Preventing suicide among clinicians – Amanda Choflet, DNP, RN, NEA-BC 

Episode 101 | Duration: 52:34

Amanda Choflet, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, studies mental health, substance use and suicide among clinicians. In this episode of Caring Greatly, Amanda shares the path that led her to this focus. Through her work as an oncology nurse with vulnerable populations, she learned that many clinicians were reluctant to look at these patients’ substance use. After a little digging, she hypothesized that clinicians also struggled to look at issues that they had difficulty facing in themselves and one another. That struggle led her to deeper research into mental health and substance use disorders among clinicians and to the conclusion that work factors and work traumas play a role in the prevalence and depth of these disorders, including death by suicide. Dr. Choflet's research underscores the importance of creating access to mental health and substance use resources for clinicians that center around caring and human wellbeing rather than starting from a punitive or disciplinary stance. At the close of our discussion, Dr. Choflet shares evidence-based interventions that healthcare leaders can use to help create a work environment in which clinicians feel safe and supported.

Dr. Choflet currently serves as the Dean of Nursing at Northeastern University. Her research involves substance use and the emotional wellbeing of clinicians. Her team has explored maladaptive coping mechanisms and the ways in which modern healthcare structures influence the help-seeking behaviors of nurses and other health professionals. Her previous work included system-wide practice integration, standardization of practice, documentation and the science of symptom management. She received grant funding for her evidence-based practice work in substance use from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the Centers for Disease Control.  

Dr. Amanda Choflet is a leader who cares greatly.

Related links:

• Journal article: A comparative analysis of the substance use and mental health characteristics of nurses who complete suicide (subscription required)

• Journal article: Entangled: A mixed method analysis of urses with mental health problems who die by suicide (subscription required)

• Journal article: National Incidence of Physician Suicide andAssociated Features (subscription required)

• Journal article: The Nurse Leader’s Role in Nurse Substance Use, Mental Health, and Suicide in a Peripandemic World (subscription required)

• Journal article: Longitudinal analysis of suicides among pharmacists during 2003-2018