Mental Health Resources

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline | Website: https://988lifeline.org/
The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals in the United States.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255)

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The Code Green Campaign
Website: https://codegreencampaign.org/
The Code Green Campaign® is a first responder oriented mental health advocacy and education organization. Also known as Code Green, we serve all types of first responders. This includes firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, dispatchers, police, corrections, air medical, and search & rescue. Our name is a combination of the color for mental health awareness (green) and the “code alerts” used in emergency services. If someone is having a stroke or heart attack first responders will call a “code stroke” or “code STEMI”. The idea is that Code Green is calling a code alert on the mental health of first responders. 

Mental Health Roundtable
In 2018, we convened the first meeting of our Mental Health Roundtable. Dozens of nurses and behavioral health professionals as well as state leadership participate in these recurring meetings, with a three-pronged focus on:

• Stigma
• Interdisciplinary / Integrated Care
• Access, Availability, & Appropriateness of Care

Recent meetings focused on access to appropriate care, development of the behavioral health workforce, state policymaking, and incarceration, with future meetings planned to examining maternal, child, and adolescent health as well as insurance/payor issues. Interested in participating on one of our three workgroups to address our focus areas? Sign up here.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Innovations Fund Grant
In 2019, VNF was awarded an RWJF grant to advance it’s work in mental health. In the year ahead, we will be utilizing these grant monies to enable a nurse to participate in the Mental Health First Aid Instructor Training, Youth Module and subsequently conduct three training programs for school and public health nurses, school counselors, and others in some of Virginia’s more economically disadvantaged communities.

We will also be working with K-8 schools and commonwealth leadership to identify gaps in mental health resources and ultimately deliver a program intended to reduce the likelihood of youth stigmatizing others with mental health challenges, as well as increase their level of comfort in accessing mental healthcare.

SafeHaven | Website: https://virginianurses.com/mpage/SafeHaven

SafeHaven™ was founded in 2020 after recognizing a greater need to provide physicians and PAs the support they need to stay well and prevent burnout. It was established when HB115 (Hope) and SB120 (Barker) successfully passed both chambers and were signed by Governor Northam. As of 2021, the SafeHaven™ protections have been extended through additional legislation to now include nurses and pharmacists; as well as medical, nursing, PA, and pharmacy students.

Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation
Website: https://www.healthynursehealthynation.org/about/about-hnhn/

As the largest subset of health care workers, nurses are critical to America’s health care system. Nurses protect, promote, and optimize the health of their patients by preventing illness and injury, facilitating healing, and alleviating suffering. Nurses are role models, educators, and advocates. The well-being of nurses is fundamental to the health of our nation.

The Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation™ (HNHN), is a program of the American Nurses Association Enterprise designed to improve the health of the Nation's 4.4M nurses - one nurse at a time. 

HNHN will:

• Broadly connect and engage individual nurses and partner organizations to take action within six domains: physical activity, rest, nutrition, quality of life, safety, and mental health.
• Provide a web platform to inspire action, cultivate friendly competition, provide content and resources to nurses, gather data, and connect nurses with each other, with employers, and organizations.

HNHN Strength Through Resiliency Committee
The American Nurses Association recently created a new committee to explore mental health in nursing. The Healthy Nurse Healthy Nation Strength Through Resiliency Committee 2020 examines, develops, and collects mental health resources for nurses, including those for suicide prevention. The Strength through Resiliency Committee is comprised of a Work Group and Review Committee.  The Committee was convened in late 2019 and began meeting in January, 2020.  It is composed of mental health subject matter experts, invested nurses, and ANA support staff. 

Learn more about the HNHN Strength Through Resiliency Committee and its available resources here!

ANA Suicide Prevention & Resilience Resources
Website:  https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/nurse-suicide-prevention/
National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month is observed in September, but the need for awareness and resources is not bound by time or date. The American Nurses Association (ANA) is committed to meeting the needs of nurses by offering a NEW Nurse Suicide Prevention and Resilience Resource Site.

Research indicates that nurses are at a much higher risk of suicide than the general public. During this unprecedented time, nurses are struggling with mental health issues like fear, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress as they respond to COVID-19 and continue to care for all patients. Effectively managing these mental health issues are essential in nurse suicide prevention.

ANA’s Resilience and Nurse Suicide Prevention Resource Site provides information and tools to:

• Build resilience
  
• Assist in active crisis
  
• Support suicide survivors
  
• Offer grief and bereavement coping strategies
  
• Honor a nurse’s memory

We encourage all nurses to check out the site, bookmark the pages, and share the resources with a colleague or a friend in need.

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The Happy Movement
Happy is proud to partner with the American Nurses Foundation to support nursing professionals as part of the Well-being Initiative. As a nurse, you know empathy, listening and connecting make all the difference. You also know even nurses need the same support, especially during this pandemic. If you ever find yourself needing to talk with someone after a challenging shift, to relieve yourself of stressful thoughts and concerns, or to rebuild your resilience with emotional support, the Happy App Warm Line can help. Our incredible Support Givers are available to you 24/7, on demand to hear your story. Click here to visit their website!

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Combating Stress
Website:  https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/work-environment/health-safety/combating-stress/
Stress amongst nurses is one of the most underappreciated yet impactful issues nurses face. It surfaces in so many aspects of a nurse’s work and personal life. The emotional demands are boundless and the physical demands/fatigue can be burdensome. The ethical/moral stresses of the job are always in the back of nurses’ minds as well. And that’s not even taking into account how nurses try to “turn it all off” when they are home with families and friends. This stress often affects the health of nurses and sometimes even the outcomes of patients and patient care. Furthermore, it undermines nurse retention rates and can even hurt the financial well-being of healthcare organizations.

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ANA COVID-19 Resource Center
Coping mentally and emotionally with the COVID-19 pandemic is difficult for everyone, but even more so for nurses. Find mental health and well-being resources and support. Click here to visit their website!

Webinars

How to Survive the Pandemic with An Unbroken Spirit
Actions to Take Right Now to Stay Strong and Focused
Discover how to successfully manage your mental health needs while caring for COVID-19 patients. Nurses are tough but COVID-19 is challenging their toughness in new and unique ways. This webinar, part of the ANA COVID-19 webinar series, will help you survive this bleak and distressing time.
Register here

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Apps

The Tapping Solution App
Website: https://www.thetappingsolutionapp.com/

These Tapping Meditations will help you release your anxiety so you can support your immune system, feel more at peace, and empowered to take any steps necessary to protect yourself. Please take some time to tap and share with others who need it!(The first 6 months for healthcare providers are free!)

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PTSD Coach App
Website: https://mobile.va.gov/app/ptsd-coach
The PTSD Coach app was designed for Veterans experiencing symptoms of PTSD. You do not have to be in treatment for PTSD to use this app, but it is not a replacement for therapy. PTSD Coach is available in English and Spanish. PTSD Coach and PTSD Coach Online were created by VA’s National Center for PTSD and the U.S. Department of Defense’s National Center for Telehealth & Technology.

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Mindfulness Coach App
Website:  https://mobile.va.gov/app/mindfulness-coach
Mindfulness means noticing and paying attention to what is going on in the present moment, without passing judgment on it. Mindfulness has been shown to be effective for reducing stress, improving emotional balance, increasing self-awareness, helping with anxiety and depression, and coping more effectively with chronic pain.

Mindfulness Coach was developed to help Veterans, Service members, and others learn how to practice mindfulness. The app provides a gradual, self-guided training program designed to help you understand and adopt a simple mindfulness practice. Mindfulness Coach also offers a library of information about mindfulness, 12 audio-guided mindfulness exercises, a growing catalog of additional exercises available for free download, goal-setting and tracking, a mindfulness mastery assessment to help you track your progress over time, customizable reminders, and access to other support and crisis resources. Mindfulness Coach was created by VA’s National Center for PTSD.

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CBT-I Coach for Insomnia
Website: https://mobile.va.gov/app/cbt-i-coach
CBT-i Coach is for people who are engaged in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia with a health provider. The app will guide users through the process of learning about sleep, developing positive sleep routines, and improving their sleep environments. It provides a structured program that teaches strategies proven to improve sleep and help alleviate symptoms of insomnia.CBT-i Coach is intended to augment face-to-face care with a healthcare professional. It can be used on its own, but it is not intended to replace therapy for those who need it.

CBT-i Coach is based on the therapy manual, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia in Veterans. CBT-i Coach was a collaborative effort between VA’s National Center for PTSD, Stanford School of Medicine, and DoD’s National Center for Telehealth and Technology.

Nurse Champions Compassionate Culture with 'The Pause' - article
It's no surprise when leaders are lauded for action that moves an organization forward. But Jonathan B. Bartels, RN, BSN, CHPN, palliative care liaison nurse at the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville, is being credited for encouraging others to be still. Bartels' concept of "The Pause," where care teams take about a minute after a patient's death to stop and honor the life that has left them, has garnered national and international interest. Click here to read!

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5 Action Steps for Helping Someone in Emotional Pain - Handout
Here are five steps you can take to help someone in emotional pain. Click here to read!

For those interested in adding free mental health resource for nurses, please contact VNA's Communications & Advocacy Manager, Elle Buck, at ebuck@virginianurses.com.