Exploring digital interventions to facilitate coping and discomfort for nurses experiencing the menopause in the workplace: An international qualitative study

Introduction: The global nursing workforce is predominantly female, with a large proportion working in the 45-55 age group. Menopause is a transition for all women, and; therefore needs recognition as it can impact work performance and consequently staff turnover.Background: Women will go through the menopause, but not all women are affected. The menopause transition presents a range of signs and symptoms both physical and psychological which can impact the quality of life and individuals' work/life balance. The nursing workforce is predominantly women that will work through the menopause transition.Objectives: The study explored perspectives on digital health interventions as strategies to support menopausal women and to understand the requirements for designing health interventions for support in the workplace.Design: A qualitative explorative design.Settings: Nurses working in a range of clinical settings in England, Finland, Denmark, New Zealand, Australia and USA.Methods: Nurses (n = 48) participated in focus groups from six different countries from February 2020-June 2022 during the pandemic from a range of acute, primary care and education settings. Nurses were invited to participate to share their experiences. Thematic analysis was used.Results: All participants were able to describe the physical symptoms of menopause, with some cultural and possible hemisphere differences; more noticeable was the psychological burden of menopause and fatigue that is not always recognized. Four themes were identified: Managing symptoms in the workplace; Recognition in the workplace; Menopause interventions; and Expectation versus the invisible reality. These themes revealed information that can be translated for implementation into digital health interventions.Conclusions: Managers of nursing female staff in the menopausal age range need greater awareness, and menopause education should involve everyone. Finally, our results demonstrate design attributes suitable for inclusion in digital health strategies that are aligned with likely alleviation of some of the discomforts of menopause.Patient or public contribution: No patient or public contribution.

Automated summary

The global nursing workforce is mostly female and primarily in the 45-55 age group. Menopause is a universal transition for women and needs to be recognized because it can affect work performance and staff turnover.