NurseRakai Town
What a circle of chairs did for a tired nurse
A young nurse on burnout, a borrowed classroom, and the first time anyone at work asked how she was.
Brenda qualified as a nurse four years ago. By her third year she was thinking about leaving.
"I loved the work," she says. "But I was doing night after night, and some nights there was just me. You lose a baby and the next morning you are back. Nobody asks."
Twelve chairs
A colleague invited her to a MANCO wellbeing circle: twelve chairs in a borrowed classroom on a Thursday evening, a flask of tea, and two senior midwives who had trained in peer support.
Nobody fixed anything. We just talked. I went back to work lighter.
The rules are simple. What is said in the circle stays in the circle. Nobody has to speak. Nobody gives advice unless they are asked.
Still a nurse
Brenda still works nights. The staffing has not changed much. But she has a group of people she can message at 4am, and she has stopped looking at job adverts abroad.
Next year, she wants to train as a circle facilitator herself.
