Peer Support Team

Shanna Greenlee, MSN, RN is used to providing support to those around her.

As an Assistant Nurse Manager in the AdventHealth Hendersonville Behavioral Health Unit, she supports her team members and directors. Together they provide whole-person care in a consistent and compassionate environment.

But in late spring 2022, Shanna realized that her cup was empty. She was stressed, overwhelmed, and needed support herself. That’s when she reached out to the Peer Support Team at AdventHealth Hendersonville.

“I just had a realization one day that I’ve worried so much about everybody else, but I’m not ok,” Shanna says, “Of course I knew about peer support, and as a leader myself, I had seen it for my teammates. So I reached out to one member in particular who I’d worked closely with, and said ‘I’m not ok, and I’d like to talk.’ She set aside time to meet with me and she let me talk.”

The Peer Support Team is a group of volunteers from the AdventHealth team who respond to individual team members, or sometimes a whole unit, which may have experienced a traumatic event, stressful incident, or maybe just need someone to listen while they talk.

The Peer Support Team goes through training in peer support/critical incident stress management. According to Gretchen Nicholson, MBA, MT, CPHRM, CPHQ, the Director of the Office of Collaborative Improvement & Medical Staff Service for AdventHealth Hendersonville, the goal of the program is really a whole-person response to team members, to take care of them so they can continue to do their jobs safely and know they are supported.

“Health care workers experience stress and they experience trauma,” Nicholson explains, “This is our response to helping them let go of some of that… and have a healthy way to do it.”

Created in 2019, the Peer Support Team at AdventHealth Hendersonville is a pioneer of its kind in the health care sector. The Peer Support team used the WNC Peer Support Network and Critical Incident Stress Management training to create its program. That is the same training police and fire departments use for their staff. The Peer Support Team modified and tailored the training to meet the unique needs of a health care setting. AdventHealth Hendersonville is the first hospital in the WNC region to offer peer support for team members.

“I think it’s something that needs to happen in every hospital, but I think we’re kind of like a new model of it that we developed ourselves,” says Patient Safety Specialist Micki Kidd, MSN, RN, “Now it’s just been ingrained into our culture that it’s available. The team members actually tell us what a great thing it is and how appreciative they are that we come to them. They’ve never had something like that before.”

For Shanna, just having someone there to listen and offer support made a huge difference. The Peer Support Team Member reminded her about self-care and offered suggestions and ideas of ways she could help manage her stress. Shanna was able to prioritize self-care by changing daily habits, like taking her lunch break outside or taking a break to go for a walk.

“Of course I work in behavioral health, so mental health is really important to me,” Shanna explains, “I know there is a lot of stigma - even asking for help. I try to live outside of that stigma. To say it’s ok to ask for help, and to encourage others to ask for help.”

“Our goal is to take care of our team members.” Nicholson explains, “To respond to them and to acknowledge what happened. This [Peer Support] team is trained to listen, acknowledge, reframe, ask team members what they do to cope with things, and identify ways that they can understand how they are reacting to certain situations and how to work through it.”

The Peer Support Team has grown to about 20 volunteers that respond to around 3 to 5 events per week. “I think that our team members are so fortunate to have this,” Kidd says, “and I’m so fortunate that I can work for an organization that is able to provide this for the team members, because burnout is high, and resilience is hard when you’re burnt out. So any little thing that we can do to help people become more resilient and keep them safe and not feeling defeated, that’s a big win.”

Shanna was so impressed with her experience that she decided to join the Peer Support Team in November 2022. “It makes me feel like I am able to give back and be useful,” Shanna shares, “especially having experienced it, not only for my team, but for myself as an individual and how important it is, and to know the benefits that I received from it. I’ll hopefully be able to instill that in somebody else, or several other people.”

How the Healers

AdventHealth OB/GYN, Natalie Rochester, MD, FACOG, explains how feeling whole personally empowers her to deliver whole-person care to every person, every time.

When Natalie Rochester, MD, FACOG, joined AdventHealth Hendersonville in November 2022, she was excited about the opportunity for a healthy work/life balance. The board-certified OB/GYN was ready to refocus her time and energy into what makes her feel whole, spending time with her family. The ability to be present with her family and experience wholeness, allows her to provide better whole-person care to those around her.

“The thing that I think really fills my love cup and helps me feel charged and ready to go, is being with my family,” Dr. Rochester explains, “We love to play outside, we love to garden, we just like to do things together. When I have time to be with my family, I feel like that makes me whole and helps me be able to bring my best self to work. I’m better able to provide what my individual patients need when they need it.”

Dr. Rochester is married and the mother of two young daughters. Through her personal experience, she’s able to empathize with her patients, and understands the challenges women face. She’s committed to providing exceptional, compassionate care for women in all stages of life.

“I feel like sometimes people have a lot of fear when it comes to obstetrics or gynecology,” Dr. Rochester says, “and I think having access to great, quality care, and to know that there’s a human side of medicine – that’s what motivates me.”

Dr. Rochester puts it simply. She is able to bring uncommon compassion to her role as a physician thanks to her ability to maintain her self-care through time with her family. This balance is something she shares with her patients in her effort to help them learn how to feel whole, too.

“I think in so many ways, women go through physical, emotional, and mental changes throughout our lives,” she shares. “Providing for those needs, and meeting the health care needs of women is important for the health of our generations to come. I think that women who feel healthy and cared for are going to be able to be better parents, partners, and workers. I think it’s important for today, and it’s important for the future.”

Dr. Rochester is caring for patients at AdventHealth Medical Group Multispecialty at Candler*. She is welcoming new patients. To learn more or schedule an appointment, visit AdventHealthNC.com or call 828-365-7652.

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