Depression is prevalent among nurse practitioners, but these burned out professionals are reluctant to reach out for mental healthcare — instead choosing to embrace "maladaptive" personal coping skills including drinking and binge eating, according to a Medscape report.
Fewer than 20 percent of nurse practitioners reach out for help. "The Nurse Practitioner Burnout & Depression Report 2022," found 4 in 10 nurse practitioners reported feeling depressed and 6 out of 10 say they are burned out.
In a Jan. 24 article summarizing the report, Vern Langford, DNP, president of the Florida Association of Nurse Practitioners, said, "In our profession, we're told we have to push through it, so we put our heads down and barrel through it. We'd rather not work burned out, but we all know other providers who are, and we don't do much about it. We have the mentality of being in this sinking ship together. It's just the unfortunate nature of nursing."