Speaker: Ben Halpern, Nursing Services and Education Coordinator
Please start by introducing yourself, your role, and when you started at PrairieCare.
Ben Halpern: Hi, this is Ben Halpern. I am the nursing services and education coordinator at our Brooklyn Park inpatient facility, and I have been with PrairieCare for about seven years.
Please share your why. Why did you choose to work in mental health?
Ben Halpern: So I came to PrairieCare after working for about 13 years in a therapeutic foster home with kids and vulnerable adults with various developmental disabilities. I came to PrairieCare and became a psychiatric technician. So I was providing direct patient care for about the first five years being here and have now transitioned into this new role of nursing services and education coordinator, which really allows me to support our staff and teach and educate and lead, both our current and new employees to be the best staff that they can be and really support the patients.
Anything else that you'd like to share?
Ben Halpern: So when I was thinking about why this field, why PrairieCare why did I want to get involved and working with kids? You know, I can think of a lot of stories from previous jobs or college or things that I've learned people I've known, but one story about a PrairieCare patient really sticks out for me about seven years ago when I was working as a psych tech here at PrairieCare, I worked with adolescent female patient. We got on real well, she was super nice. and we would talk and every night when we're done talking, she'd, you know, thank me and say, I appreciate what you're doing and I just want you to know that nothing that you're saying is going to change how I feel or what I'm you know, planning on doing when I get out of here. You're just not able to fix me and you know, that really stuck out for me and I'll never forget that. Because I think I realized at that moment, we're not here to fix these kids or change who they are. We're here to support them, we're here to keep them safe. We're here to be role models. We're here to be trusted individuals that they can rely on so that they can work on helping themselves. And that that really just kind of changed my perception on why we are all in this field, you know? I feel like I use that now in my new role where I'm able to educate and work with staff to try and help them kind of be the best staff that they can be, and not have to worry about other stuff behind the scenes so that they can go out and give the patients really good care. So I'll never forget that girl. And it, it is a story that I like to share with people and uh yeah.
