ORCID Profile
0000-0002-5949-387X
Current Organisation
University of Waikato
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Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 28-11-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.11.26.21266650
Abstract: Shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic reached Aotearoa New Zealand, a stringent lockdown lasting seven weeks was introduced to manage community spread of the virus. This paper reports the findings of a qualitative study examining how lockdown policies impacted upon the lives of those caring for community-based patients. The study involved nationwide surveys and ethnographic interviews with 15 registered nurses (RN) employed in community settings, two community midwives, and five personal care assistants (PCAs). During the strict lockdown levels 4 and 3, RNs and PCAs 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, and sometimes due to 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. Although ‘care’ and ‘kindness’ became social expectations throughout Aotearoa New Zealand during the lockdown, RNs and PCAs who were already doing care work in patient homes had to do more. This article makes five core service delivery and policy recommendations for supporting community-based nurses and PCAs in respiratory disease pandemics: acknowledging the crucial role played by community-based carers and the associated stress and anxiety endured, through ch ioning respect and compassion demystifying the “heroism” or “self-sacrifice” projected onto care workers to facilitate boundary setting 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. Nurses and personal care assistants play a pivotal role in community responses to pandemics. The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified many community healthcare workers’ clinical duties. Pandemics pose risks to healthcare workers’ physical and mental wellbeing. Community healthcare workers pressured themselves to be a “good carer” or “hero” during the lockdown. Caring for patients in the community also became about caring about patients, further intensifying workload. The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted community healthcare workers’ relationships, as well as their wellbeing. Impacts continued even once the virus was eliminated. Need for recognition of this workforce distinct from other care workers.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 22-09-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.09.20.21263837
Abstract: To investigate how successfully SARS-CoV-2 elimination strategies fulfil their promise of allowing a return to a ‘normal’ social life, and to identify obstacles and challenges that may inhibit the realisation of this goal. Qualitative cross-sectional survey. New Zealand community cohort. 1040 respondents entered the study (18–90 years, M = 48.18.11, SD = 15.52, 76% women). 966 completed the questions relevant to this article. Participants were recruited via online advertisement c aigns designed to maximise variation in the s le as far as practicably possible. Thematic analysis of participants’ narratives. A majority of participants reported that the elimination of SARS-CoV-2 had allowed their life to go back to being ‘more or less the same’ as before the pandemic. A small number indicated the pandemic had inspired them to become more social following elimination. Nevertheless, a sizeable minority of respondents reported being less social, even many months after SARS-CoV-2 had been eliminated. This was often because of fears that the virus might be circulating undetected, or because the March-May 2020 lockdown had led to changes in relationships and personal habits that were not easily reversed. Becoming less social was associated with having an underlying health condition that heightened one’s vulnerability to COVID-19 ( p = 0.00005) and older age ( p = 0.007). Elimination strategies can successfully allow the public to return to a pre-pandemic ‘normal’ – or reinvent and improve their social lives should they wish. However, such outcomes are not inevitable. Re-establishing social connections after elimination can sometimes be a challenging process, with which people may need support. Plans for providing such support should be an integral part of elimination strategies.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 14-03-2022
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-10-2022
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-04-2020
Publisher: University of Otago Library
Date: 12-03-2021
DOI: 10.11157/SITES-ID471
Abstract: COVID-19 stories, especially from Aotearoa New Zealand as one of the leading nations ‘winning’ over the virus will be important historical documentation. The ‘team of 5 million’ is writing its narratives of life with/out COVID-19 – stories of ‘living in bubbles’, of ‘being kind’ and ‘being in it together.’ These are narratives of success which need to be examined alongside the narratives that have been absent from public national discourse but complicate understandings of ‘winning.’ To that end, in this article we map out (alter)narratives from supermarket and healthcare workers and highlight their stories of living and caring under lockdown. We posit that we need to pay attention to (alter)narratives of winning over COVID-19 in order to pay attention to the bodies and spaces that are often invisible but make winning possible. Thus, we see (Alter)narratives not as counter or anti to the nation’s winning narrative, but rather essential and adjacent.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-05-2021
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 13-01-2021
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Date: 2021
Publisher: Hindawi Limited
Date: 28-01-2022
DOI: 10.1111/HSC.13720
Abstract: 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 ch ioning 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.
No related grants have been discovered for Rogena Sterling.