We Hear You is a project to get people talking about healthcare employee’s experiences working through a pandemic. Led by a team of researchers Saskatchewan Polytechnic, University of Regina, and University of Saskatchewan, the project synthesizes research with healthcare employees over the first 15 months of the pandemic into a conversation-starter kit available for use in any healthcare setting. The kit addresses four topics that are on healthcare employees’ minds: burnout, communication, teamwork, and leadership. Its purpose is to spark more conversations within your setting and across all levels of the healthcare system. By hearing more about healthcare providers’ trials and triumphs during a pandemic, we know you’ll learn a lot about what it takes to help healthcare employees thrive under adverse conditions.

Follow us @AIR_Sask #WeHearYou

Conversation starter toolkit:

Download here!

               

Podcasts

We Hear You: A conversation on rural interprofessional teams

The AIR team joins with a team of researchers taking An Inside Look to develop and understand a synthesis of findings from research that shares a Saskatchewan wide picture of healthcare during the pandemic. Taking a look at the big picture, we noticed we were hearing lots of comments about four key experiences in healthcare: Teamwork, Communication, Burnout and Leadership. In this podcast, we talk with RN Crystal Kuras on how these four themes might be reflected in the rural interprofessional teamwork at Tisdale Hospital.

We Hear You: An inside look at healthcare employees’ experiences working during a pandemic

In this podcast episode, join Natasha Hubbard Murdoch as she interviews Abigail Wickson-Griffiths, a nurse researcher from University of Regina, and Paulette Hunter, a clinical psychologist researcher from University of Saskatchewan, about their study following employees’ experiences at work during the first year of the pandemic. Learn more about how staff found the strength to manage stress and burnout in surprising ways.

 

Do you want to learn more about our research results?

The experience of nurses
  • Nelson, H., Hubbard Murdoch, N., & Norman, K. (2021). The Role of Uncertainty in the Experiences of Nurses During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Phenomenological Study. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 53(2), 124–133. https://doi.org/10.1177/0844562121992202
An Inside Look
  • Myge, I., Hunter. P.V., Wickson-Griffiths, A., Gao, N., Gibson, K., Cammer, A., Ward, H. In Inside Look: Exploring the Experiences of Saskatchewan Healthcare Employees During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Report on Interview Series I. November, 2020.
  • Hunter. P.V. & Wickson-Griffiths, A. In Inside Look: Exploring the Experiences of Saskatchewan Healthcare Employees During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Report on Survey I. November, 2020.
  • Myge, I., Hunter. P.V., Wickson-Griffiths, A., Gao, N., Gibson, K., Cammer, A., Ward, H. In Inside Look: Exploring the Experiences of Saskatchewan Healthcare Employees During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Report on Interview Series II. February, 2021.
  • Hunter. P.V. & Wickson-Griffiths, A. In Inside Look: Exploring the Experiences of Saskatchewan Healthcare Employees During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Report on Survey II. February, 2021.
  • Myge, I., Hunter. P.V., Wickson-Griffiths, A., Gao, N., Gibson, K., Cammer, A., Ward, H. In Inside Look: Exploring the Experiences of Saskatchewan Healthcare Employees During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Report on Interview Series III. June, 2021.
  • Hunter. P.V. & Wickson-Griffiths, A. In Inside Look: Exploring the Experiences of Saskatchewan Healthcare Employees During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Report on Survey III. June, 2021.

For more information, contact abigail.wickson-griffiths@usask.ca or phunter@stmcollege.ca

Our research team
Paulette Hunter is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan. She also works half-time as a clinical psychologist. Paulette’s research emphasizes person-centred and palliative approaches to dementia care in Canada’s long-term care system. She teaches on the topics of psychology, aging, and applied ethics.

 

 

 

Bio photo of Heather NelsonHeather Nelson is faculty at the University of Regina, who has completed research in the areas of the experience of nurses during the Covid-19 pandemic, loneliness and social isolation in older adults, and supporting Indigenous students in nursing. She is currently working on a project in collaboration with the Canadian Red Cross on the impact of a voluntary phone program on the experience of loneliness and social isolation in older adults.

 

 

 

Abigail Wickson-Griffiths is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Regina and the Gerontology Program Coordinator. Abby holds degrees from Ryerson University in Toronto and from McMaster University in Hamilton. She has practiced in acute care, rehabilitation, and long-term care settings. Her research typically focuses on palliative and end-of-life care, dementia care, long-term care and advance practice nursing.

 

 

 Natasha Hubbard Murdoch is a nurse researcher at Saskatchewan Polytechnic. Her practice background is oncology, orthopedics and long term care. She has been an educator for over a decade with a focus on interprofessional coordination and problem-based learning. With a focus on educational research, her topic areas are interprofessional teams, mentorship, and community caregivers.

 

 

 

 

Our development and support team – We’re better together!
Since the pandemic began, we’ve heard from hundreds of healthcare employees in all occupations. Thanks to all who’ve been participating in research to help us hear and understand the perspectives of healthcare employees.

Saskatchewan Polytechnic and SHRF provided funding support for the work that led to creating a conversation-starter toolkit, and Emmanuel Health provided funding support for student assistance on the work that led up to this project. Thank you for helping us to collect and share healthcare employees’ stories during the pandemic.


The following collaborators helped us to create the conversation starter toolkit. Check out their amazing work!
Podcast sound and editing by Greg Olson, Media Production Specialist Saskatchewan Polytechnic Media Production Team
Posters and visual elements by One Olive Design
Knowledge synthesis assistance by Tall Order Communications 
Assistance crafting messages by TinBox Digital Content