Head on : how Victorian nurses and midwives confronted COVID / Jessie Byrne ; Yvonne Kelley (Editor).

‘The stories in this book are at once haunting and inspirational. Haunting because the struggles, the pain, the loss and grief, the fear and anxiety are all too real and still too close. Yet inspirational because one cannot help but see the deep commitment to care, the dedication in the face of overwhelming circumstances, and the profoundly human responses to the devastating events that played out over months and then years.’ - Victorian Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton

A collection of stories, told by nurses and midwives, about what it was like to work through the first three years of the COVID-19 pandemic in healthcare services across the Australian state of Victoria. These stories, by members of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (Victorian Branch), capture what they saw, what they felt, what they did, what they didn't do, what they changed and what they couldn't change - as they cared for the Victorian community (and continue to care) through a prolonged period of unprecedented demand and a once-in-a-century event.
Stories were written by registered and enrolled nurses, midwives, nursing and midwifery students and nursing and midwifery students working in student employment models (RUSONs and RUSOMs).