Title: When Caring Takes a Toll: Vicarious Trauma in Neonatal Nursing
Synopsis:  Working in neonatal care can be deeply rewarding, but it also involves sustained exposure to high acuity, uncertainty, trauma, grief and loss, and ethically complex situations. Over time, these experiences can have a psychological impact on even highly experienced clinicians. This session explores vicarious trauma and related experiences including secondary traumatic stress, moral distress, moral injury, compassion fatigue and burnout in neonatal nursing. We will look at how these experiences develop, how they can show up in ourselves and our colleagues, and the individual, team and organisational factors that can increase risk or provide protection. The session will also introduce practical strategies for recognising and responding to the psychological impact of high-acuity care and supporting sustainable wellbeing in work that is both demanding and deeply meaningful.

Bio: Bronwyn Williams is a Senior Clinical Psychologist with the Child and Adolescent Health Service (CAHS), working within Work Health, Safety and Wellbeing. She has more than 30 years' experience as a psychologist across tertiary healthcare, mental health, government and community settings. Her work focuses on the psychological health of people working in complex, high-pressure and trauma-exposed environments, with particular interests in vicarious trauma, moral distress and moral injury, psychological safety, reflective practice and psychosocial risk. At CAHS, Bronwyn leads and contributes to workforce psychological health initiatives, including reflective supervision, post-incident psychological support, psychological safety, consultation and education. She is also Director and Principal Consultant of The Foundry Psychology and Consulting, where her work focuses on workforce wellbeing, and supporting professionals and organisations working under sustained psychological and ethical pressure.