells us: 

“It starts with the growth of our students as undergraduates. It's the growth that [comes from] believing in what you can do. I thank God that I did Oral Vivas, because I've got mild adult dyslexia, and I can't write for crap. Any book I've published, you'll see another name there with me. It's usually my best friend, Barb Harvey, who takes me through every paragraph and says, "What are you trying to say here?" 

But we need encouragement. As long as our universities or Western models were oral ... I could have given 50,000 words without a problem. I could have had my notes in front of me and referenced any talk that I give along the way. I don't know what it is, but I can't get it from my head to paper. There's no consideration for anyone with learning difficulties or anything. So a lot of our good nurses, who don't have that ability to write, feel that they're left out and leave. New ways of learning, bringing back Oral Vivas, letting somebody talk or show what they can do. 

A lot of our Aboriginal nurses will feel left out, particularly from our rural and remote areas, because universities do nothing to embrace a different way of learning. I was lucky in country hospitals, there was an Oral Viva for everything. I barely passed any written thing, but we were so lucky, every PTS stage, everything up, we had to do an Oral Viva. Thank God, because I could talk.”


Thank you Lesley for joining us and sharing your knowledge. If you’d like to keep up with Lesley or look at her beautiful artwork, you can check out her website. https://www.lesleysalem.com.au/

This podcast is part of our special NAIDOC week newsletter, Edition 21 — Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives. https://www.nmsupport.org.au/resources/newsletter/21

The newsletter also features podcasts with CATSINaM CEO Dr Ali Drummond and Aunty Gina Bundle and Alexandrea Burton of the Baggarrook midwifery program. 

https://www.nmsupport.org.au/news/podcast-cultural-safety-dr-ali-drummond
https://www.nmsupport.org.au/news/podcast-baggarrook-midwifery-aunty-gina-bundle-and-alexandrea-burton

If you’re struggling and need to talk, Nurse & Midwife Support is here to support you: 1800 667 877 or by email. https://www.nmsupport.org.au/support

Yarning with Lesley Salem, the first Aboriginal Nurse Practitioner

https://www.nmsupport.org.au/news/podcast-cultural-safety-dr-ali-drummond

Dr Ali Drummond is the new CEO of the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives (CATSINaM). https://catsinam.org.au/our-ceo/

He is a Meriam and Erubam man of Zenadh Kes (Torres Straits) and Wuthathi man from Far North Queensland. Dr Drummond joins us on the podcast to share his experiences as a nurse and academic, and why it’s so important to embed Cultural Safety and Cultural Humility training in academia and education. 

Dr Drummond says: 

“Understanding when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in (the workplace) are being disempowered, are being treated like crap for no other reason but for them being Indigenous, that is very challenging. I think nurses and midwives can better support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses, midwives and students by doing training like Murra Mullingari, to understand cultural safety. Understand those different manifestations of racism. Learn in other programs, you learn language to address these things. It's far safer for a non-Indigenous nurse, midwife or student to actually step up and say, "Actually, that's inappropriate." This is why. Don't expect the Aboriginal person or the person who's being targeted with this racism to do it themselves. That's an important role.  

I think [the role that] nurses and midwives can play is stepping up.”

When we recorded this podcast, Dr Drummond was Acting CEO of CATSINaM, but he has recently been permanently appointed to the role. Congratulations Dr Drummond, and thank you for joining us to share your expertise! 

This podcast is part of our special NAIDOC week newsletter, Edition 21 — Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives. https://www.nmsupport.org.au/resources/newsletter/21

The newsletter also features podcasts with Lesley Salem, the first Aboriginal Nurse Practitioner, and Aunty Gina Bundle and Alexandrea Burton of the Baggarrook midwifery program. 
https://www.nmsupport.org.au/news/podcast-lesley-salem-first-aboriginal-nurse-practitioner
https://www.nmsupport.org.au/news/podcast-baggarrook-midwifery-aunty-gina-bundle-and-alexandrea-burton

If you’re challenged by issues related to Cultural Safety and need to talk, Nurse & Midwife Support is here to support you: 1800 667 877 or by email. https://www.nmsupport.org.au/support

Cultural Safety with CATSINaM CEO Dr Ali Drummond

https://www.nmsupport.org.au/news/podcast-baggarrook-midwifery-aunty-gina-bundle-and-alexandrea-burton

Aboriginal Liaison Officer Aunty Gina Bundle, a Djiringanj, Walbunja woman and midwife Alexandrea Burton, a Waradjuri woman join the podcast to discuss how the Baggarrook midwifery service at The Royal Women’s Hospital is improving Culturally Safe care for First Nations patients and colleagues. 

Aunty Gina explains why programs like Baggarrook are so crucial to improving outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait mothers and babies: 

“Like any other organisation, public or government, you get that ‘Them blackfellas, here they go again ....’ It's not about that. It's about providing a service to community, communities that never used to have these services. 20 years is relatively new, having a KMS [Koori Maternity Service]. But to have a Baggarrook caseload within a public hospital is even newer, and creating these services for Aboriginal people. Historically, we've created them because we didn't have them. We weren't allowed to have them, or it was really hard to get them. So we created our own.”

Learn more about this award-winning midwifery program: Woman’s Journey: Baggarrook Yurrongi, Nurragh Manma Buliana.

Aunty Gina was recently awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in recognition of her service to Victoria’s Indigenous community. We thank her for her dedication to improving care for First Nations patients and workers! 

This podcast is part of our special NAIDOC week newsletter, Edition 21 — Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives. https://www.nmsupport.org.au/resources/newsletter/21

The newsletter also features podcasts with the first Aboriginal Nurse Practitioner Lesley Salem and CATSINaM CEO Dr Ali Drummond.

https://www.nmsupport.org.au/news/podcast-lesley-salem-first-aboriginal-nurse-practitioner
https://www.nmsupport.org.au/news/podcast-cultural-safety-dr-ali-drummond


If you need to talk, Nurse & Midwife Support is here to support you: 1800 667 877 or by email.
https://www.nmsupport.org.au/support

Baggarrook midwifery with Aunty Gina Bundle and Alexandrea Burton

Dr Finbar Hopkins is an experienced Wellbeing Consultant who delivers a suite of education and training programs to help a large Melbourne hospital improve the physical and emotional health of their staff. She is a registered nurse, mental health nurse and midwife who is using the wisdom she has gained from 30 years of experience to improve the health and wellbeing of healthcare workers. 

She joined the Nurse & Midwife Support podcast to discuss why it’s imperative that employers and colleagues provide trauma-informed care to nurses and midwives who are vulnerable to occupational post-traumatic stress and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Occupational PTSD in nursing and midwifery with Dr Finbar Hopkins

Author and social worker Mary Freer has devoted her career to transforming our understanding of compassion as the CEO and Founder of Compassion Revolution. She joined midwife Celeste Pinney on the Nurse & Midwife Support podcast to discuss the importance of self-compassion and how it can help to carry nurses and midwives through post-traumatic experiences.

Podcast: The Compassion Revolution with Mary Freer

Nurse & Midwife Support offers national support services to nurses, midwives and students of the profession, 24 hours, 7 days a week -- because your health matters. Our podcasts hosts Australian nurses and midwives to discuss all the topics that matter most to our community.

Workplace factors for bullying and harassment with Karen Gately

Nurse & Midwife Support

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