The only psychiatric nurse practitioner at the University of Idaho’s Counseling and Testing Center (CTC), Jennifer Wilkinson, will resign from her position March 8, leaving the office with a position to fill as soon as possible to meet student needs.
The center is currently searching for a full-time psychiatric nurse practitioner to fill Wilkinson’s place, but in the meantime are working on an interim plan, said Greg Lambeth, CTC director.
Lambeth said the center has three options for confronting the issue.
The CTC can refer some students to see a psychiatrist in the community, but they cannot refer Wilkinson’s entire caseload because community psychiatrists are busy with their current patients, Lambeth said.
Blaine Eckles | Courtesy
The second option is to refer some students to primary care physicians. Lambeth said roughly 30 percent of psychiatric services can happen in a primary care setting, especially for illnesses such as depression and anxiety.
The third option, which Lambeth said is unlikely to take place this spring, is telepsychiatry, which would provide psychiatric care for students through video conferencing.
“We’re not working with an ideal set of options here,” Lambeth said. “The best option is to have somebody full time in this role. But notice the fourth option is not to do nothing. That’s not an option that’s on the table.”
Dean of Students Blaine Eckles said he and Lambeth are actively looking to further communications and partnerships with the community to ensure students are impacted as little as possible.
Eckles said there are several applicants for the position already. The CTC is hoping to have a nurse practitioner by April 1. While that might not be possible, Eckles said he would like to see somebody hired by the end of the semester or by the start of the fall semester.
Lambeth, who could not confirm when the position would be filled, said he expects the search will go well, as it did in 2018 when the center was conducting a similar search resulting in Wilkinson being hired.
“What we’re trying to do is have an interim plan that gives us a sufficient amount of time to complete the search,” Lambeth said. “I’m optimistic that we will be able to hire a psychiatric nurse practitioner, and I’m optimistic that we will be able to do that relatively quickly.”
While Lambeth said he has many reasons to be optimistic, he also realizes that a search for a psychiatric nurse practitioner is a challenge on any college campus.
“There are plenty of jobs out there you can post a position and have 30 or 40 applicants,” Lambeth said. “That will never happen on any college campus in this country for a psychiatrist or a psychiatric nurse practitioner. There’s not enough of them out there looking for jobs.”
While the search team works to fill the position, Lambeth said there are drawbacks for students — mainly continuity of care. Any form of transition will create some level of disruption, Lambeth said, but they are trying to minimize that disruption.
Another possible drawback is the cost of care, Lambeth said.
The CTC currently charges a $15 fee for students to see the nurse practitioner, which is less than a copayment, Lambeth said. While students are required to have health insurance, plans are different for everyone, and any fee is a potential issue for some students, he said.
Although there is no ideal time for this transition, Lambeth said with spring break coming right after Wilkinson’s resignation, there is not much time left in the semester for students to be affected, especially because roughly 90 percent of Wilkinson’s caseload is not in Moscow for summer.
Lambeth said Wilkinson is having conversations about the situation with every student she is seeing, and a formal email has been sent out.
“This campus, across the board, recognizes the importance of psychiatric services. The campus has done everything they can to make these searches successful,” Lambeth said.
Jordan Willson can be reached at [email protected]