Working as a nurse, midwife, personal care worker, RUSON or RUSOM, or studying nursing or midwifery, during the pandemic has been beyond challenging.
For many it has been a life-changing experience, regardless of whether you worked in ICU, emergency, theatre, maternity services, a vaccination hub, hotel quarantine, medical or surgical, mental health, aged care, palliative care, a medical clinic, community nursing, hospital in the home or maternal and child health. There are too many clinical areas to mention here.
We’re inviting ANMF (Vic Branch) members, across all workplaces and sectors, to submit their pandemic stories for publication in a new book and website. We’re looking for stories about what you saw, what you felt, what you did, what you didn’t do, what you changed, what you couldn’t change – as you cared for the Victorian community (and continue to care) through a prolonged period of unprecedented demand and a once-in-a-century event.
We’re especially interested in recollections of your day-to-day work, and how it changed – from proning patients to daily donning and doffing, and more.
Think about what you want people to know about what we did, how we provided care and how we worked through the pandemic in 10, 30, 50 and 100 years time.
This project will:
- shine a light on nurses’, midwives’ and carers’ dedication and dexterity and the emotions and challenges you experienced at work and at home
- preserve Victorian nurses’, midwives’, carers’, RUSONs’, RUSOMs’ and nursing and midwifery students’ voices in the contemporary and historical record of the COVID-19 pandemic
- provide an opportunity for Victorian nurses, midwives, carers, RUSONs, RUSOMs and nursing and midwifery students to understand they are not alone in their experience of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Format
Members are invited to submit a story of up to a maximum 1000 words. (Save your Word file with your first name_last name_ mobile number – for example: Jane_Citizen_0400000000.)
Don’t feel you have to be a great writer, our editors will assist if your story is selected for publication in our book. We may also be in touch to clarify information or to request images.
You will also need to include the name of the facility in your submission for fact checking (but the book editors will remove names).
Deadline
The deadline has been extended and submissions are still open.
Submit your story
ANMF members can submit their story here
Questions?
Contact the ANMF media unit via records@anmfvic.asn.au.
