Black nurses seek mental health support during pandemic

Black nurses seek mental health support during pandemic

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For some, no care provided by Thompson prevents them from being transferred to the Intensive Care Unit.

“There were times when I feared working because of the unknown,” said Thompson. “Am I going to be a good nurse for my patients? Am I going to make a mistake?”

Nurses are often the first medical professionals a patient sees, and most nurses have great contact with patients during treatment, said Maysa Akbar, director of diversity at the American Psychological Organization. In addition to the stress they face as medical professionals, blacks are generally more likely to experience feelings of sadness, hopelessness and worthlessness than white adults, according to Mental Health America.
Black nurses are also dying from the virus at a disproportionate rate. Nearly 18% of American nurses who died from Covid-19 and related complications through September were black, but blacks make up only 12% of the nurse population, according to National Nurses United.

Thompson says there are times when she says she comes home “absolutely defeated”, so these days, she gives herself the space to process her emotions by talking to her family and watching television.

“If I don’t take care of myself, I can’t turn around and go back to my next shift and be a good nurse,” said Thompson.

She has not sought professional mental health support yet.

Black adults face mental health challenges

More than 17% of black adults in the U.S. had a mental illness in 2019, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. But people in the black community may find it difficult to seek mental health care, said Cheryl Taylor, president of the nursing school at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

She said it is important to feel safe when opening up to a mental health professional, and that is not easy for black people, who have a history of not being respected in the world of mental health.

Blacks often receive substandard mental health care, said Shalonda Kelly, an associate professor of psychology at Rutgers University in New Jersey. They are also less likely to receive culturally competent care, according to the American Psychological Association.

One way to increase the chances of blacks receiving quality mental health care is to consult a mental health professional of the same race, Kelly recommended.

A client may think, “That person may be able to understand what I’m going through and may not treat me as an inferior,” said Kelly.

It can be difficult, she said, because it is much easier to research the preferences of the male or female psychologist rather than one of color. Only 4% of American psychologists were black in 2015, according to the APA.
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It is also important that therapists allow their patients to feel comfortable talking about racism and discrimination, said Akbar.

If patients “don’t talk about how racism may have been one of the factors that led to depression in the first place, we will be leaving out a major component of the therapeutic process,” said Akbar.

Taylor listens to the struggles of her nursing students as they practice in hospitals while navigating the difficulties of the pandemic. She said one of her students told her, “I’m not used to dealing with death and dying, and today I have lost four patients.”

She saw nurses and students studying to become nurses suffering from the compassion fatigue, feelings of stress and exhaustion that come from helping those in need.

Black women who are nurses also face the stereotype of being “a strong, super-resilient black woman,” said Taylor.

“Yes, we are strong, but not so strong that we don’t need help,” said Taylor.

Mental health program for nurses

Last December, the National Black Nurses Association launched RE: SET, a free mental health program for nurses. The program’s goal is to teach nurses how to relieve the stress they are facing in a healthy way and connect them to mental health resources, said Millicent Gorham, the association’s executive director.

The program has a series of videos and podcasts focused on stress relief and seeking free professional help for everyone when you need it.

NBNA members get the added benefit of free counseling services. Nurses receive five free sessions for each wellness problem they face.

If a nurse needs to communicate with a mental health professional during a break to “simply let off steam because she is seeing a lot of things in the hospital”, she will have access to an unlimited number of calls and text messages to do this, said Gorham.

Trilby Barnes, a nurse from New Orleans, said she participated in free counseling after trying to remain resilient during the pandemic.

“Letting your guard down and listening to what someone would advise you to do is to heal,” said Barnes.

Accepting chronic illnesses and sadness for what was lost

She acts as a telephone screening nurse, listening to people’s health needs and advising on what to do next for her care. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Barnes said the number of calls he received has skyrocketed.

People called her in “pure panic” concerned about her possible Covid-19 symptoms. Barnes said it was difficult to give good advice, although people’s lives depended on it, when not much was known about the virus at the beginning of the pandemic.

Finding time to take care of yourself

When Thompson took care of her first patient with Covid-19 after graduating, she turned to a nurse and said, “I literally have no idea how to care for this patient because it is never something we learn in nursing school.”

You never know what will happen to your patients, she said, and they can decline very quickly. Thompson said it made her realize the importance of being a compassionate and caring nurse.

“I may be one of the last people these patients see, and I think that was something that hit me a lot,” said Thompson.

Thompson says he has sought mental health support in the past, but navigating these resources for the first time can be “overwhelming”, which contributed to her not taking the first step.

Nurses should not hesitate to ask for mental health support when they need it, said Taylor, because that means they are practicing what they preach as nurses.

“Give yourself permission to be as compassionate with yourself as you are with others,” said Cheryl Taylor.

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