Navigating mayhem

Discovering how oral hygiene professionals have managed their time and career development through the pandemic

By Melanie Hayes

THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC has initiated all sorts of unprecedented and unusual challenges for society – social distancing, mask wearing, lockdowns, home schooling and toilet paper shortages just to name a few! It is therefore reasonable to expect that there will be a knock-on effect on an individual’s career development.

For many dental professionals the impact on their work-life has been immediate, with reduced or flexible hours, new requirements to work remotely online, or periods of leave or even job loss due to the shutdown of clinics and other workplaces. For some of us working outside of a clinical setting, for instance, in academia, management, or policy, workload have increased significantly pushing employees to their capacity. These immediate effects may also impact on job satisfaction, commitment, and attitudes to work. (Spurk & Straub, 2020).

Disruptive and extraordinary events such as global pandemics have the ability to create “career shock” for individuals and organisations (Hite & McDonald, 2020). Organisations have had to be flexible and adapt to the work environment, while potentially under financial strain. As individuals, we may reconsider our career choices, especially if job loss is experienced, or work roles significantly change. As the boundaries between our work and non-work lives begin to blur, many may re-evaluate the priority they place on work.

As we navigate the pandemic and consider what our post-pandemic work life might look like, what is clear is that change is inevitable. With change can come opportunities that might otherwise have not presented themselves

As we navigate the pandemic and consider what our post-pandemic work life might look like, what is clear is that change is inevitable. With change can come opportunities that might otherwise have not presented themselves. This edition, I asked a few of our oral health community to share with us how the pandemic has impacted their work life and careers. As you can see, while most have recognised the challenges and struggles faced working during the pandemic, they have also identified opportunities to improve or refocus

their work tasks and priorities, which will hopefully have a positive impact on their careers in the years to come. I hope some of their insights resonate with you, or alternatively, that they give you a fresh perspective as you try and navigate your own career through this pandemic.

Lyn Carman

Dental Hygienist and Director of Lync Consulting

I was working on rural and remote projects which like everything came to an abrupt end, I was planning to take on some locum work as my consulting business grew organically – everything stopped! I knew once practices opened again their focus would purely be on getting patients back in, working on a backlog of patients and working out how to work in the new normal. I took a job for three months working in a Telstra call centre – that was an experience! Then we all began the journey back.

Overall, I am so very grateful, the place I have created for my life has meant that the pandemic has not impacted me greatly. It has enabled me to focus on my direction to be able to support individuals and practices meet their needs better. I am constantly reminded to focus on what is within my control, as there is so much that isn’t. I feel as though among all the disruption, the tough issues for many and I have great empathy, I have been given the opportunity to seek the learning and the positives to come from this time.

Kelsey Ingram

Dental hygienist and PhD candidate

On the one hand, the pandemic has created stress in my work life, particularly early in the pandemic when we did not know much about Covid-19 and the limited work experienced with lockdowns. However, on the other it has given me time to invest in research studies and developing an additional career path

Melinda Alchin

Dental Hygienist and University Clinic Manager

The pandemic has allowed me to work from home which saves time in travel and allows for other things like gardening. I feel for the students as they want or need to get their practical work completed. The academics are managing so many changes to allow for online teaching as best as possible. We are all trying our best in these times!

Assoc Prof Janet Wallace

OHT and Academic, University of Sydney

Working from home definitely has advantages, the ability to attend a million Zoom meetings a day, with people from all over Australia and the world. No driving to the airport, no turbulence while flying (I don’t love flying), no hotel rooms, no taxi trips that seem to take forever, because you’re in another state or another country and have no idea where you are going. I hyper-focus in my home office, work endlessly, before I realise it the sun has gone down and I’ve been sitting in front of my laptop for hours and hours. I can churn out documents and complete tasks, meet deadlines and tick off the ‘to–do’ items on my daily list with total joy.

But, what I can’t do in this pandemic work world, is chat to my work colleagues/ friends, face-to-face, walk to the café and share a coffee, exchange small talk about the weather, the government, children, grandchildren, or the latest version of 'The Voice’ and I miss that in this pandemic world!

Tabitha Acret

Dental Hygienist and Education Manager, EMS Oceania

Covid-19 and my career has been a win-lose situation. While myself, along with the majority of dental clinical across the world, lost hours and wages due to lockdown last year and again unfortunately this year and there are the obvious negatives associated with this. I have still been able to have some wins and positives come out of Covid. The extra time from not working and travelling as much has meant I have been able to focus on myself and learning. Last year, I started and finished a graduate certificate in public health, started a podcast with one of my good friends in the USA called Disrupting Dentistry, and we were recently ranked top 40 health podcasts in the USA. This year I started my own private CPD business called Level UP Preventative Care providing small group CPD workshops. So overall, there have been some major positives to my career during this time that I may not have taken the leap to do if I wasn’t stuck at home for so long.

Fran Clarke

Dental Hygienist and practice owner

My workload significantly increased due to additional tasks moving to essential treatments and managing Covid-19 within my dental practices. There was initial staff stress as the uncertainty of lockdowns loomed. The massive extra workload managing people under stress has increased my own stress. But to lead a team I know that I need to be mentally well. This has meant I focus more on my well-being and take actions to care for myself more so than before the pandemic.

My staff with children have a higher workload trying to balance paid work with home schooling responsibilities. So I’ve tried to have consistent communication and interaction with employees to strengthen and enhance our work/life culture.

At the end of the day, we are all human, and every one of us may be impacted by Covid-19 so I consistently support of all my staff in any way possible. Their wellbeing is always at the forefront of my mind.

References: Hite, L. M., & McDonald, K. S. (2020). Careers after COVID-19: challenges and changes. Human Resource Development International, 23(4), 427-437. Spurk, D., & Straub, C. (2020). Flexible employment relationships and careers in times of the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Vocational Behaviour. Vol 119; 103435.