A Reflection from the SWEET Psych NP Handbook

One of the most dangerous traps in psychiatric care is confusing responsibility with rescue.

Responsibility is clinical.
Rescue is emotional.

Responsibility asks: What is the safest, most ethical next step—given the person, the context, and the system?

Rescue asks: How do I make this discomfort go away right now?

Rescue often looks like overpromising, overextending, bending boundaries, or carrying what the patient—and the team—must learn to carry together.

It feels compassionate in the moment.
But over time, rescue erodes trust, increases dependency, and burns out the clinician.

The Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner’s work is not to save people from their lives. It is to help people build capacity within their lives.

That is real care.
That is sustainable care.

More to come.