A desire to help people in need is a driving force for many wanting to be a nurse, but workforce pressures mean we need to support our nursing colleagues too

I was reminded recently, when talking to a group of nurses with experience in all areas of care, of the primary drive of many who enter the nursing profession: to help people in need and make a difference.

What attracted these colleagues to nursing remained a key driving force in their ongoing nursing practice.

• RELATED: Interventions aimed at preventing suicide in the healthcare workforce: a systematic review

In their thought provoking article, Interventions aimed at preventing suicide in the healthcare workforce: a systematic review, Rees et al starkly remind us that healthcare workers are exposed to factors that put them at risk of suicide.

Pressures of continuing to deliver good nursing care with a lack of resources and support

Nurses and healthcare colleagues are exposed to the suffering of others alongside their own humanity, their own suffering and their own need for support and help.

‘Our humanity is not a weakness it is our strength’

Colleagues may become further distressed by their continual drive to deliver good nursing care while being confronted with the ongoing pressures posed by a lack of resources and support.

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Nurses bring their own unique humanity and this is what helps to create that caring practice at the heart of the profession.

Rees et al in their timely article present some ideas on how we can help one another, including targeted training and guidance on being able to identify risks, symptoms of suicidal intent, and interventions to help ourselves and those we work alongside.  

• RELATED: Concerns about practice: supporting staff by fostering a climate of psychological safety

Our humanity is not a weakness it is our strength.  

Barry Quinn is a senior lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast School of Nursing and Midwifery