…Melina Davis, who serves as the C.E.O and E.V.P for the Medical Society of Virginia, said that when healthcare workers are having mental health issues, many times they do not feel comfortable coming forward for fear of repercussions.
“If you can’t talk to somebody, not only are you isolated, but there’s a building level of frustration and loss of hope,” she said. “Could mean that your license would be affected, your referral network could be affected even your employment, so they had a tendency to then just hold it all in and keep it to themselves, because they couldn’t turn to anybody safely.”
Davis said this was because of this the Safe Haven bill was introduced and then unanimously passed by the Virginia General Assembly in 2020. The legislation protects healthcare workers looking to address any career fatigue or mental health issues. The law was amended in 2021 to include nurses and other healthcare positions.
Various resources are available though SafeHaven including peer coaching and counseling services…
