Staff stories: Falaniko Tominiko and Jo Thorogood on how this lockdown is different

Secondary stress is an emotional burden we can pick up when helping others who are experiencing trauma. We asked our staff members about strategies for supporting their students, colleagues and themselves while dealing with the move back to lockdown learning. In this first edition, we hear from Dr Falaniko Tominiko and Joanna Thorogood.

Check out our second and third editions: In part two we heard from Edgar Rowland and Gil Graham and in part three we heard from five staff about recognising their stress signs.

Falaniko Tominiko

For Falaniko Tominiko (Niko), Director of Pacific Success, a first priority for his team is identifying and supporting students who lack basic equipment. Students without laptops are at home trying to do their work on a mobile phone. Others live in households that don’t have reliable wifi, or have one laptop shared between several family members.

“We reach out with phone calls and surveys to check students have everything they need and to ask how they’re feeling. Matching students with the right team can be a challenge. Everyone gets a call, but you can feel a bit helpless at times, hoping that students passed on to the appropriate support teams get the help they need.”

Jo Thorogood is one of the Academic Programme Managers in the School of Healthcare and Social Practice. The Medical Imaging cohort she manages has around 115 students who typically spend half their course time in the classroom and the remainder completing hospital placements. Students can’t graduate without demonstrating the necessary clinical competencies, but they also cannot work in hospitals during Level 4 lockdown. Year three students are especially concerned about finishing their course on time, says Jo.

“It’s difficult to gauge how stressed they are. They’ve been through this before with the previous lockdowns, but it’s almost like PTSD, the stress is cumulative.”

Uncertainty is stressful, so while working with DHB staff and other learning providers to find timetabling solutions, Jo and her team keep multiple lines of communication open with students. Along with the usual channels, staff and student-rep meetings are currently being held weekly, instead of every five to six weeks, and each academic has reached out to students in their personal tutor cluster.

Stress-busting strategies and tips

Boundaries

In past lockdowns there has been the tendency for everyone to stay glued to the laptop till late at night, worried to step away, says Niko.

“Our Teams chat goes 24/7, but I switch the laptop off at about 6pm. It’s really important to step away and take breaks. If your household is isolating and can’t leave the property, even just stepping outside to breathe in some fresh air helps.”

Exercise

Jo does online yoga in the mornings and takes daily walks around the neighbourhood.

“One day I was feeling particularly under pressure and realised I wasn’t going to achieve anything by staying at my computer. Stepping out for a 40-minute walk helped a lot”.

Another colleague relaxes by playing frisbee.

Switching channels

Going into lockdown meant Jo was spending all day on emails and was not being productive in other areas of her role. Now moving into more of a maintenance phase, she has switched to only looking at emails three to four times a day.

“It’s tiring using a screen all day. It’s nice to see other’s faces, but I learnt last lockdown that you need to use your judgement for when to set up a Teams meeting and when to just pick up the phone.”

Team building

Communication is big for Niko’s team, who meets every Monday to check in. Last lockdown Niko ran popular Talanoa Zoom sessions every Friday afternoon, where anyone across Unitec could drop in and be part of an informal discussion on various topics.

“It’s important to stay calm and be glad we’re in New Zealand,” says Niko. “If we do our part, we’re helping the whole team.”

Jo’s team enjoys a daily virtual half-hour tea break. It’s a social time to connect with each other, keeping the focus off work. “We talk a lot about baking – we might have a cake competition”, she laughs.