June 2020

This July, Patrons for Peace Project features Kathy Barron, a psychiatric nurse who has worked for QCI Behavioral Health in Upper Marlboro for the past 15 years. Kathy has helped our organization with clients we are trying to stabilize once we refer them to QCI. She works tirelessly as part of a psychiatric mobile behavioral team helping to manage her client’s needs by coming to them. One of the many geographical areas she covers is Laurel.

Kathy’s communication skills are excellent, and she is empathetic – understanding the daily struggles that consumers of mental health mobile team services endure. Kathy’s clients are extremely fortunate because she displays a warm, energetic, non-judgmental, and engaging personality. The care she gives to her clients is tailored to each person’s need, not a one size fits all approach.

She meets her clients where they are most comfortable, and the locations are as diverse as she is flexible. These include but are not limited to outdoor benches, fast-food restaurants, apartments, houses, libraries, outside her car, at a worksite when a client is on lunch break and the list goes on. When she meets them usually once or twice a month, she uses her skills at assessing how they are doing and checking medication concerns and compliance. Her duties are many and often may include health education, medication education, giving injections, and taking vital signs. Although she is the nurse, she is often the person who has to coordinate care with the entire team including the psychiatrist, Nurse Practitioner, therapist, case manager, mobile outreach transportation team, the scheduling department, pharmacies, primary care physicians, and local hospitals when clients decompensate.

Kathy uses her critical thinking skills daily and is quick on her feet thinking ahead often helping to prevent a client from being hospitalized. She displays incredible stamina and resilience in her position as a nurse. I once referred to Kathy as the glue of the QCI Behavioral Health organization. I honestly do not think anyone knows all that she does in a job that enables her to care for a population of people that are often overlooked, ignored, and frankly mistreated. Not only does she care for them, she genuinely cares about them and continues to up-lift them day after day.  

We are grateful for Kathy’s efforts and thank her so much for all that she does to help Patrons for Peace Project! We could not do our work without her.  She is a big part of our success.