“I’m a nursing assistant at a hospital working in mental health and addictions. Working with my patients is some of the hardest work I’ve ever done mentally, but also the most rewarding.
These are our most vulnerable people, with the most barriers. When I get to hear people’s stories, listen to what they’re carrying, and hold space for them, it’s really special.
I’m blessed to say that I’ve been able to learn so much from my patients. They teach me to be more compassionate, more empathetic, to listen, and learn from body language. Doing this work is a beautiful, heavy load.
In the hospital, we end up seeing a lot of people who are just trying to get their basic needs met. It’s really sad that someone has to come to the hospital just to get a meal or a bed.
On top of this pandemic, which left many people isolated, we are dealing with a second crisis, the opioid crisis. And yet there’s still so much stigma attached to mental health and addictions. But there’s actually a lot of functioning addicts out there. It just looks different. They might be addicted to shopping or gambling. We need to start to talk about this stigma. We need to support people with needle programs, safe injection sites, and decriminalization.”
Roxanne, nursing assistant, part of the health care team