'Crisis after crisis in health service' - work impacting psychological wellbeing of nurses and midwives 

Some 94% of nurses and midwives say that work is negatively impacting their psychological wellbeing, according to a new survey published by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO). 

The Nursing and Midwifery Work and Wellbeing Survey was published at the INMO’s annual delegate conference in Killarney yesterday.

The survey found that 94% of nurses and midwives consider that work is negatively impacting their psychological wellbeing, while 89% said they were at least somewhat burnt out because of work.

When asked about the effects of staffing on patient safety, almost 85% of respondents said staffing levels could not meet work demands, with two-thirds of those saying that patient safety was often or always at risk as a result.

INMO president Karen McGowan described the results as “very stark”.

“There has been no opportunity for nurses and midwives to regain a stable footing since 2019, as it’s just been crisis after crisis in the health service since then,” she said.

“A pandemic that was bookended by absolutely staggering levels of overcrowding means there’s been no recovery time at all.

“This type of sustained stress over years and years has an absolutely crushing and traumatic effect on people, and these are the same people who are being asked to step up, again and again, to fill in the gaps. It’s just not sustainable.

“As a society, we’ve become more aware of the importance of protecting people’s mental health at work, except it seems when it comes to people who work in healthcare.

“Our members are just not being protected from the long-term physical and psychological effects of stress, and it’s simply irresponsible.”

More than 350 delegates are expected to attend the INMO’s 104th annual delegate conference taking place in the Gleneagle Hotel in Killarney from May 3 to May 5.

More than 50 motions will be debated on topics such as cost-of-living increases, housing, hospital overcrowding, safety in the workplace, domestic violence, recruitment and retention, and more.