Cover Feature
Sarah Butler
Championing Rural Mental Health by Melissa McCance
D
ue to sensationalized portrayals in movies and over-the-top television shows, mental health issues and their treatment are the most misunderstood area of health care. Although there certainly are people with extreme mental illness, sometimes it’s simply a matter of too much happening in a person’s world at one time. Sarah Butler, PMHNP-BC (Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner-Board Certified) is the director of behavioral health services at Hillsdale Hospital, and she is making great strides towards ensuring that those who need help get it. A graduate of Pittsford High School, Sarah began working at Hillsdale Hospital in 2001 and then earned her R.N. degree at Jackson Community College (now Jackson College) in 2005. She later returned to school at Spring Arbor University, earning her B.S.N degree. Her first nursing job at Hillsdale Hospital was in the orthopedics department where she worked for about seven years. Wanting a change of pace, she tried moving to the night shift in the mental health unit as the nursing manager, but after three months of working nights with three very young children at home, Sarah realized that schedule was not sustainable. “So, then I moved to the day shift in this unit, learned the ropes, and fell in love with it. Absolutely fell in love with it.” Wanting to extend her career in mental health nursing, Sarah earned her master’s degree from Maryville University and became a psychiatric nurse practitioner, a position she has held for almost three years. In her job, Sarah evaluates, diagnoses, and treats mental illness in a variety of populations including the patients in Hillsdale Hospital’s adults-only, 10 bed inpatient unit.
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