Local nurse heading to Connecticut to help with mental health patients during COVID
As the country works to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, it finds itself faced with another health concern: anxiety, depression and stress caused by the pandemic.
Alexandra Minnis, a travel nurse, is heading to the New York City area to assist people struggling with mental health problems during the outbreak.
“Mental health experts are calling it the non-COVID crisis. People are having anxiety, depression, panic attacks, PTSD because of the virus, the economic crisis and the shutdown,” said Minnis, 51, of Washington. “Doctors in California reported a year’s worth of suicide attempts in the last four weeks.”
In fact, a federal emergency hotline run by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for people in emotional distress registered a more than 1,000% increase in April compared with the same time last year.
On June 5, Minnis will begin a 10-week assignment with Yale New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Conn., about an hour-and-a-half drive from New York City. The hospital has experienced an increase in demand for mental health services, and is in need of mental health care workers.
She will be working in the Crisis Intervention Unit in the emergency room, where she will collaborate with psychiatrists, social workers and other personnel to assess patients suffering from symptoms of mental health distress and determine the next course of action.
She also will work with Project ASSERT, (Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services, Education, and Referral to Treatment) an emergency room program that helps patients access drug and alcohol treatment services.
“People are self-medicating and people are relapsing,” said Minnis. “The lack of insurance is a part of this. People who lost their jobs aren’t getting their medications filled because they lost their insurance also.”
Minnis is excited about the opportunity to help out.
“It’s easy to say I’d like to stay home and stay safe instead of going out there. But this is why I became a nurse,” said Minnis, who started her career in oncology before she switched to mental health. “There was such a stigma with mental illness, and I saw it firsthand. People with mental illness are not treated the same, and my heart went out to them. Nobody wants mental illness. Everybody wants to be treated the same, everybody wants to be loved and accepted.”
Minnis became a nurse later in life.
She worked as an archivist for Washington County, but changed careers after she cared for an ill family member who passed away. She said she was inspired by the hospice nurses who visited the house.
Minnis, a graduate of Avella High School, graduated from the Washington Hospital School of Nursing in 2009 at the age of 40.
She became a travel nurse about a year ago.
“I became a travel nurse because of my love of travel, but I had really just gotten started and then COVID happened,” said Minnis, who lived last year with a psychiatrist from Israel and his wife, who was from the Philippines.
Before that, Minnis worked at WVU Medicine Chestnut Ridge Medical Center, where she was a charge nurse in the Alzheimer’s and dementia unit.
In addition to her oncology experience, she also has worked in a psychiatric unit.
Minnis will work at least three 12-hour shifts, and will be housed in a hotel for frontline workers on the campus of Yale University.
“This is my opportunity to make a difference,” said Minnis. “That’s the nursing pledge, to be of service and to give of ourselves.”
She expects to see patients – including frontline workers – experiencing a variety of mental health issues.
“There will be people who maybe never had a mental health crisis who are going to need help,” said Minnis.
She encourages people to establish a routine, exercise, get enough sleep, and stay connected.
“It comes down to us helping each other,” said Minnis. “There is no right or wrong because this is something we’ve never experienced. I’m just ready to go and use everything I’ve learned to help those in need during a crisis.”
If you or someone you know is suffering a mental health crisis and needs help, call the Washington County Crisis hotline at 877-225-3567. The national Suicide Prevention hotline is 800-273-8255.
Additionally, Yale University is offering its most popular class ever, “The Science of Well-Being,” free online.