Personal and professional struggles in the pandemic

The authors featured in this issue all have conducted research related to work or provider’s perspectives. As this editorial is written we have been living for over two years in this pandemic. For more than two years, our lives have been impacted and disrupted by COVID-19. As an academic and as a mother of school aged children, I have reflected often in 2022 that the 2021-22 academic year was the hardest year of my teaching career, and undoubtably it was for my children’s teachers as well. Now we have transitioned to a time when life is still impacted, yet we are to go on as if it is not. I have witnessed their teachers struggle to give their all when they are already exhausted, trying to deal with social and emotional issues exacerbated by COVID-19, and going all in to make up for potential academic losses in students in 2020.

In 2020, when COVID-19 caused most of the world to halt and work from home there was a clear message that we were in unprecedented times and that we just needed to give one another grace and do the best that we could. In 2021-22 much of that grace, along with the patience of many, has seemed to have worn off. To further add to the anxiety and strain I am part of a high-risk family; for us no matter how tired we may be of masking and distancing we have to continue on in order to keep safe. The risk of infection is not one we can take. Administrators want us all back in the classroom, and it is not a place I and many like me feel safe returning. Being a parent has been hard; being a teacher has been hard. Truth be told, being an editor has been hard. I have heard directly from many of our reviewers and authors, who are academics and or practitioners themselves, about the tremendous stress and strain they are under – not to mention those that are sick with COVID-19 and dealing with the fallout professionally and personally. I am in crisis mode still. I am tired and burned out and trying to catch up still on all the things I had to let slide to survive. I know I am not alone in this.

All of this really hits home when I think about our focus in this issue: practitioners and work. Practitioners too are in crisis mode. Many practitioners have yet to experience a reprieve. Just as I struggle to play catch up with work, life tasks, rest, and mental health so do practitioners. Many hospital systems are overwhelmed in one or more ways seeing tremendous strains on their workforce. Nurses are leaving the workforce (American Association of Critical Care Nurses, 2021) just as teachers are. Violence against health care providers is at a high (Byon et al., 2021). Many hospitals are experiencing a financial crisis as the cost of travel nurses has severely impacted many hospital systems (Coleman-Lochner, 2021). I can’t imagine one facet of the health care institution, especially the providers, not severely impacted by COVID-19.

All of this comes at a great cost to providers, patients, and their families. While the authors featured in this issue do not focus on COVID-19, it is not difficult to imagine how the aspects they explored are even more complicated due to the pandemic. In order to continue to provide the best health care for women, it is our hope as editors that our authors and readers will continue to examine the workplace and provider perspectives.

As the Editor-in-Chief always reminds us: read and learn. She has provided a table of literature contributions to guide you. I’ll add to please give yourself grace and give those around you grace.

Table

Health issue	Authors	International literature contribution	Extent of global contribution	Research location
Balance and shoes	Hayriye Tomac¸, Zehra Guchan Topcu, and Nurcihan Altun	Theoretical Contribution: Wearing stiletto shoes of 4 cm or 10 cm in height both negatively affect static balance, dynamic balance, and functional skills (climbing stairs) in young healthy women.	Data limited to sample of women in Cyprus, but methods are described sufficiently so theoretical contribution can be tested elsewhere.	Cyprus
Pain, Fatigue, and workplace stress	Gokcen Akyurek, Nergis Avci, and Gamze Ekici	Practice Contribution: Authors’ experimental is presented to show a reduction in pain, fatigue, and workplace stress and an increase in coping skills among nurses. Theoretical Contribution: Training in progressive muscle relaxation, breathing, and ergonomic exercises helps in reducing pain, fatigue, and stress while increasing coping skills.	Study done with Turkish sample may be replicated elsewhere for global contributions.	Turkey
Dysmenorrhea	Zeynep Nilufer Yondem and Nevin Cıtak Bilgin	Theoretical Contribution: Findings from a descriptive study are presented to show that workplace problems differ according to severity of dysmenorrhea among female nurses working in state supported hospitals in Turkey.	Turkish study should be replicated elsewhere for a global contribution.	Turkey
Gender inequality	Amrollah Shamsi, et al.	Theoretical Contribution: Gender inequality in internet images of health professionals exists in Iran with most practitioners shown as males.	Data limited to images of practitioners in Iran. Cross-cultural comparisons needed for global contribution.	Iran
Water scarcity	Carole Debora Nounkeu and Jigna Morarji Dharod	Theoretical Contribution: Women have a greater burden than do men for securing and managing water for family.	Managing household water strategies related only to Cameroon. Suggestion that women be involved in creating government management strategies are relevant anywhere women fetch the water .	Cameroon
Harmful cultural practices	Sawitri Saharso and Carlijn Dekker	Theoretical Contribution: Largely descriptive study. Researchers note, physicians value patient autonomy more than intervention when it involves disparaging another culture.	Descriptive study doesn’t meet standard for theoretical contribution. Data limited to Dutch physicians who see women who have migrated to the Netherlands.	Netherlands
Childbirth	Laura Buback, et al.	Theoretical Contribution: Largely descriptive study with mixed methods design. Article doesn’t quite meet standards for theoretical contribution. Authors note, “drivers of the lack of supportive care are caused by structural health systems issues”.	Theoretical contribution is simplistic. Of course, lack of supportive care is driven by structural health system issues. Since health systems vary, the contribution describing the situation in one area of one county is not global.	Kenya
Accidental injury	María del Carmen-Rey Merchán and Antonio López-Arquillos	Theoretical Contribution: Compensation for wages lost to occupational accidents among teachers varies by gender. Women report more accidents but receive lower compensation. Men were more likely to experience fatal accidents, however.	Data from Spain, only. For global contribution, cross-cultural comparisons are needed.	Spain
Post-partum depression	Rabab Sakina, et al.	Theoretical Contribution: Largely descriptive study of role lady health care workers may play in reducing stigma of post-partum depression among women in Pakistan, if they had better training.	Excellent description but study doesn’t meet current standard for theoretical contribution. That the lady health workers would do a better job with additional training is speculative.	Pakistan
Sexual abuse	Hanan Al-Modallal, et al.	Theoretical Contribution: Using a shortened 9-item worksite harassment tool validated in Jordan for an Arabic speaking population, researchers find abuse by an intimate partner is significantly correlated with women’s depressive symptoms, stress, and diagnosis with chronic illnesses.	Data are limited to participants at one academic institution in Jordan, but study may be replicated elsewhere if the tool used is validated first for a different population.	Jordan
Dysmenorrhea	Sola Han, et al.	Theoretical Contribution: Largely descriptive study. Researchers explain expenditures on Korean traditional complementary medicine to treat primary dysmenorrhea. Article doesn’t quite meet current standards for theoretical contribution.	Findings relate to Korea only.	South Korea

Note From the Editor re Literature Contributions in Volume 43:9 of Health Care for Women International.

The above table is presented to display the authors’ scientific contributions to global women’s health issues. Please realize that some of the articles published in this issue no longer meet our standards for publication. In future issues, descriptive work will be published only when the authors also make a unique contribution to theory, research methods or to women’s health practice.

Elizabeth Fugate-Whitlock, PhD
Managing Editor, Health Care for Women International
June 14, 2022 Eleanor Krassen Covan, PhD
Editor-in-Chief
June 14, 2022