Women’s Health Week 2024
From September 2-6, we celebrate Women’s Health Week. A big thank you to all the incredible women in nursing and midwifery, who juggle so much each day.
We know that the nursing and midwifery professions are female-dominant, with 88% of 2024 registrants with the Nursing and Midwifery Board Australia identifying as female.
This year, during Women’s Health Week, our program would like to encourage the women in our workforce to focus on their health and wellbeing.
Maintain physical health
Shift work, long working hours, and family commitments can make maintaining good physical health challenging.
In a recent study on nurses in Queensland, only 13% of participants ate the recommended amount of fruit and vegetables, and only 24.2% exercised enough to be deemed “active”.
“I pre-plan my fruit and vegetable consumption and work my meals around this to ensure I get enough in,” says Tayla Vella, Mental Health RN and our Stakeholder Engagement and Communications Coordinator. “While I was nursing, if I didn’t meal-prep, I would end up living on ham cheese croissants from the hospital café; this cost me a small fortune and was terrible for my health”.
Support good mental health
“Whether it’s thriving or feeling overwhelmed, mental health is something we all experience every day. It’s not just about diagnosing illness but recognising that everyone has mental health and deserves support,” says Tayla.
Most of us agree that there is a significant stigma around speaking up and asking for help. Despite the growing awareness of mental health, only 48% of women in Australia sought support for mental illness this year.
Nearly half (40%) of working women in Australia felt that the demands of their work impacted their mental health. Burnout was the top contributor, followed by mental load and juggling work, life and family.
Prioritise time for you
As nurses and midwives, we often put others first. But now is the time to prioritise our own health. This year’s theme, “Your Voice. Your Choice,” invites us to address women’s health issues while taking small, meaningful steps towards better physical and mental health.
Remember, caring for yourself is not selfish; it’s essential. Take this week to reflect on your physical and mental health. Try to recharge, reset and reach out for support if needed.
Whether it’s taking some well-deserved time for yourself, booking that overdue health check, hitting the gym, or meal-prepping for your next shift - every step counts.
Get involved
Get involved in Women's Health Week by participating in activities like walks or health talks. Explore resources from the:
Tips
- Make small changes so you don’t shock your system.
- Protect time for meal prepping. Try batch cooking to save time.
- Work your meal planning around the recommended fruit and vegetable consumption.
- Keep a journal. This can be especially helpful if you find it hard to talk about your mental health with others.
- Try something new, and do it for a month – how about a 2-minute meditation every morning when you wake up? Insight timer has plenty of FREE options.
- Topics
- Burnout
- Food and nutrition
- Self care
- Sleep