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Discussion

Peer Specialists

Does anyone use them on their units?

Peer Specialists may be paid employees or volunteers who have recovered from significant mental illness. They now provide peer support to those who are now in crisis.

We had one at one hospital I worked at, who did a few groups per week, and could also meet and chat individually with some of them. I thought it was great for those who are struggling to see that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

National Association of Peer Specialists

your experiences?

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    I am a RN at Austin State Hospital. We have numerous peer specialists. I believe we call them Peer Support. I personally think they are mostly awesome but alot of nurses take issue with one thing: they are not encouraged to report important findings to the treatment team. Supposedly patients would stop trusting the peer support if they felt like they were planted as some type of mole. But things that might pose as warning signs, such as suicidal gestures, are kept as secrets between the peer support and the patient

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    My organization uses them quite a bit in the outpatient settings/services. I am not aware of them being used on inpatient units here.

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    One of their best functions is as a role model and a potential source of hope for current patients. It can be empowering to tell a patient that they can have functional lives like the peer specialists someday. I neglected to say that our peer specialists are all former psych patients, as are some other staff members, such as myself

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