Susie Sullivan-Steiner
Nurse Case Manager, Adult Mental Health, Hope Team
What motivated you to become a mental health nurse?
I graduated from nursing school in 1992. My two favorite nursing instructors were the psych rotation instructors at Tulsa Junior College (now TCC) Joyce and Lisa. I think without ever knowing they planted the seeds for my future career as a mental health nurse. This did not convince me however that psych nursing was my first jam. I needed to learn more about Registered Nursing and physical health, wellness and the human body. I spent my first few decades doing just that. As life threw me a big curve ball and a very dear friend of mine who still works here knew my challenge being an only parent introduced me to FCS and this is where mental health nursing began for me. I tried it for a few years and left. Came back when the Integration Health Home was a thing in 2013 and passed that baton and onto PACT nursing I went. I have to say being a PACT nurse was the mental health nurse experience of a lifetime. It was an honor to serve the clients, and the community and work with a PACT team not to mention two of the best psychiatrists in Tulsa. Today, I am with the Hope Team, and it parallels to a PACT in the wrap-around team approach and concept. I can’t imagine being a nurse in any other area. The need is endless right here right now. This is what keeps me motivated.
What do you find most rewarding about your work as a mental health nurse?
What is most rewarding about the job I do is the teamwork and working with amazing and incredible talent. We are all in this together. Mental health nursing is unique. It requires wearing many hats. It requires vulnerability; it requires grit. The clients are so appreciative of our love, of our kindness, of the encouragement of our presence and the feelings go both ways.
Why did you choose FCS?
On my first tour here, I was recruited by my dear friend. She knew of my situation and my need for the kind of schedule that is offered here and that it works well with school-age children.
I boomeranged back by choice because I believe in the Integration model and was so excited when I learned of the IHH (Integrated Health Home) grant now (Live Well program) and to be hired as the Nurse Care Manager for this role. It has been a journey, and I like to think I helped other nurses here carve out some of the nurse’s role working with our IHH and SAMHSA/CCBHC Grants, and have learned so much at FCS.
How do you see the field of mental health nursing evolving in the future?
I think the pandemic shed a lot of light on many areas of opportunity for change and growth. I think collaboration in the community and working together is very important. Nurses have an interesting role in outpatient community-based mental health that I think needs to be revitalized overall. There has to be some uniformity for nurses to have flow and provide some continuity and consistency to the community at large on a greater scale. Nursing for the future needs to be mobile or centralized. Public health is changing. Nursing can be telehealth or telephonic from home. Nursing can be groups, door-to-door, and fliers. The future of mental health nursing is Integration.
