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Nevada Psychiatrists Launch Support Line For Health Care Workers

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A few weeks ago, Lesley Dickson, a psychiatrist in Las Vegas, says she started feeling concerned for the hospital workers treating COVID-19 patients. 

"You're taking care of a lot of people," Dickson says. "You don't feel like you can handle the workload. You're afraid that if you get too overburdened you're going to make a mistake. And then there's loss. There's a lot of patients dying."Through the Nevada Psychiatric Association, Dickson helped launch Curbside Nevada, a support line staffed by volunteer psychiatrists who can help clinicians and first responders deal with anxiety, stress, grief and worry.

"They call in and talk about the stresses they're experiencing, and how they're feeling emotionally and how they're coping," Dickson says.

Dickson says she expects the need for mental health services to increase the longer the COVID-19 crisis wears on. 

There are nationwide crisis helplines for front-line workers dealing with COVID-19, but Dickson says she wanted Nevada doctors and nurses to be able to speak to someone locally. 

Call the Curbside Nevada Support Line at 877-493-0007, option 2.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, KUNC in Colorado, KUNM in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Do you have questions about COVID-19? How has this crisis affected you? Our reporters would love to hear from you. You can submit your question or share your story here.

Copyright 2020 Boise State Public Radio News

Amanda Peacher is an Arthur F. Burns fellow reporting and producing in Berlin in 2013. Amanda is from Portland, Oregon, where she works as the public insight journalist for Oregon Public Broadcasting. She produces radio and online stories, data visualizations, multimedia projects, and facilitates community engagement opportunities for OPB's newsroom.
Amanda Peacher
Amanda Peacher works for the Mountain West News Bureau out of Boise State Public Radio. She's an Idaho native who returned home after a decade of living and reporting in Oregon. She's an award-winning reporter with a background in community engagement and investigative journalism.
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