Nurse and midwife sector highlights

Download this snapshot to view the results of 298 respondents who selected ‘nurse’ or ‘midwife’ as their profession from 1,518 health, social and community services workers who took the 2020-21 National Workforce Survey.

Overview

  • Overall, nurses and midwives demonstrated high levels of understanding of childhood trauma and adversity, followed by child mental health capability and infant mental health capability.
  • Nurses and midwives returned low scores for child mental health practice across all states and territories.
  • Nurses and midwives also reported lower levels of workplace support than the general workforce.
  • Results showed rural nurses and midwives scored lower capability on all domains compared to city nurses. Nurses working in more disadvantaged areas and those working in regional and rural areas may need some support to build their capacity in child mental health.
  • Survey results indicate the nurse workforce could strengthen their support for children by more often incorporating child mental health in their interactions with parents or families.
  • Nurses exposed to Emerging Minds resources reported higher capability in all subscales when compared to nurses not exposed to Emerging Minds resources.

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