Mindfulness: A New Approach to the Nursing Shortage Crisis

By Ebahi Ikharo, 2019 UNC-IntraHealth Summer FellowDecember 16, 2019Just outside Windhoek, Namibia, I stood in the maternity ward of Windhoek Central Hospital. Filling the lime green halls were students, nurses, midwives, doctors, clients in motion, and the groans of a mother in labor.I was there as part of my UNC-IntraHealth summer fellowship to support the Nursing Now Namibia Campaign, building a tool to help identify gaps in compliance to hospital standards on the maternity floor and provide recommendations for areas of improvement. I had the opportunity to visit three hospitals and interview nine nurses.It is very traumatizing. Very stressful and tiring.Here’s some of what I asked them:What are your goals and dreams?“I want to be a teacher,” one responded.“I want to focus on trying to manage the ward, improve things. I want proper nursing. I see myself going far.”How does working as a nurse in the maternity ward affect you?“It is a high-risk unit,” one nurse told me.“It is very traumatizing. Very stressful and tiring.”“Working in maternity, you find that the ward is full from here to here,” another said.“I was standing for so long that I developed deep vein thrombosis—my foot was so painful, but luckily nothing more developed.”A theme arose: regardless of the hospital they worked in, it quickly became apparent that although the nurses had immense passion for their jobs, they were stresse...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Mental Health Nursing & Midwifery Nurses Source Type: news