Compassionate frontline clinicians like nurses are easy to perceive as superhumans with boundless energy to heal and nurture their patients. While their incredible commitment is rightly honored, it is vital that we also recognize that they are human beings who are vulnerable to the immense pressure and stress inherent in-patient care. The reality is that many clinicians have care needs of their own—needs that are too often suppressed out of justified fear that seeking support could lead to retaliation or the loss of their job.
The persistent issue of burnout is one of the biggest threats to the future of healthcare, making mental health care access and privacy for our healthcare workforce a top priority. The overlap of National Nurses Week (May 6-12) with Mental Health Awareness Month presents each of us with an opportunity to deepen our advocacy for a system and culture where nurses and other frontline clinicians can access the mental health care they need without shame or fear.
Improving the Systems that Support our Nurses
As Co-Founder and CEO of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, I’m extremely proud to partner with the APA Foundation’s Center for Workplace Mental Health as we work toward our shared goals of making mental health care accessible and stigma-free.
Since the Foundation was created in 2020, we have made incredible progress eliminating barriers to mental health care access. As a leading example of this work, the Wellbeing First Champion Challenge guides licensure boards, health systems, medical groups, health plans, and professional liability insurance companies in auditing and changing their licensing and credentialing applications to be free of intrusive mental health questions and stigmatizing language. These types of inappropriate questions often prevent health workers from seeking support and lead to higher rates of burnout and suicide.
What began as a targeted effort in medical licensing quickly expanded into other professions, like nursing, and eventually into credentialling. This journey and momentum reflect a sustained national commitment to championing mental health across our healthcare workforce. By removing these inappropriate mental health questions, we’re effectively reducing the number of “mines” in the minefield that health workers must navigate when seeking mental health care.
Breaking the "Shadow Curriculum"
The hierarchical nature of healthcare – CNAs report to nurses, who report to physician’s assistants and nurse practitioners, who report to doctors, and so on – makes it that much harder to change the culture that tells clinicians that self-care is not okay. Behavior modeled by the next-highest person on the totem pole becomes the standard for new entrants to the field, and the cycle repeats.
For example, a fourth-year medical student shared with me that while he was doing his clinical rotations one day, after being awake for over 20 hours, he asked his senior resident if he could simply put his head down for five minutes. The senior resident told him, “You can put your head down when all of your charts are done.” It was clear to me that this medical student was receiving the same message that the senior resident had received during their own training: self-care should come last. This message is so intertwined with the clinical education aspect of medical school that it’s often called the “shadow curriculum.”
Creating a Legacy of Impact with Partners
Changing the systems and culture of healthcare is a personal priority as well as the centerpiece of my career. Dr. Lorna Breen, my sister-in-law, was an emergency room physician in Manhattan who died by suicide during the overburdening of the healthcare system during the outbreak of COVID-19. She was so much more than a skilled clinician; she was also a beloved sister, daughter, and friend. Her story became the catalyst for dozens of people and organizations to come together to shift the narrative that healthworkers must work beyond the point of burnout and that a history of mental health conditions should disqualify clinicians from a career in healthcare.
Change is possible when we work in coalitions to shape a new mindset in the field. The bipartisan Dr. Lorna Breen Healthcare Provider Protection Act, which became law in 2022 and has been renewed through 2030, was endorsed as a bill by over 70 organizations. It is the first legislation to fund grants for training health profession students, residents, and practitioners in suicide and burnout prevention strategies. A March 2026 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office shows that the organizations that received grants from the federal government through the Lorna Breen Act saw improved mental health conditions – decreases in burnout, decreases in anxiety and depression, decreases in substance use disorders – compared to those who did not. This progress brings us hope for the future of the healthcare workforce, but we’re not finished yet.
If you’re interested in being a part of this legacy of change and support, I encourage you to join us by accessing the APA Foundation Center for Workplace Mental Health’s Frontline Connect: Mental Health for the Healthcare Workforce resource toolkit or joining the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation Ambassador Program. To learn more about the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation and advocate for policy solutions to the mental health crisis in healthcare, visit drlornabreen.org.