Monthly Archives: May 2015

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#InternationalNursesDay celebrated during #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek… coincidence? #MHAW15

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So… this will be a short blog for me today as I am working to get two new papers published so that I can do equally exciting, but different things next week 😀

I just wanted to sketch some quick thoughts down here about #InternationalNursesDay and  , as these events both fall within the same week and indeed #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth.

 celebrates self care and mindfulness this year, both extremely valuable tools (IMHO) to maintain ones own well being. The awareness week also brings our attention to the eternal war on stigma, which again IMHO is the biggest killer of all. This year was indeed an amazing #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth and I very much enjoyed reading and seeing the buzzing communities becoming involved on twitter.

Equally, #InternationalNursesDay  was celebrated with vigor, yet I saw this event in a different light.  saw those with mental ill health explain to the world how it feels to manage their mental health every day. They implore the world to take notice of their needs and  recognise mental ill health as being equal to physical health. They draw upon the importance of mental health awareness and the need for action. They are fighting for their rights and more. It was inspiring to see 😀

However, those celebrating #InternationalNursesDay seemed to share a different message. The main campaign which took my attention was the hashtag #whyInurse. This involved nurses from all over celebrating their work, acknowledging their privileged position and providing examples of the pride they share in nursing. It was really quite jovial. They were celebrating what they wanted to give, rather than anything they wanted to take for themselves.

This is seemingly a consistent pattern for health care professionals….they give all that they have….

Do they ever have time to look after themselves? Allow self care? practice mindfulness?

Many nurses celebrating their profession also celebrated #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek…Do they practice what they preach?

Although there is much to celebrate, I worry that health care professionals are placing themselves upon high ground. Through my research and the statistics I am seeing, I know that there are many health professionals who may be suffering in psychological distress. When these celebrations shout to the world that nurses are ‘having a ball’, it may make it that much harder for those in pain to speak out.

It may even make people think that health care professionals are much too happy in their jobs to be in psychological distress.

As it is #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek… I want to raise awareness about the healthcare professionals in psychological distress. They are dealing with horizontal violence, emotional and moral traumas, traumatic incidents, stigma, compassion fatigue and much more.

Remember that 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year. This figure also applies to health care professionals working within the NHS and all over the world.

I would like to bring #InternationalNursesDay and #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek together, so that healthcare professionals can become aware about their own mental health needs and the needs of their colleagues.

These are only my personal views. There is never any offence intended. Please see the support page of this blog if you have been affected by any of the content within this blog.

Thank you  for reading 🙂 

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Happy International Day of the Midwife! #internationaldayofmidwife Conferences & Media coverage galore!

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Ok, so today is , and I hope that my PhD research will go on to benefit all midwives and ultimately, women and their babies. It is indeed a time to celebrate.

So how did I celebrate??

Well this bank holiday weekend (May 2nd), I shared my work at the Virtual International Day of the Midwife Conference @VIDofM (). Coverage of this event quickly became widespread, and I certainly met some passionate midwives wanting to make a difference and follow my research – Thank you all for your amazing comments, feedback & support!

If you missed my presentation, you can watch the recorded webinar by clicking HERE – This presentation should also be on YouTube soon.

And so… as word spread, I was asked by Think: Health 2SER – Real Radio 107.3 FM to speak about my project and my presentation at the #ViDoM conference on their health show in Sydney, Australia.

You can listen to my interview HERE – The Full show can be heard HERE

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my work!

Sally Pezaro on Think Health 2SER Real Radio 107.3 FM

Sally Pezaro on Think Health 2SER Real Radio 107.3 FM

Midwives deserve every recognition for the amazing work that they do. They give everything they can because they care and want to make a difference. They put women and their families first, and sometimes forget to care for themselves and each other (Mensah et al, 2015).

So today is a great day to hug a midwife and celebrate their worth and value to the world.

Happy  !!!

Mensah, S. B., & Anderson, J. G. (2015). Barriers and facilitators of the use of mind-body therapies by healthcare providers and clinicians to care for themselves. Complementary therapies in clinical practice.

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Physician Suicide, Organizational Justice and the “Cry of pain” Model: Hopelessness, Helplessness and Defeat

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A powerful piece of work with great references included for further reading. I will be thinking about how these American based Statistics may translate into my own research into the UK based NHS.

Disrupted Physician

They can be a terror to your mind and show you how to hold your tongue
They got mystery written all over their forehead
They kill babies in the crib and say only the good die young
They don’t believe in mercy
Judgement on them is something that you’ll never see
They can exalt you up or bring you down main route
Turn you into anything that they want you to be–Bob Dylan, Foot of Pride


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Although no reliable statistics yet exist, anecdotal reports suggest a marked rise in physician suicide in recent years. From the reports I am receiving it is a lot more than the oft cited “medical school class” of 400 per year.

This necessitates an evaluation of predisposing risk factors such as substance abuse and depression, but also requires a critical examination of what external forces may be involved in the descent from suicidal ideation to suicidal…

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