How was your shift?
Get it off your chest.
Staff, volunteers, care workers and therapy dog teams. Put down what you're carrying before you go home.
Which best describes you?
This changes a few questions and which support lines come first. You can change it any time.
Everything you enter stays on this phone. Nothing is sent to the hospital, your manager or anyone else. Unladen Ward is a prototype. It is not a medical or emergency service and is not connected to any hospital or health service.
Take a moment.
Step away if you can. Tell your shift lead or coordinator you need a few minutes. That's allowed.
Breathe with this
What you might be feeling
- Shaky, sick, or a racing heart
- Numb, or oddly calm
- Tearful, angry, or both
- Going over what you could have done differently
These are normal reactions. They usually settle over hours or days.
If someone hurt or threatened you
It isn't part of the job and it isn't your fault. Tell your shift lead, or your volunteer coordinator if you're a volunteer. Report it through your organisation's incident system, even if it seems minor. Get checked if you were hurt. You can also contact police.
Ground yourself
Look around. Name them, out loud or in your head.
Call someone now
Add your coordinator, EAP or a colleague in so they're here when you need them.
Not sure who to tell?
If you don't feel safe telling your shift lead or manager, there are other people you can go to. Or write down what happened, just for you, while it's fresh.
What helps after
Handover to yourself
A few minutes at the end of a shift or visit. Notice what you're carrying, then leave what you can at the door.
Please talk to someone now
You said you've had thoughts of harming yourself or not wanting to be here. Please call one of these now. If you're in immediate danger, call 000.
Light load
This phone isn't letting the page save. Your result shows here but won't be kept.
About the aggression
Report it through your organisation's incident system if you haven't yet, even if it seems minor. Reports build the picture that gets things changed. Staff hurt at work can make a workers compensation claim.
Looking after your dog
Your dog showed signs the visit was hard. Give them a rest day, keep the next visit short, and talk to your program's assessor if the signs keep showing.
Getting home safely
You said you've got very little energy left. If you're driving, a 15 to 20 minute nap before you leave can help, or get a lift if you can. Text someone when you're home.
What might help
People you can call
This isn't a medical assessment. It's a way to notice how you're going over time.
How it's been going
Last 14 days
Handovers
This phone isn't letting the page save, so handovers won't be kept.
Privacy & your data
Add a PIN, download what you've entered, or delete everything from this phone.
Caring work takes something out of you
What to watch for, and what helps. Tap a heading to open it.
After a patient dies
Grief is normal, even for patients you knew briefly. It can hit harder when it's unexpected, a child, or someone you'd grown close to.
Today
- Pause before your next task if you can. Tell your shift lead you need a few minutes.
- It's OK to cry, or to feel nothing much at all.
Over the next days
- Ask whether your ward holds debriefs or a memorial.
- Some people find it helps to mark it in a small way.
- If it keeps replaying, talk to someone you trust.
Volunteers aren't always told when a patient dies, so finding out later can be a shock. Tell your coordinator how it landed.
After aggression or violence
It isn't part of the job, and it isn't your fault.
Today
- Get checked if you were hurt.
- Report it through your organisation's incident system, even if it seems minor. Reports build the picture that gets things changed.
- You can contact police.
Over the next days
- Feeling on edge around that patient or area is common. Ask for a safety plan before you work with them again.
- Staff hurt at work can make a workers compensation claim.
- Volunteers: tell your coordinator. You don't have to go back to that patient.
After a mistake or near miss
Most health workers make a mistake at some point. Feeling terrible about it shows you care. It doesn't make you bad at your job. This is sometimes called being a "second victim".
What's common
- Replaying it, and asking "what if"
- Fear of blame, or of what happens next
- Doubting yourself at work
What helps
- Tell someone you trust. You don't have to go through it alone.
- Follow your organisation's process, such as an incident report or open disclosure, and ask for support through it.
- If you're worried about a formal review, talk to your union or professional indemnity insurer before giving a statement.
After something distressing
A child, a trauma, a disclosure of abuse, or something you can't unsee. Images and sounds can come back for days afterwards. That's a normal reaction.
What helps
- Talk it through with someone who understands the work.
- Try not to go over it alone late at night. Write it down, then put it away.
- If a patient told you about abuse, follow your organisation's process. You don't have to carry it alone.
- If it's still intrusive after two weeks, talk to your GP or EAP.
Bullying, harassment or conflict
You don't have to put up with it, and you don't have to sort it out alone.
- Write down what happened, with dates, while it's fresh.
- If your manager is involved, talk to someone outside your reporting line.
- For sexual harassment, 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) is there 24/7.
Signs you're carrying too much
- Dreading going in
- Feeling numb or detached from patients
- Short-tempered at home
- Sleep changes, or replaying shifts at night
- Pulling back from people
This is sometimes called compassion fatigue. It's a normal response to caring work, not a weakness.
Getting home safely
After a long or night shift, tiredness can affect your driving as much as alcohol.
- If you're struggling to keep your eyes open, don't drive. A 15 to 20 minute nap before you leave helps.
- Get a lift, catch public transport or take a taxi if you can. Ask whether your hospital has a staff rest room.
- After a hard shift, text someone when you get home.
Volunteers deserve support too
You may not get a formal debrief or access to an EAP. Ask your volunteer coordinator what's available, and whether the organisation's EAP covers volunteers. It's OK to step back or change roles if a placement is taking too much.
Therapy dog teams
Your dog feels the ward too. Watch for yawning, lip licking, turning away, panting when it isn't hot, a tucked tail or shaking off. Keep visits short, end early if your dog is uncomfortable, and leave rest days between visits. Handlers carry what they see as well, so do your own handover after each visit.
When to get more help
If your load has been heavy for two weeks or more, you dread going in, or it's affecting sleep or home life, talk to your GP or EAP. A GP can set up a Mental Health Treatment Plan for Medicare-subsidised sessions with a psychologist.
People to call
Save the ones that apply to you. They stay on this phone and show up on the Help now screen.
Support lines
You don't have to go through your manager
Sometimes the person you'd normally tell is part of the problem, or it just doesn't feel safe. Here are other ways to get support. You choose what to do, and when.
From your hospital
Your hospital or organisation can add its own EAP, peer support, chaplaincy and wellbeing numbers here.
Someone outside your reporting line
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Free, confidential counselling. Your manager isn't told that you called. Many cover volunteers too, so ask your coordinator.
- A peer support or wellbeing officer. A trained colleague outside your reporting line.
- Your union or professional association. For example the NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association, the Health Services Union, or ASMOF for doctors. They give confidential advice and can come to meetings with you.
- Your work health and safety representative. For safety issues, including aggression and bullying.
- Volunteers and therapy dog teams: your own organisation, such as your therapy dog program, rather than the ward.
- Your GP. Outside work altogether, and can refer you on.
Text or chat instead of calling
For when talking out loud isn't possible, or feels like too much.
For particular situations
If you've seen serious wrongdoing, NSW public interest disclosure laws protect people who report it. The NSW Ombudsman can explain how.
Spiritual and religious support
Most hospitals have a spiritual care or chaplaincy team, and it's there for staff and volunteers as well as patients. Chaplains and pastoral carers support people of any faith or none. Their role is to listen, not to persuade.
You can also ask for someone from your own faith or cultural community. Some people find strength in prayer, ritual or their faith community after a hard shift. Others find it in nature, music or quiet. Whatever gives you meaning counts.
Words to start with
The first sentence is often the hardest. You could say:
"I'm not ready to make a complaint. I just need to talk this through."
"Can this stay between us? Is there anything you'd have to pass on?"
"Something happened at work and I don't feel I can raise it with my manager."
"I'm a volunteer. Who can I talk to who isn't on the ward?"
What happens if I tell someone?
- Counsellors, peer supporters and helplines keep what you say private. The main exception is if someone is at serious risk of harm. If you're unsure, ask at the start.
- A union can give you confidential advice before you decide anything.
- An incident report or formal complaint starts a process. People involved may be told, and you may be asked for your account. You can ask for support through it.
- Your private record in this app stays on your phone unless you choose to share it.
Not ready to tell anyone?
That's OK. You can write down what happened, just for yourself, and decide later.
Numbers and services are for New South Wales and Australia-wide. Check with your organisation for its own services.
Write down what happened
It stays on this phone. It isn't a report, and nothing is sent anywhere. If you later decide to raise something, notes written at the time are easier to rely on than memory.
My entries
Entries can't be edited, so each one shows when it was written. To add something, write a new entry.
No entries yet.
If you decide to share it, you can download it or send it to yourself.
Your phone, your data
PIN lock
Ask for a PIN when the app opens, and after it has been in the background for a minute.
PIN is on.
The PIN stops someone else opening the app on your phone. It doesn't encrypt what's stored, so keep your phone locked too. If you forget it, you can delete everything and start again.
Hide the screen
Tap the eye button at the top of any screen to cover the app straight away, for example in the tearoom or on the bus home. Tap to come back, or enter your PIN if you've set one.
Download my data
Download everything you've entered (handovers, private record and contacts) as a text file. You could keep a copy, or show it to your GP or counsellor.
Delete everything
Deletes your handovers, private record, role, contacts and PIN from this phone.
Delete everything from this phone? This can't be undone.
About Unladen Ward
Unladen Ward is a prototype made by Co-Synthesist Pty Ltd, Newcastle NSW. It isn't a medical or emergency service, and it isn't connected to any hospital or health service. The questions haven't been clinically validated yet.
What's stored: your role, handovers, private record, saved contacts and settings, only in this phone's browser. Nothing is sent to anyone. There are no accounts, analytics or trackers.
Keep in mind: if you clear your browser data or remove the app, what you've entered goes too. Download a copy first if you want to keep it.
Version 0.3 prototype · September 2026