Selected Podcast
COVID-19 and the State of Mental Health of Healthcare Workers
Along with impacting the physical health of many of our nations' people, COVID-19 has also wrecked havoc on mental health - especially that of healthcare workers. Hear from Barbie Will MSM, LCSW and April Coffin, LCSW as they unpack mental health and struggles from the front line.
Featuring:
April Coffin, LCSW is a Director of Outpatient & Adolescent Behavioral Health.
Barbie Will, MSM, LCSW | April Coffin, LCSW
Barbie Will, MSM, LCSW is a Clinical Manager for Reid Outpatient Behavioral Health.April Coffin, LCSW is a Director of Outpatient & Adolescent Behavioral Health.
Transcription:
Maggie McKay (Host): Welcome to Right Beside You, a Reid Health Podcast. I'm Maggie McKay, and I invite you to listen as we discuss COVID-19 and the state of mental health of healthcare workers. We're joined today by Barbie Will, Clinical Manager for Reid Outpatient Behavioral Health, and April Coffin, Director of Outpatient and Adolescent Behavioral Health.
So good to have you here. We can't wait to hear what you have to say on this topic, because it's so important now more than ever with all of that healthcare workers have been going through over these past few years. To start, tell us who you are, what behavioral health is and what you do.
Barbie Will: Sure thing. And first, I just want to thank you for having us on here. so I'm Barbie and I am a licensed clinical social worker and, like you said, the clinical manager for Reid Outpatient Behavioral Health.
April Coffin: Yeah, thank you, Maggie, for having us on here. Barbie and I really enjoy talking about behavioral health and mental health services, especially in relation to Reid Health. So I'm April as you mentioned, and I'm a licensed clinical social worker and I'm the Director of Outpatient Adolescent Behavioral Health.
Maggie McKay (Host): And what do you do in behavioral health?
Barbie Will: So behavioral health refers to how our daily habits affect our overall wellbeing, emotions, biology and behavior. It's interchangeable with mental health. However, behavioral health incorporates not just our mental wellness, but also the way our thoughts play out in real life. It's about balancing the different areas of our lives, for example, eating healthy, exercising, taking care of our physical and mental health, participating in social activities, continuing our learning and education, managing our stress and adversity and engaging in activities that bring us joy.
Maggie McKay (Host): And what does behavioral health entail? What do you do?
Barbie Will: Well, in our outpatient practices, we provide psychiatric medication management, psychotherapy. We also do psychological evaluations and assessments for both children and adults.
April Coffin: So at the care pavilion, we have an acute stabilization unit and residential unit for kiddos ages six to seventeen. And our acute program, they're for youth who are a danger to themselves or others and their typical stay is five to seven days. On residential, our youth are there for chronic behaviors and those stays are for youth that have had multiple acute stays, so typically that program is about five to seven months.
Maggie McKay (Host): Tell us what Mental Health Awareness Month is and why it's so important.
April Coffin: So Mental Health Awareness Month, it's a nationally-recognized movement to raise awareness about mental health in order to really fight stigma and provide support and education to the public and to advocate for policies that support people with mental illness and their families.
Barbie Will: And so for mental health awareness month this year, NAMI, which is the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has designated the 2022 Mental Health Awareness Month campaign to be Together For Mental Health, in an effort to promote advocacy, to improve our mental and behavioral healthcare system. And the reason that it's so important is because we have a growing number of people experiencing mental health symptoms. And we want to not only be able to increase access to services, but also promote quality of services.
Maggie McKay (Host): And when employees are reaching out to behavioral health providers for help, what is the most common theme you're seeing?
April Coffin: The biggest thing we're seeing right now, honestly, is burnout, especially since most of us were deemed to be essential workers. There was a report from the CDC that even identified the essential workers were one of the populations experiencing increase in mental health symptoms.
Maggie McKay (Host): What is burnout and what does it look like? How do you know?
Barbie Will: Well, occupational burnout results from chronic work-related stress. So, some things that we think about when thinking about stressors on the job, things like mandated overtime hours due to like the national employee shortages, taking on more tasks and responsibilities because we're trying to distribute for jobs that may not have people in place at the moment, poor work and personal time boundaries, essential workers working through the pandemic while worrying about their own families and their physical health, managing other employees' burnout, so whenever your coworkers around you are burnt out, trying to manage their job duties as well as your own and make sure that quality care is still happening. And then on top of that, losing a patient, which is one of the most stressful things that comes with work.
April Coffin: Thank you, Barbie, for explaining what occupational burnout results from. And I would just want to also state that some of the symptoms of occupational burnout is characterized by like energy depletion or just plain old exhaustion, increased mental distance from one's job feelings of negativity towards the job or coworkers and even administration, and then just overall reduced professional efficacy.
Maggie McKay (Host): What suggestions do you have for employees that are burned out? What can they do to increase the use of self-care strategies? Because that is so important.
Barbie Will: So my number one suggestion is Aruba.
April Coffin: I think we could all use a little bit of tropical getaway therapy, Barbie.
Barbie Will: So definitely. Like, I am all for a tropical vacation anytime. But I would say a good rule of thumb would be to allocate at least 10% of our day to self-care and that equates to about two and a half hours. So two and a half hours of your day should be about taking care of yourself.
April Coffin: That's a great point, Barbie. So let's talk about self-care for a minute and what it looks like. So I think while self-care can look like getting massages and manicures, we actually need to use self-care every day, because I think as a therapist, I always hear people refer to self-care as, "Oh, I'm going to get my massage once a month." So self-care, it's about every day, right, taking care of your body. So it's about eating healthy and exercising, getting good quality sleep, taking care of your body and taking care of your mental and spiritual health.
It's also important to be able to take a few minutes away from your work or tasks when you're feeling overwhelmed. I think that's really hard for us to do, especially in the healthcare system. So if you're involved in direct patient care, just be mindful of that downtime and pauses in your workday. If you are looking at a computer, making sure you're taking time away from screen time, just to get that self-care in.
Barbie Will: Definitely. And for those who are getting mandated to work extra shifts and overtime, definitely try to pace yourself throughout your day, because sometimes we have a tendency when we get to where we put all of our energy into that first part of our day and, then, the second part of your shift comes and you are just exhausted. So try to pace yourself. And also just like you said, April, be mindful of downtime and pauses and use these to your advantage. You know, if you have other things going on or other things that you're thinking about or just want to step away mentally, take that downtime and those pauses and kind of let that be your time too. And if possible, take breaks when you can, and definitely let someone in your management or administrative team know that you're feeling burned out.
April Coffin: Barbie, that's a great point. I mean, that's what they're there for is to help. So mindfulness is a really big part of managing burnout. And I just want to say negativity spreads like wildfire. And so when we are exhausted and burnt out. We tend to be a little bit more negative. And so we want to be mindful of our energy and with our coworkers and patients, especially. We want to be nonjudgmental. We want to have compassion and just be aware.
Barbie Will: And so we also want to make sure that we're practicing healthy boundaries with work and our home lives. I can't tell you the number of times where I've let those boundaries blur. So we want to make sure that we do our best to separate the two, especially if you are one of those people that have a job that could be done from home. So like when you're in management or, you do some data entry and you have the ability to take a computer home and work on your stuff, like making sure that you do your best to separate the two. And this can be really hard at times, especially if you have stressors going on at home and you're thinking about that while you're on the job or if you have stressors at work and you're thinking about it while you're with your family.
But some things that you can do, you can utilize your support system. Our support systems are so important, especially for those of us in helping professions, because we often have a difficult time asking for help. We have to recognize that just like other people need help, so do we. Unplugging from our phones and our work-related electronics, you don't always have to answer that text message or you don't always need to be on your work laptop. Not checking work emails on your time off. I know that's hard and we get into that mindset of like, "I want to be prepared for my next workday," but your family needs you too. And then allowing yourself to be in the moment with your friends and family while you're away from work. Being present is so important, especially if you have kids, it's really, really important for them.
Maggie McKay (Host): And you mentioned taking care of our bodies. What are some suggestions for that?
April Coffin: It's important to pay attention to our bodies and what our bodies are telling us. Our bodies are always going to look out for us and let us know when something's missing. So it's important to still follow through with whatever self-care we need. Like, for example, I can always tell when I need more water. And if I'm dehydrated and I feel a little sluggish, I just drink a lot of water and that right there is self-care. It's just taking care of your body and being self-aware.
Barbie Will: And April, just like you mentioned, when you're dehydrated and you know that you need water, you know, sleep, sleep is so important. And our body lets us know all the time whenever we're running low on sleep and that we need to have that rest.
Maggie McKay (Host): Earlier you mentioned the loss of a patient, which has got to be awful, especially the numbers during COVID. Can you talk about that?
Barbie Will: I think that's something we definitely need to address, because managing the loss of a patient is so hard. I know I've had a lot of coworkers reach out to me and share that through the pandemic and the increased amount of loss that they're experiencing, that patient loss is hitting a little differently these days. They feel somewhat detached from it, disconnected from it. And that's really hard for healthcare workers, because it's a helping profession. And so we are connected to our patients and I know they really struggled with that disconnect and feeling somewhat desensitized to the loss of a patient.
April Coffin: Yeah, I completely agree, Barbie. I think it's been so hard for our employees who are just unable to stop to grieve for the loss of their patients, because they've had to stay strong and keep fighting for other patients and patients' families along with their own families that have experienced COVID. So for several months, we have Code Lavender, which that gave our staff the ability to confidentially call our therapist throughout the hospital. And to process those stresses and losses, but we currently do not have Code Lavender anymore. It's not activated right now. But I would still encourage staff to reach out to EAP services. That's completely free. You can reach out to our department, outpatient behavioral health. Talk to a close friend or a loved one. It's so vital to process our losses and what we're experiencing at work. So I appreciate you mentioning that, Barbie, since it's definitely impacted our employees.
Maggie McKay (Host): What is Code Lavender?
April Coffin: So Code Lavender, we started that in response to the COVID pandemic in witnessing how it's impacted our employees. And so all of the therapists at Reid Health got together and decided to start Code Lavender in response to our employees' mental health needs. And so it just gave employees a free call. They could call someone and just talk through their stressors, anxiety, just anything that they were going through.
Maggie McKay (Host): That's a great idea. It's too bad. They don't still have it.
April Coffin: I know, personally, we have the director of inpatient psych who always volunteers herself as well. She's a sweetheart, and she's always willing to talk to our employees and psych also rounds on the different floors still to this day.
Maggie McKay (Host): Thank you so much, Barbie and April. A good reminder to maybe get back to how we would show healthcare workers a little extra love during the worst of the pandemic. Remember in the beginning for all they do that's so selflessly. You remember people were like putting up banners and posters and taking them cookies and just recognizing the stress they were under and the work they were doing for our families, you know? So you've given us a lot to think about, a lot of useful information today and we so appreciate it.
Barbie Will: Oh, you are so very welcome. You're so very welcome.
April Coffin: Yeah. Thank you, Maggie, for having us. Barbie and I love sharing information about mental health and behavioral health, and we're also here to help as much as we can.
Maggie McKay (Host): That's Barbie Will, Clinical Manager for Reid Outpatient Behavioral Health, and April Coffin, Director of Outpatient and Adolescent Behavioral Health. If you have questions or would like to connect with someone, please call Reid Outpatient Behavioral Health at (765) 983-3298 or to schedule your appointment today. Or for more information, please visit reidhealth.org. And that concludes this episode of Right Beside You, a Reid Health podcast. Please remember to rate, review and subscribe to this podcast and all the other Reid Health podcasts. I'm Maggie McKay. Thank you for listening and be well.
Maggie McKay (Host): Welcome to Right Beside You, a Reid Health Podcast. I'm Maggie McKay, and I invite you to listen as we discuss COVID-19 and the state of mental health of healthcare workers. We're joined today by Barbie Will, Clinical Manager for Reid Outpatient Behavioral Health, and April Coffin, Director of Outpatient and Adolescent Behavioral Health.
So good to have you here. We can't wait to hear what you have to say on this topic, because it's so important now more than ever with all of that healthcare workers have been going through over these past few years. To start, tell us who you are, what behavioral health is and what you do.
Barbie Will: Sure thing. And first, I just want to thank you for having us on here. so I'm Barbie and I am a licensed clinical social worker and, like you said, the clinical manager for Reid Outpatient Behavioral Health.
April Coffin: Yeah, thank you, Maggie, for having us on here. Barbie and I really enjoy talking about behavioral health and mental health services, especially in relation to Reid Health. So I'm April as you mentioned, and I'm a licensed clinical social worker and I'm the Director of Outpatient Adolescent Behavioral Health.
Maggie McKay (Host): And what do you do in behavioral health?
Barbie Will: So behavioral health refers to how our daily habits affect our overall wellbeing, emotions, biology and behavior. It's interchangeable with mental health. However, behavioral health incorporates not just our mental wellness, but also the way our thoughts play out in real life. It's about balancing the different areas of our lives, for example, eating healthy, exercising, taking care of our physical and mental health, participating in social activities, continuing our learning and education, managing our stress and adversity and engaging in activities that bring us joy.
Maggie McKay (Host): And what does behavioral health entail? What do you do?
Barbie Will: Well, in our outpatient practices, we provide psychiatric medication management, psychotherapy. We also do psychological evaluations and assessments for both children and adults.
April Coffin: So at the care pavilion, we have an acute stabilization unit and residential unit for kiddos ages six to seventeen. And our acute program, they're for youth who are a danger to themselves or others and their typical stay is five to seven days. On residential, our youth are there for chronic behaviors and those stays are for youth that have had multiple acute stays, so typically that program is about five to seven months.
Maggie McKay (Host): Tell us what Mental Health Awareness Month is and why it's so important.
April Coffin: So Mental Health Awareness Month, it's a nationally-recognized movement to raise awareness about mental health in order to really fight stigma and provide support and education to the public and to advocate for policies that support people with mental illness and their families.
Barbie Will: And so for mental health awareness month this year, NAMI, which is the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has designated the 2022 Mental Health Awareness Month campaign to be Together For Mental Health, in an effort to promote advocacy, to improve our mental and behavioral healthcare system. And the reason that it's so important is because we have a growing number of people experiencing mental health symptoms. And we want to not only be able to increase access to services, but also promote quality of services.
Maggie McKay (Host): And when employees are reaching out to behavioral health providers for help, what is the most common theme you're seeing?
April Coffin: The biggest thing we're seeing right now, honestly, is burnout, especially since most of us were deemed to be essential workers. There was a report from the CDC that even identified the essential workers were one of the populations experiencing increase in mental health symptoms.
Maggie McKay (Host): What is burnout and what does it look like? How do you know?
Barbie Will: Well, occupational burnout results from chronic work-related stress. So, some things that we think about when thinking about stressors on the job, things like mandated overtime hours due to like the national employee shortages, taking on more tasks and responsibilities because we're trying to distribute for jobs that may not have people in place at the moment, poor work and personal time boundaries, essential workers working through the pandemic while worrying about their own families and their physical health, managing other employees' burnout, so whenever your coworkers around you are burnt out, trying to manage their job duties as well as your own and make sure that quality care is still happening. And then on top of that, losing a patient, which is one of the most stressful things that comes with work.
April Coffin: Thank you, Barbie, for explaining what occupational burnout results from. And I would just want to also state that some of the symptoms of occupational burnout is characterized by like energy depletion or just plain old exhaustion, increased mental distance from one's job feelings of negativity towards the job or coworkers and even administration, and then just overall reduced professional efficacy.
Maggie McKay (Host): What suggestions do you have for employees that are burned out? What can they do to increase the use of self-care strategies? Because that is so important.
Barbie Will: So my number one suggestion is Aruba.
April Coffin: I think we could all use a little bit of tropical getaway therapy, Barbie.
Barbie Will: So definitely. Like, I am all for a tropical vacation anytime. But I would say a good rule of thumb would be to allocate at least 10% of our day to self-care and that equates to about two and a half hours. So two and a half hours of your day should be about taking care of yourself.
April Coffin: That's a great point, Barbie. So let's talk about self-care for a minute and what it looks like. So I think while self-care can look like getting massages and manicures, we actually need to use self-care every day, because I think as a therapist, I always hear people refer to self-care as, "Oh, I'm going to get my massage once a month." So self-care, it's about every day, right, taking care of your body. So it's about eating healthy and exercising, getting good quality sleep, taking care of your body and taking care of your mental and spiritual health.
It's also important to be able to take a few minutes away from your work or tasks when you're feeling overwhelmed. I think that's really hard for us to do, especially in the healthcare system. So if you're involved in direct patient care, just be mindful of that downtime and pauses in your workday. If you are looking at a computer, making sure you're taking time away from screen time, just to get that self-care in.
Barbie Will: Definitely. And for those who are getting mandated to work extra shifts and overtime, definitely try to pace yourself throughout your day, because sometimes we have a tendency when we get to where we put all of our energy into that first part of our day and, then, the second part of your shift comes and you are just exhausted. So try to pace yourself. And also just like you said, April, be mindful of downtime and pauses and use these to your advantage. You know, if you have other things going on or other things that you're thinking about or just want to step away mentally, take that downtime and those pauses and kind of let that be your time too. And if possible, take breaks when you can, and definitely let someone in your management or administrative team know that you're feeling burned out.
April Coffin: Barbie, that's a great point. I mean, that's what they're there for is to help. So mindfulness is a really big part of managing burnout. And I just want to say negativity spreads like wildfire. And so when we are exhausted and burnt out. We tend to be a little bit more negative. And so we want to be mindful of our energy and with our coworkers and patients, especially. We want to be nonjudgmental. We want to have compassion and just be aware.
Barbie Will: And so we also want to make sure that we're practicing healthy boundaries with work and our home lives. I can't tell you the number of times where I've let those boundaries blur. So we want to make sure that we do our best to separate the two, especially if you are one of those people that have a job that could be done from home. So like when you're in management or, you do some data entry and you have the ability to take a computer home and work on your stuff, like making sure that you do your best to separate the two. And this can be really hard at times, especially if you have stressors going on at home and you're thinking about that while you're on the job or if you have stressors at work and you're thinking about it while you're with your family.
But some things that you can do, you can utilize your support system. Our support systems are so important, especially for those of us in helping professions, because we often have a difficult time asking for help. We have to recognize that just like other people need help, so do we. Unplugging from our phones and our work-related electronics, you don't always have to answer that text message or you don't always need to be on your work laptop. Not checking work emails on your time off. I know that's hard and we get into that mindset of like, "I want to be prepared for my next workday," but your family needs you too. And then allowing yourself to be in the moment with your friends and family while you're away from work. Being present is so important, especially if you have kids, it's really, really important for them.
Maggie McKay (Host): And you mentioned taking care of our bodies. What are some suggestions for that?
April Coffin: It's important to pay attention to our bodies and what our bodies are telling us. Our bodies are always going to look out for us and let us know when something's missing. So it's important to still follow through with whatever self-care we need. Like, for example, I can always tell when I need more water. And if I'm dehydrated and I feel a little sluggish, I just drink a lot of water and that right there is self-care. It's just taking care of your body and being self-aware.
Barbie Will: And April, just like you mentioned, when you're dehydrated and you know that you need water, you know, sleep, sleep is so important. And our body lets us know all the time whenever we're running low on sleep and that we need to have that rest.
Maggie McKay (Host): Earlier you mentioned the loss of a patient, which has got to be awful, especially the numbers during COVID. Can you talk about that?
Barbie Will: I think that's something we definitely need to address, because managing the loss of a patient is so hard. I know I've had a lot of coworkers reach out to me and share that through the pandemic and the increased amount of loss that they're experiencing, that patient loss is hitting a little differently these days. They feel somewhat detached from it, disconnected from it. And that's really hard for healthcare workers, because it's a helping profession. And so we are connected to our patients and I know they really struggled with that disconnect and feeling somewhat desensitized to the loss of a patient.
April Coffin: Yeah, I completely agree, Barbie. I think it's been so hard for our employees who are just unable to stop to grieve for the loss of their patients, because they've had to stay strong and keep fighting for other patients and patients' families along with their own families that have experienced COVID. So for several months, we have Code Lavender, which that gave our staff the ability to confidentially call our therapist throughout the hospital. And to process those stresses and losses, but we currently do not have Code Lavender anymore. It's not activated right now. But I would still encourage staff to reach out to EAP services. That's completely free. You can reach out to our department, outpatient behavioral health. Talk to a close friend or a loved one. It's so vital to process our losses and what we're experiencing at work. So I appreciate you mentioning that, Barbie, since it's definitely impacted our employees.
Maggie McKay (Host): What is Code Lavender?
April Coffin: So Code Lavender, we started that in response to the COVID pandemic in witnessing how it's impacted our employees. And so all of the therapists at Reid Health got together and decided to start Code Lavender in response to our employees' mental health needs. And so it just gave employees a free call. They could call someone and just talk through their stressors, anxiety, just anything that they were going through.
Maggie McKay (Host): That's a great idea. It's too bad. They don't still have it.
April Coffin: I know, personally, we have the director of inpatient psych who always volunteers herself as well. She's a sweetheart, and she's always willing to talk to our employees and psych also rounds on the different floors still to this day.
Maggie McKay (Host): Thank you so much, Barbie and April. A good reminder to maybe get back to how we would show healthcare workers a little extra love during the worst of the pandemic. Remember in the beginning for all they do that's so selflessly. You remember people were like putting up banners and posters and taking them cookies and just recognizing the stress they were under and the work they were doing for our families, you know? So you've given us a lot to think about, a lot of useful information today and we so appreciate it.
Barbie Will: Oh, you are so very welcome. You're so very welcome.
April Coffin: Yeah. Thank you, Maggie, for having us. Barbie and I love sharing information about mental health and behavioral health, and we're also here to help as much as we can.
Maggie McKay (Host): That's Barbie Will, Clinical Manager for Reid Outpatient Behavioral Health, and April Coffin, Director of Outpatient and Adolescent Behavioral Health. If you have questions or would like to connect with someone, please call Reid Outpatient Behavioral Health at (765) 983-3298 or to schedule your appointment today. Or for more information, please visit reidhealth.org. And that concludes this episode of Right Beside You, a Reid Health podcast. Please remember to rate, review and subscribe to this podcast and all the other Reid Health podcasts. I'm Maggie McKay. Thank you for listening and be well.