Just months after her sister, 49, tragically took her life in December 2020, Stacy Seger Murphy was consumed by thoughts of how to keep Kim’s memory alive.
Kimberly Seger, an emergency department registered nurse, died after taking the antidepressant medication that was prescribed to help her. The Walter Panas High School graduate was a dedicated nurse who worked at several hospitals in Westchester and the Bronx, and loved caring for her patients, playing with her dogs, and cheering for the N.Y. Jets, according to Murphy of Cortlandt Manor, also a registered nurse.
“I wondered how many people in healthcare take their own life after fighting anxiety and depression,” she says, especially during the chaos of the Covid pandemic when hospitals were overwhelmed and nurses were stressed. Working in emergency care has an especially high burn-out rate, she explains.
Through research, what she found shocked her. “The suicide rate is off the charts for healthcare workers. It’s a national crisis that no one hears about,” Murphy says. “Nurses are at a 35 percent higher risk of suicide than the general public. If that doesn’t get attention, I don’t know what will.”
The Joint Commission on quality improvement and patient safety in health care offers guidelines for suicide prevention, but they aren’t enough, according to Murphy.
To meet the growing need, in 2023 she began the process of starting a non-profit foundation in her sister’s name to raise awareness of mental health issues in healthcare. In September, the Kimberly Seger Charity Foundation for Healthcare Workers was launched at a fundraiser at Taormina Restaurant in Peekskill, raising $15,000.
With Murphy co-presiding with her father, Henry Seger of Peekskill, and brother, Kenneth, as vice president, the foundation’s mission is “to provide essential financial aid and resources to healthcare workers across New York who are grappling with mental health issues or need assistance with medical expenses.”
The foundation’s first project is to raise $40,000 to provide a service dog for the daughter of a nurse at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mt. Kisco who suffers from seizures. The dog will help alert when a seizure might occur, according to Murphy, allaying the mom’s fears and stress.
Murphy, a former labor and delivery nurse-manager at Northern Westchester Hospital, has seen first-hand how stress and anxiety can impact a nurse on the job. “We all need a little help sometimes,” says Murphy, whose passion is to prevent what happened to Kim from happening to others.
Healthcare workers can’t be at their best if suffering from mental health issues or living with stress at home, she adds. Through her healthcare network, Murphy has enlisted volunteer mental health therapists at the foundation to talk to healthcare workers. Calls are answered by people and not by automated or AI messages.
Murphy often managed nurses who were living in domestic abuse situations; who had kids with illnesses, learning disabilities, or being bullied at school; and those who experienced tough personal times. “It can be hard to concentrate on patients when their own lives are overwhelmed,” Murphy says. Making matters worse, according to Murphy, healthcare managers and leaders don’t always have the time or skills to be understanding of staffers who are struggling, and allow flexibility. The situation is exacerbated, she explains, by the national nursing shortage and the changes in health care today, with fewer workers being pressured to do more. By 2027, labor shortages are expected to worsen, especially for doctors, she adds.
Seger agrees. “Kim used to tell me there was a lot of stress on the job, and so much paperwork that she didn’t have enough time to get it all done,” he says. “I hope we can raise enough money to help as many struggling health care workers as we can, even if it’s just to buy the scrubs they wear. Any which way we can help, we want to do it.”
Murphy recently left her job at the hospital to manage the foundation full time, including the thrift store, Kimmie’s Boutique and Consignment. Kimmie’s Boutique and Consignment, at 500 Highland Ave., opens on October 19 as an outlet to make Kim’s clothes and jewelry available to people in need. “We didn’t want to throw her stuff out,” says Murphy. The store accepts gently used items, and volunteers are needed. It is open Thursday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“I guess it’s in our genes to want to help people,” the mother of three grown children says with a smile. Her son is a nurse, another son is a radiology technician, and a half-sister is a nurse. “My dad played such a big part in this,” she recalls, referring to the grandfather of six and two great-grandchildren, as Henry-the-Great. “He’s such a giving wholesome man who just wants to help people.”
Murphy wants the foundation to raise a lot of awareness about suicide. “When you work in a hospital, there’s a stigma around mental health,” she says. “No one talks about it. Everyone will say they’re OK. They’ll keep going until they collapse.”
In addition, the foundation wants to help pay medical expenses, insurance co-pays, and medication costs.
To accomplish her goals, Murphy is applying for grants, and working with others on fundraising events, including a game with the New York Islanders where a percentage of ticket sales benefits foundation. She also will speak at schools and groups, making people aware of the signs of suicide and how to detect mental illness, which sometimes is a silent disease. “You’d never have known my sister had issues,” she adds.
She also plans to use social media to help raise awareness and break the stigma of mental illness.
For more information, or to request Murphy to speak to your group, contact the foundation at 914-523-3128, or email [email protected]
To make a donation or volunteer, visit the website.