Pharmacy Career, Resource & Training with Kavita Nadan

Importance of ensuring the Mental Well-being of Health Professionals

April 27, 2023

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In this episode of Pharmacy View Podcast’s Pharmacy Career, Resource & Training stream, host Kavita Nadan, Pharmacist and Founder at Locumate, is joined by Kay Dunkley, Executive Officer (Part-time), Pharmacists’ Support Service (PSS) and Doctor Wellbeing Consultant (Part-time), AMA Victoria. Kay, also an accredited Pharmacist, received the PSA Symbion Pharmacist of the Year 2020 and PSA Victorian Pharmacist Excellence Award 2019 and is passionate about the health and well-being of healthcare professionals. Listen to this podcast episode as Kavita and Kay take you through Kay’s fantastic career in the industry, the changes that have come about in the years since their early days in the industry, and how they keep their passion alive while keeping up with demanding work.

It was the final year of college, and Kay wasn’t sure of the career they wanted to pursue. A career in Pharmacy was their last-minute choice, they say. And aren’t we all glad that the choice was made? In Pharmacy, they saw a perfect blend of science and health, and after having worked with inspiring people through their initial days in Hospital Pharmacy, Kay came to realize the immense love they had for the profession. Kay loved being a part of the healthcare team and enjoyed interacting with patients, doctors, nurses, and other allied health professionals. Over the decades, Kay moved up the ladder in the industry and worked with various hospitals and healthcare professionals. Now, Kay works with the Pharmacists’ Support Service (PSS) and AMA Victoria.

Pharmacy View Podcast · Ep 71 Importance of Ensuring the Mental Well-being of Health Professionals

When asked what prompted them to work in the mental health and well-being space for health professionals, Kay says the impetus comes through their own experiences and exposure in the industry. They emphasize that there is a real need for support for health professionals. Pharmacy is a busy space where professionals are often required to do multiple things simultaneously while ensuring everything is done right. Many professionals, especially those new to the profession, struggle to keep up with the demands and undergo immense distress. As someone who has experienced this themselves and has seen/heard stories of other professionals, Kay is passionate about ensuring their well-being by giving them the skills to manage and get through difficult situations.

While Kay feels that there has been a shift in the understanding of mental well-being over the years, there is still a lot of stigmas attached. Furthering, Kay adds that owners can help their staff members by building a healthy relationship with them and communicating with them—by making them feel that they are being listened to and cared for. Being able to look after the staff makes them feel valued and when people feel valued it makes a huge difference in how people feel about coming to work. And while Kay believes that modern-day yoga retreats and lunches are great, addressing the systemic workplace issues is essential. There is a need to make the workplaces function more effectively and efficiently so that those who work there don’t feel stressed.

Kay also underlines how it is vital for everyone to check in with themselves and know how they are feeling. Everyone must acknowledge that we are all humans and have emotions. To quote Kay, “We are human. We need to recognize and show our emotions and be willing to address those emotions, acknowledge that we’re feeling sad or angry or grieving. It’s really important to be tuned into ourselves. And, some evidence shows that emotional intelligence actually reduces the likelihood of burnout.” What happens in our personal life affects our work, and if we want to do better work, we need to address the underlying issues that cause us discomfort.

Talking about their work with PSS, Kay doesn’t shy away from crediting volunteers for all their fantastic work nationwide. The focus of the service is that PSS provides support, empowerment & information provision rather than advice. In supporting pharmacists, PSS aims to benefit the public by ensuring that Pharmacists maintain their health and well-being to provide an appropriate level of service to the Australian community. PSS is a charity and has been granted deductible gift recipient status (DGR) & taxation concessions by the ATO. Click on this link if you want to donate to PSS https://www.givenow.com.au/pharmacistssupportservice or if you want to understand the services provided/ join as a volunteer. You can reach out to Kay at kay.dunkley@supportforpharmacists.org.au

Topics Covered

Kay’s journey in the industry
Kay’s work with PSS
Important role of volunteers in PSS
Kay’s work with AMA Victoria
Kay’s work with Hand in Hand
Need for ensuring mental well-being of health professionals
Shifting attitudes towards mental health
Owners’ role in ensuring well-being of their staff members
How to be aware about one’s mental well-being
Support for PSS

Key Quotes (Time Stamps)

“And Pharmacy was very much a last-minute choice. But I’m so glad that I chose it.” (3:40 – 3:45)

“I wasn’t interested in medicine, but Pharmacy seemed like a perfect blend of science and health care, and the course isn’t too long.” (3:49 – 3:59)

“I really was inspired by some of the people I saw practicing. My initial career was in Hospital Pharmacy. And I loved that. I loved being part of a healthcare team. I loved interacting with patients, doctors, nurses, and other allied health professionals.” (4:26 – 4:44)

“PSS wouldn’t exist without the volunteers. We need volunteers. They are the backbone. I am just the person who, I suppose, is front-facing along with, the President, John Coppock, and the other board members. But the volunteers are the ones who actually do all the work.” (9:02 – 9:22)

“Really, my passion has become the wellbeing of health professionals as a broader reach. Although obviously as a Pharmacist, I’m very committed to Pharmacy, but I am also interested in the wellbeing of all health professionals.” (10:14 – 10:35)

“I think that’s one of the things that I’ve really enjoyed about Pharmacy. It is just that you never stop learning and developing.” (11:11 – 11:17)

“There were a few things that I was exposed to early in my career that really made me realize that health professionals do need specialist help, that it is hard for them to seek assistance and support.” (1:53 – 12:09)

“And then, as a Pharmacist working in a hospital setting, I would see distressed health professionals. Young, particularly the intern doctors, you’d sometimes see them crying somewhere because they just felt overworked, overburdened. I mean, it is a very hard path for young doctors through medicine.” (12:47 – 13:09)

“And I realized that people were affected emotionally by their work, that if you really care about the people you’re serving as a Pharmacist, you will be emotionally affected when things aren’t going well for the people you’re caring for.” (13:28 – 13:41)

“And I suppose, I could see that there’s a real need for support. And sometimes your colleagues aren’t the right people to provide that support. You need it outside. You know, sometimes it’s your colleagues who actually give you a hard time as well.” (14:49 – 15:04)

“Pharmacy is one of those professions where you have to get things right and you are often being asked to multiple things at once. It’s often a very busy, noisy environment where you can’t focus but you can’t make a mistake either. So, some of it is personal experience and as well as hearing other stories. And now, when I hear stories of what happens to people, I still find that really quite distressing. I suppose I’ve hardened a little bit over the years, but not hopefully not lost my empathy for people who are struggling” (15:33 – 16:12)

“But there are times when you can feel very alone. And I think, now, there’s greater acceptance that we’re all human and life is stressful. I think that’s been one of the positives that have come out of the COVID Pandemic is that we’re all more aware of the importance of mental health and well-being, and there’s a lot more being put in place in recent times to support people and to make sure that they do work at the optimum.” (18:58 – 19:27)

“When we work, we need to feel valued and appreciated that what we’re doing is worthwhile. And I think, having people who are managers and owners who actually do take an interest in their staff makes a huge difference to how people feel about coming to work.” (22:49 – 23:10)

“We need to recognize and pay people for the hours they put in and help them manage their workload when it’s really busy or when there is pressure or when something unexpected happens. That is partly, paying them adequately, being there if you need to be there or making sure that there are as many staff as you can engage who are all available to work when needed, looking after people as individuals: these are all really important, very basic well-being type of activities.” (24:27 – 25:03)

“We are human. We need to recognize and show our emotion and be willing to address that emotion, acknowledge that we’re feeling sad or we’re feeling angry or, you know, we’re grieving. It’s really important to be tuned into ourselves. And, there is some evidence to show that emotional intelligence actually reduces the likelihood of burnout.” (28:13 – 28:38)

Social Media Clips (Time Stamps)

How Kay’s Pharmacy Journey Began (2:30 – 7:31)
Kay’s Work with the PSS (7:32 – 9:22)
How Kay contributes to the AMA Victoria (9:23 – 10:35)
Kay’s association with Hand in Hand (10:36 – 11:17)
What prompted Kay’s Work for mental well-being? (11:32 – 16:38)
Shifting attitudes in the profession towards mental well-being (17:14 – 19:56)
How can owners help ensure mental well-being of their staff? (20:49 – 26:06)
Techniques or practices that can be used for mental health awareness (26:44 – 31:11)
How can we support PSS? (31:24 – 36:25)