This letter made us cry. We feel there is no choice but to respond.
HEARTS in HEALTHCARE is an online community and a social
movement to re-humanize healthcare and to strengthen compassion and caring.
Jane (not her real name) wrote to say why she wanted to join the community:
“My name is Jane. I’m a healthcare worker in Mental Health. I
work in a culture of cynicism, stigma and discrimination. People are overlooked
and all that seems to be seen is their diagnosis or illness. I’m deeply
saddened by what I hear from work colleagues for I feel like I’m on my own. I
feel very lonely and feel like I’m in a desert, in other words a harsh
environment.
I value my clients, I love getting to know them and finding out
what’s important to them. I love doing life with them, supporting where I
can, and I value the quality of relationships I have with my clients.
The other side is the contrast within my team, I see people
making decisions with their heads and distancing themselves from the
clients. I have a vision that it could be so very different. I don’t know how
to speak up, I’ve been quiet for too long and don’t know how to survive it, realizing I’m a sensitive person and seem to take on the disrespect and lack of
value that I hear being spoken.
I go home and cry for what I’ve heard. I go home and think about
what’s happened during my day and realize my team has barriers up and they cant
connect with the clients because they are judging them instead of getting to
know them and seeing the bigger picture. I then realize I’m putting barriers up
with my team and don’t know who to trust. I feel I cant share with anyone
because I hear how clients are spoken about with so little regard and realize
my colleagues could just as easily speak of me in this detached manner.
I
would like to connect with passionate people that are working with integrity
and would be able to assist me have difficult conversations with my colleagues.
Honest conversations that need to be spoken about. I’ve been thinking that I’m
not trying to be popular, but wanting above anything to speak out about the
harsh reality of their cruel words that confront me each day and how these
spoken words are affecting the quality of care that they are being given. To
speak the truth in love and still care about my colleagues and bring effective
change to a dark place.”
If
you have any family members or friends who require help from mental health
services, you will share our concerns about this message. We have heard
many others like it.
Please
show your support for this courageous healthcare worker by commenting on this post or sharing it with others.
To
learn more about HEARTS in HEALTHCARE see our short film.
In
anticipation of our launch of the community, we are gathering the names of
supporters here.
