Our healthcare workforce is dealing with immense pressures, compounded by limited time, stretched resources, and constant expectations to provide uninterrupted high-quality care. In this context, capability building becomes essential.

Capability building is essential because it supports staff through change, ensuring they feel valued, skilled, and confident in their evolving roles. It’s not just about ticking boxes for compliance, it’s about enabling people.

These challenges aren't hypothetical. They’ve been lived, felt, and navigated by those on the ground, as my experience through fire, flood, and pandemic illustrates.

In sharing some of the things I’ve learnt along the way, my aim isn’t just to show how we get through challenges, but how those moments can build resilience and strengthen capability, both during the crisis and beyond it.

From Fire to Flood to Pandemic: A Personal Perspective

In 2019, bushfire smoke from Australia reached New Zealand. Returning home to Canberra by bus, I watched the landscape darken with ash. At one point, Canberra had the worst air quality in the world. Then came COVID-19.

As a newly graduated Nurse Practitioner, I moved interstate to a rural community to work on a mental health crisis team. I didn’t know the area or anyone in it. Not long after relocating from a drought-affected area, I was hit with a one-in-100-year flood.

Even before these crises, healthcare workers were under-resourced. The pandemic simply made those gaps unavoidable. It also became a defining moment for leaders, and how they led through the storm mattered.

Upskilling: Opportunity Lost and Lessons Learned

During COVID, our L&D team introduced an 'exchange' upskilling program. Staff could cross-train in other specialties to increase service flexibility during outbreaks. I was thrilled! I’d always wanted experience in drug and alcohol services. But the program vanished without explanation. Five years on, I sought the training independently.

A key learning: don’t overpromise. Ask staff what they want, not just what you need. Upskilling can’t be coerced. During COVID, we were asked to volunteer in high-risk units with unclear leave entitlements and limited protections. Some of us hesitated, not because we lacked commitment, but because the risks weren’t acknowledged fairly.

“Nominating staff for roles while they’re on leave or enrolling them in training they never asked for doesn’t build capability.”

Introverted staff may struggle to voice their learning needs. Management should routinely inform, encourage, and guide staff to explore development opportunities, perhaps through structured professional development plans.

When staff are supported to upskill, they grow, and so does the organisation (Penn LPS, n.d.).

Communicating at Eye Level

Once, during a service relocation, a change management lead held a meeting. She stood above us, spoke in a monotone, and avoided eye contact. She told us to expect “teething issues” - technically accurate, but comparing healthcare staff to infants? Not ideal.

“When staff are tense, keep them informed while validating their experience. Choose to be on the same level, literally and figuratively.”

A ‘you versus us’ approach only increases stress.

Leadership, Transparency and Accountability

At the height of border closures, a staff meeting confirmed that no one could enter our state. Then someone asked why the Director’s parents had been allowed in. The vague reply, “a special exemption,” ended the conversation awkwardly.

Another time, health professionals were told they couldn’t work remotely, even for admin roles. Ironically, this message was delivered via video call by managers working from home, with dogs on their laps!

“I appreciated leaders who admitted what they didn’t know and recognised how their announcements would affect us.”

Good leadership isn’t about perfection. It’s about honesty, humility, and standing with your team, not above them.

Supporting Adjustment to Change: A Foggy Lens

Glasses and face masks don’t mix. During COVID, my lenses fogged constantly. I tried tape, but had no luck (and I’m allergic to adhesives). I started shallow breathing just to see, which spiked my anxiety.

One peer suggested pretending to eat to remove her mask discreetly. It was a ridiculous workaround, but it was relatable.

Relief came when a former wardsman turned L&D trainer ran a workshop on proper mask fitting. He was calm, patient, and expert. He helped me find a fit that didn’t fog and validated my stress.

“Change is hard. But support, patience, and kindness can help people adjust with grace.”

Wellbeing Starts With the Small Stuff

Our Director would send contradictory emails. On Tuesday, mask-wearing audits and threats of deregistration. On Thursday: “Enjoy a free hot drink.” No thanks. My chai latte lost its sweetness after that whiplash.

But some moments restored hope. When border closures kept me from visiting my ill grandfather, my team surprised me with a birthday morning tea. I cried.

Other small gestures made a big impact:

• A “zen corner” I created, complete with dot art, photos, a comfy chair, and a fish tank
• Colleagues feeding the fish and playfully signing off like a med chart
• A proposal to decorate office spaces was blocked due to “health risks” (apparently someone might be allergic to fish...)
• However, the proposal to decorate the remainder of the office space in a similar way was blocked due to “health risks” for example, what if a person had a fish allergy? I reminded the manager that the fish were to be observed, not eaten.

These ideas might seem small, but they matter. The Black Dog Institute confirms that wellbeing initiatives like creating comfortable spaces improve staff mental health (Black Dog Institute, n.d.).

Teamwork and Delegation: Spotify and Solidarity

During the flood, our team took turns choosing a “Friday song” on Spotify while writing notes. It was a small ritual that brought connection and levity.

“Comradery helps us laugh and smile while acknowledging the hard stuff. That’s how we cope and continue.”

Cheesy sayings like “There’s no ‘I’ in team” exist for a reason: they’re true.

Managers Need Support Too

Before COVID peaked, I was invited to present a case study at Grand Rounds across three districts. I was excited until I was cut off mid-presentation by a Medical Director who argued that it wasn’t ‘essential education.’ I still had time left to speak, but he abruptly ended the session in front of 80 people.

“It was the stuff of nightmares. I broke down off-camera.”

Later, I learned the Medical Director had been under intense pressure. His behaviour wasn’t okay, but it revealed how leadership, too, was cracking under strain.

So I ask: Who supports the leaders? Are they allowed to fall apart in safe spaces? Or do they just have to “suck it up” and steer the ship?

Please and Thank You: Manners Matter

Saying thank you doesn’t have to mean free coffee. It doesn’t need to be expensive or majestic. But it must be sincere and regular, especially during tough times.

We often forget our manners at work, assuming others will help because it’s routine. But asking with kindness and acknowledging contributions with gratitude goes a long way.

Learning Through Crisis

It’s a shame it took a global pandemic and natural disasters to illuminate what staff genuinely need to feel safe, capable, and valued. Yes, healthcare is a basic human right. Yes, the government must step up with better resourcing. But in the meantime, we have work to do, on the ground, with each other.

“Storms are unpredictable. But by applying some basic principles and sticking together, we can weather them with a little more ease and grace.”