Supporting the Mental Health of Primary Care Nurses and Staff through the Pandemic and Beyond.

ABSTRACT

As a clinical nurse specialist, I provide leadership and strategy for our primary care program where I lead clinical initiatives and develop practice tools and guidelines across our clinics. My portfolio encompasses five clinics, one perinatal program, an opioid agonist therapy (OAT) clinic and an intensive case management team, and in the past year I supported several teams that focus on COVID-19 testing and isolation support. Our clinics specialize in serving people who experience significant economic and social marginalization and those who are not well served by traditional health services. Our nurses, in particular, juggle many roles providing both outreach- and clinic-based care and supporting our injectable OAT program, youth clinic and our transgender specialty care program. Our work has become increasingly complex as our clients navigate survival with competing syndemics - the opioid crisis, COVID-19, a Shigella outbreak and an ongoing housing crisis - among the many significant structural factors that impact our clients' health.