Press Release
NEW REPORT UNCOVERS STRUCTURAL, CULTURAL BARRIERS PREVENT CLINICIANS FROM ACCESSING MENTAL HEALTH CARE
Heart of Safety Coalition and ALL IN: Wellbeing First for Healthcare Coalition Share Findings to Help Improve Health Workers’ Mental Health and Wellbeing
September 10, 2025 – The Heart of Safety Coalition and the ALL IN: Wellbeing First for Health Coalition published a new research report, Clinician Perceptions of Barriers to Access Mental Health Care, to understand individual, structural and cultural barriers that prevent clinicians from seeking mental health care. More than 2,000 nurse practitioners, physician assistants, physicians and registered nurses participated in a survey that informed the report, which provides valuable insight for healthcare leaders striving to improve the safety and wellbeing of their workforce. Release of the report during Suicide Prevention Month is timely given the alarming rate of suicide among physicians, nurses and other health workers.
“Everyone working in healthcare deserves to feel safe and supported by their leaders, peers and community,” said Liz Boehm, Executive Strategist for the Heart of Safety Coalition and Stryker. “All care team members should be afforded the same rights as the patients they serve. They should be able to seek out and access mental health care with privacy and without fear of institutional bias, personal judgments or professional repercussions.”
Boehm and report co-author Stefanie Simmons, MD, Chief Medical Officer for the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, which leads the ALL IN: Wellbeing First for Healthcare Coalition, will host an Insights Huddle on Thursday, Sept. 25 at 1 p.m. ET to discuss the survey findings. They will be joined by the Foundation’s co-founder and CEO Corey Feist, JD, MBA. Together they will explore six solution areas to help break down barriers for clinicians to access mental health care.
Barriers to Access Mental Health Care
The report shows that the cost of mental health services without insurance and lack of schedule flexibility created the greatest logistical barriers to accessing mental health care for clinicians. Women physicians surveyed experience these barriers more significantly than their male counterparts, while female nurses reported lack of schedule flexibility as a barrier more often than their male counterparts. Cost challenges strike younger mid-career nurses more than older nurses with no difference by gender.
Additionally, low awareness of professional health programs (PHPs) limits access to resources. Fewer than one in five nurse practitioners, nurses, physician assistants, and physicians surveyed said they have a good understanding of PHPs.
Institutional Stigma and Perceived Discrimination
The survey also found that licensure, credentialing and job application practices enforce stigma and perceptions of discrimination. Half of clinicians reported that concerns about their ability to get hired, credentialed or privileges to practice creates a barrier to access mental health care. More than 40% reported concerns about professional insurance and license renewals if they seek care.
Physicians were significantly more likely than nurse practitioners, nurses and physician assistants to report that impacts on licensure, credentialing, job access and insurance were significant or prohibitive barriers to accessing mental health care. However, more than 40% of nurse practitioners, nurses and physician assistants expressed concerns about impacts on job prospects.
Internal and External Attitudes and Judgment
Clinicians also reported personal and interpersonal attitudes and judgment create cultural barriers to mental health care access and increase privacy concerns. More than half of all clinicians agreed or strongly agreed that healthcare workers experience internal, external and institutional stigma that prevents them from accessing mental health care.
One in 10 physicians and roughly one in 20 nurse practitioners, nurses and physician assistants said they would have concerns about a colleague’s ability to practice in a competent, ethical and professional manner if they learned that colleague accessed mental health care. Across all clinicians (including those who have not sought mental health care) 14% have sought care in another city, state or health system to maintain confidentiality, and 13% have paid out of pocket for mental health care to avoid a paper trail. However, the overwhelming majority of clinicians (90% of physicians and 95% of all other clinicians) are neutral or positive about their colleagues accessing mental health care.
Solutions to Improve Access to Mental Health Care
Clinicians reported that they want structural changes and resources that support mental health care access. More than two thirds of clinicians reported that controlling costs and supporting schedule flexibility would be highly effective in improving healthcare workers’ ability to access mental health care. Roughly half of clinicians also believe that removing stigmatizing questions from hiring, credentialing, privileging and professional insurance applications would be highly effective in improving access.
The ALL IN for Health Workers’ Mental Health initiative helps employers, educational institutions, payors, policymakers, loved ones of health workers and patients to implement these solutions and other strategies to improve access to mental health care for health workers. Through curated resources and programs, the initiative encourages action across six areas to:
- Ensure accessible and affordable mental health care for health workers, with care available off-hours, unpenalized time off, and affordable treatment options
- Commit to equal privacy in mental health care for health workers, ensuring confidentiality of diagnoses and treatments, protection during litigation, and access to external care options
- Strengthen health workers’ access to confidential Professional or Physician Health Programs (PHP), with advancing best practices for accountability, consistency and excellence in programs
- Guarantee confidential peer support for health workers, ensuring access to safe, private programs to address work-related stress and trauma while protecting their privacy
- Encourage education and training on mental health and professional wellbeing for health workers, including evidence-based education, best-practice resources, and preparation to manage the unique stressors of patient care
- Advance a supportive pathway for re-entry for health workers, ensuring a transparent, structured and reasonable process to return to practice.
“It’s simple: A healthy workforce is essential for safe, compassionate patient care. The current mental health crisis among health workers is contributing to unprecedented burnout rates, staff shortages and declining patient care,” said Feist. “Together, we can create environments where health workers feel safe, supported and empowered to seek the help they need and deserve. Let’s change the culture and future of healthcare by eliminating stigma, breaking down barriers and building a system that respects the mental health of those who care for us.”
If you or someone you know may be in a crisis, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.
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About Heart of Safety Coalition
The Heart of Safety Coalition places care team member safety at the heart of healthcare. This national community of industry leaders, learners and advocates ensures that voices are heard, connections are made, and standards are raised to inspire systemic, team and individual change that improves working and healing environments. The Coalition’s three pillars of care team safety advance the Heart of Safety Declaration, which intersects the essential wellbeing principles of dignity and inclusion, physical safety, and psychological and emotional safety. Driven by its mission to make healthcare better, Stryker supports and manages the Coalition. Learn more at www.HeartofSafetyCoalition.com.
About ALL IN: Wellbeing First for Healthcare
ALL IN: Wellbeing First for Healthcare, led by the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, is a coalition of national organizations dedicated to advancing a state where the healthcare workforce’s wellbeing is prioritized, and health workers feel valued and supported so they can sustain their sense of purpose and meaning in their work. Coalition members include America’s Health Insurance Plans, American Association of Colleges of Nursing, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Dental Association, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, American Hospital Association, American Medical Association, American Nurses Association, American Nurses Credentialing Center, American Psychiatric Association Foundation, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, American Urological Association, CAA Foundation, CHARM, Emergency Nurses Association, Epic, Federation of State Physician Health Programs, FEMinEM, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Heart of Safety Coalition, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Johnson & Johnson Foundation, Medicine Forward, Moral Injury of Healthcare, National Black Nurses Association, National Medical Association, Organizational Wellbeing Solutions, Philippine Nurses Association of America, The Physicians Foundation, The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare, Surgeon Well-Being Coalition and Thrive Global Foundation.