‘Healing Begins with Acceptance’: Meet the Healers – Ann Marie Beins, RN

The Saint Luke Institute (SLI) comprehensive and multidisciplinary mental health and spiritual care model responds to the needs of each person as an integrated whole. Our quality care is assured by our professional clinicians and expert spiritual integrators. For more than three decades, Ann Marie Beins, RN, SLI’s Healthcare Manager, has walked beside individuals in some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. Her journey into mental health nursing was unexpected, beginning in oncology and hospice, winding through emergency and medical‑surgical care, and ultimately leading her to the ministry of healing at Saint Luke Institute. What began as a temporary summer assignment at SLI became a lifelong vocation rooted in compassion, presence, and deep faith.

In this installment of our Meet the Healers series, Ann Marie reflects on the emotional and spiritual dimensions of mental health nursing, the weight and privilege of caring for those in crisis, and what “healing” really looks like beyond charts and treatment plans. With honesty and humility, she invites us into the quiet, courageous work that often goes unseen—but changes lives every day.

What inspired you to work in mental health nursing, and what keeps you committed on the hardest days?

When I began my nursing career more than 35 years ago, I never imagined I would become a mental health nurse. My dream was pediatric nursing. I began in GYN/Oncology, moved into hospice care, and then worked as a nurse in a community hospital. I rotated everywhere: med‑surg, OB, the ED, and psychiatry. One day, the nurse manager of the psychiatry unit called and said, “I’ve heard great things about you—will you work with us for the summer?” I agreed. That “summer” was more than 15 years ago, and I’ve been in mental health ever since.

Mental health nursing is different from any other kind of nursing. You can’t apply pressure to stop bleeding or coach a mom through labor. You can’t sit with a family as their loved one dies. But you can listen to a wounded soul who is suffering. For people with mental illness—depression, anxiety, personality disorders—it’s lifelong, with good days and bad. What keeps me here is simple: love for human beings. We are all made in the image and likeness of God, and every person deserves respect.

Can you describe a moment when you knew your presence truly made a difference?

As a nurse, if you are fully present—to patients, families, and co workers—you are already making a difference. Presence is the work.

What is the emotional weight mental health nurses carry that most people don’t see or understand?

Early in my mental health career, a mentor sat me down and said, “Suicide is hard. You need to understand that when someone is in such despair that they want to end their life, sometimes there is not much you can do.” That is difficult to accept when you choose nursing because you want to help people. The emotional weight of that reality is something most people never see.

How does caring for patients in crisis affect you mentally, emotionally, or spiritually?

My faith is always my first anchor. If I have a challenging client, I pray silently, “Lord, help me see You in them.” I often pray right in the moment of crisis. It grounds me and reminds me that the outcome isn’t on my shoulders alone—I have a partner in this work. My family also understands that after a crisis, I need “me time” to regroup. Sometimes that means being alone, watching a movie, or reading a book. Those quiet moments help restore me.

What does “healing” look like in a mental health facility, beyond medications or treatment plans?

Healing begins with acceptance—accepting that you’re struggling with addiction, depression, anxiety, or trauma so deep that you need help. Without acceptance, there is no healing. I tell clients right away: “Be open and truthful with us. We are not here to judge—we are here to help you heal.” For some, it’s the first time they’ve heard those words.

Healing is like peeling an onion. The layers come off slowly through medication, individual therapy, group therapy, and expressive therapies such as art, music, and drama. Watching those layers fall away is such a privilege. Healing is lifelong, and I hear often, “Saint Luke Institute saved my life.”

When resources are limited, how does that impact the way you care for patients?

No matter what is happening, meetings, tasks, responsibilities, the client always comes first. Always.

What support helps you continue showing up with compassion and patience?

My faith sustains me. When work is especially challenging, I have people I can call and ask for prayers. I also love going to Mass with the clients—it reminds me that each of them was called by God to religious life.

How do you take care of yourself while caring for others who are struggling?

I have strong support systems. My faith comes first. My husband and seven children keep me grounded—they’re probably where I learned patience the most. And my friends support me deeply in my vocation as a nurse.

What would additional funding or resources allow you to offer your patients?

Funding for professional conferences and certifications in psychiatric nursing would help me continue to grow and bring the best possible care to our clients.

What do you wish donors understood about the realities of mental health nursing?

When I first said I wanted to be a nurse, my aunt told me nursing is a vocation. Mental health nursing is a vocation within a vocation. You always need big‑picture awareness, ensuring the safety of the client in crisis, the other clients, and the staff. It’s a different kind of responsibility.

At the end of a long shift, what reminds you that this work still matters?

Over the years, certain people come to mind, and I find myself wondering how they are doing. In those moments, I realize I make a difference in people’s lives. That’s when I know my work matters. I personally deeply believe in the vocations of priesthood and religious life. One of our sons is in his fifth year of seminary, and I talk openly with him about the support SLI can offer him, his classmates, and his superiors. That makes this work personal—and even more meaningful.