Helping your employees and students

Organisation and employer policies that raise awareness, reduce stigma, and encourage health promotion for all nurses, midwives and students, will assist those with health issues to seek support.

Four key strategies that may assist in preventing, identifying and managing health issues include:

1. Promoting open communication about potential health issues
2. Increasing the confidence of staff and students to report concerns or issues
3. Providing education and information to all staff and students about the signs and symptoms of health impairment
4. Encouraging health promotion and self-care amongst staff and students.

In addition to your internal support options, Nurse & Midwife Support offers employers, human resource departments and education providers a resource to assist nurses, midwives and students to access support for their health matters.

It is important to acknowledge that any nurse, midwife or nursing and midwifery student can be vulnerable to developing a health issue, regardless of their years in the profession, position within the organisation, gender or age.

If health issues are not identified or treated, they can negatively impact the ability of the nurse, midwife or student to safely and competently practise, which may place the public at risk of harm.

It may be helpful to look at our identifying health issues checklist so that you know what to look for, or you can try our service finder to find out about some of the services available to nurses, midwives and students.

Our service provides free and confidential support 24/7, to nurses, midwives and students Australia wide. If you would like to speak to someone call 1800 667 877, or you can request support via email.

If you would like to know a bit more about the service before getting in contact — take a look through accessing support.