Mary Tully, nurse.

Health nurse speaks out at difficult 18 months

“It tells it like it is,” says Mary Tully, public health nurse in Cavan, of research results published last week that shows 97% of nurses and midwives believe COVID-19 has had a negative psychological impact on them.

Most of the 1,905 respondents to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) survey report trouble sleeping as well as suffering high levels of stress, but perhaps most worryingly, over two thirds are now considering leaving the profession, with 25% likely or very likely to leave in the next 12 months.

The INMO believes the research, carried out among members between April and July 2021, paints a very “bleak picture” of how emotionally and physically taxing COVID-19 has been on nurses and midwives across the country.

“When Covid hit we didn’t know much about it. We were all listening to terrible news in China and Italy and dreading what was coming down the line. The worry then was two fold for many of us,” explains Mary. “One that we’d get Covid ourselves, and then the fear we might pass it on to our patients. In my case a lot of the people I would care for would be considered vulnerable. On top of that, there was a lot of worry about bringing the virus home to loved ones as well.”

Two thirds of nurses and midwives are stressed about spreading the virus to their household, and tragically, Mary is aware of patients who lost their lives due to Covid.

The INMO report meanwhile found close to one in five of those surveyed contracted Covid themselves, with more than 56% still dealing with the long-term effects of the virus.

A native of Roscommon now living in Bailieborough, Mary is a public health nurse in the east of the county.

The INMO survey found that 62% of respondents cared for patients who died as a result of Covid. “We witnessed the physical and emotional effects of contracting Covid on patients, of all ages, some very fit people too, and the impact that has on their families and loved ones as well.

“[Covid] took a huge mental and physical toll on our mental health. At the same time we were seeing colleagues struck down with illness, we were having to work in isolation, more so now than ever before, it was really very difficult.”

Mary recently completed the Belfast Marathon in under five hours with her son. Running is “one of the things” Mary did to help with her mental health during the worst of the pandemic.

“It was a great way to relieve stress.”

The INMO provided mental health supports for members through an online digital mental health support hub, free counselling helpline and emergency funding through the organisation’s benevolent fund. The union believe the State must allocate adequate resources to help staff deal with the emotional trauma caused by Covid.

Mary agrees, saying it is very hard for any one to ignore any report that finds two in three nurses and midwives could seek employment elsewhere in the coming years.

“We have to make sure that the [survey] predictions don’t become a reality. Some of our colleagues are still suffering the effects of long-Covid,” says Mary, who spoke on that exact topic when addressing a panel discussion as part of the INMO’s national conference earlier this year. “One man had to give up work for six months. It’s heartbreaking.”

Mary says the sector was already “under pressure” before Covid hit, and is even more so now.

She hopes a recruitment drive can take place: “That is a priority. Unless you have safe staffing levels you cannot have a workforce that is healthy... that are able to do their duty in a safe way.

“That is not just for the nurses and midwives, that is in the care for the patients as well.”