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Episode 34

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Published on:

10th Feb 2021

034: Helping First Responders Deal With Trauma With Michelle Powell

First responders and nurses often deal with dangerous and life-threatening situations on the job. Because of this, the trauma and emotional stress that comes with their job greatly impacts their mental health which can cause burnout, depression and anxiety—to name a few. In this episode, we are once again joined by Michelle Powell as we delve into how facing trauma on a daily basis in your professional life impacts your personal life. Both the personal and professional lives of nurses and first responders may be negatively affected by the high degree of stress they face. There may not be much that we can change about the unknown traumatic situations that we as nurses or first responders will find ourselves in. However, there is a lot we can improve about the way we support our self-care and mental health before, during and after those situations. Let’s always remember to give ourselves the same compassion we so freely give to others. TOPICS WE DISCUSSED INCLUDE: Desensitization and constant state of stress (1:38) Downplaying stress and trauma (2:40) Fear of debriefing (5:28) Being vulnerable when saying you’re not okay (6:05) Fear of asking questions (6:16) Trauma aspect and first responder aspect (6:38) The impact of being a first responder on your day-to-day life (9:45) Normalizing trauma which causes compassion fatigue (12:14) What is compassion fatigue? (13:02) What is vicarious trauma? (13:31) Everyday people are first responders (20:10) Nurses usually down play trauma (21:50) Managing fatigue caused by trauma (23:30) How being a first responder affects our personal life and personal relationships (27:39) Downplaying it to yourself (29:15) Practicing self-care before reaching burnout (29:50) Different ways people reach their breaking point (32:00) Why nurses downplay trauma (34:40) The danger of comparing our trauma with others’ (36:00) CONNECT WITH ELAINA MULLERY HappyNurse.com.au Connect with me on Instagram and Facebook Connect with me on LinkedIn Subscribe to my Youtube channel For full show notes and links visit: happynurse.com.au/podcast
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About the Podcast

The Happy Nurse
Winner — APAC Insider Australian Enterprise Awards 2024 | Most Empowering Self Care Provider for Nurses. Burnout, compassion fatigue, and stress are rising in healthcare. This podcast exists to change that — one practical, honest conversation at a time.
Nurses are the backbone of the health system — always there to care for a stranger as if they were one of their own, forsaking precious moments with their own families to ensure others' loved ones are in good hands.
Compassion fatigue, stress, and burnout are rising across healthcare. Self care has never been more important — or more overlooked.
Elaina Mullery McDonald RN has 25 years of clinical nursing experience, a Postgraduate Certificate in Psychology, and a Master of Business Psychology in progress. She is a certified NLP Practitioner, hypnotherapist, and mindfulness practitioner — and the founder and host of The Happy Nurse podcast. Having experienced burnout firsthand, she is passionate about equipping nurses with practical, evidence-informed strategies to protect their wellbeing and sustain the career they worked so hard for.

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Elaina Mullery


Elaina Mullery RN has spent 25 years working across some of nursing's most demanding clinical environments — orthopaedic trauma, operating theatre, endoscopy, recovery, and day surgery. She knows firsthand what it feels like to run on empty, and it's that lived experience of burnout that drives everything she does.
Elaina holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Psychology and is completing a Master of Business Psychology at Edith Cowan University. She is a certified NLP Practitioner, hypnotherapist, and mindfulness practitioner, and has developed the 3R Framework — an original evidence-based methodology for building sustainable human performance at individual, team, and organisational level.
Through The Happy Nurse podcast, her online courses, and her white paper No Margin for Error, Elaina is on a mission to change the way healthcare treats its most valuable resource — the people who show up every day to care for others.