Page 12 - Silver Linings Issue1

Clinician Spotlight
A lifetime of caring for others
“This is what I was meant to do.”
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Mary Ellen Campbell has been a nurse at Silver Hill Hospital for nearly 42 years. Now the Nurse Educator, Mary Ellen started her tenure one day after graduating
from the University of Bridgeport in 1978. She also did student nursing work at Silver Hill in 1976 and
1977. She plans to write a book about her experiences at the hospital and we eagerly await that publication.
In the meantime, Silver Linings sat down with Mary Ellen to discuss her experiences at Silver Hill, how mental health care has changed over the years, and what drives someone to devote their life to helping others.
(At the time of the interview, she had just returned from her dream vacation to Hawaii after hitting the jackpot on a penny slot machine. A reward for a lifetime of service to others, perhaps?)
Silver Linings: Is it true you started at Silver Hill right out of college? No vacation, downtime or job search?
Mary Ellen: “I literally started the next day. I was 21 years old. This
is what I wanted to do. I walked on these grounds (as a student nurse) and said this is why I became a nurse. This is who I want to be.”
Mary Ellen Campbell, RN
Why Silver Hill Hospital and not a more typical medical hospital?
“I liked that they took care of the mind and the body, not just the body. It fascinated me how people coped — or didn’t cope. The brain fascinates me.”
What was your first role at Silver Hill?
“It was called Silver Hill Foundation when I started. I worked detox during the evenings at Wilton House, which is now Scavetta House. When I started here, alcoholism was not recognized as a disease. That’s a huge difference from today. Silver Hill recognized it as an addiction even then.”
How has the mental health field changed over the years?
“Mental illness is more accepted in society but there’s still a long way
to go. It’s just recently that people are more accepting of it. Also, meds work better and with fewer side effects, which is good. Doctors are able to diagnose better. It was always explained to me that medicine is not an exact science and psychiatry is the least exact of all the sciences. I think that’s true, but we know a lot more now than we used to.”
What is the role of a nurse at Silver Hill?
“We maintain safety. That’s our number one priority. We maintain the safety of our patients from the time they walk in until the time they leave.”
What is the best part of being a nurse at Silver Hill?
“I’ve seen patients get better and
it’s hard to describe how rewarding that is. The patients do a lot of
work. We just provide the tools. To see someone get better and stay better and realize life can go on is a beautiful thing. Patients say to me: ‘Why would you care about me?’ Because that’s what we do. I do care about you and want you to be better.”
Do any patients stick out in your mind?
“One of the ladies who lived here does. She didn’t have family so
we became her family. She
was very, very special. She had chronic schizophrenia, but she was very insightful. She talked to herself constantly and people didn’t think she listened, but she knew everything that was happening at this hospital.