Thomas Sargent said he’s always wanted to teach. Before joining Harris College this year as an assistant professor of professional practice in nursing, Sargent recently worked at Parkland Health in Dallas as a mental health provider, and his clinical focus has been evidence-based addiction psychiatry, with one of his scholarly focuses being workplace violence prevention.
Tell us a little about your background.
Prior to coming to TCU, I was on the consult liaison psychiatry service at Parkland in Dallas, providing mental health care and substance use care to patients who are medically admitted, until my last year, when I transitioned to outpatient at the new addiction psychiatry clinic, the Paths to Recovery Clinic.
This jump to academia came from earning my doctorate. I’ve always wanted to teach. I had an outstanding professor who sticks out in my mind. Didn’t take herself too seriously but knew her stuff and really was able to engage and reach the students. She’s kind of like my archetype for what I want to look like and what I want to do for my students.
What is your expertise?
In my doctoral program, my focus was on cultural humility, trauma-informed care and workplace violence. The humility standpoint is that I, as a health care provider, have something that I can provide to the conversation. But I also know that you know your body, your experiences, your goals for treatment, from whatever standpoint or perspective you have. My treatment plans don’t supersede your goals of care. Trauma-informed care goes back to understanding how past experiences affect current behavior or experiences.
When you say workplace violence, is your focus on health care workers and patients?
Yes, yes, yes. Health care accounts for 75% of all workplace violence incidents. We have to educate the staff on things like cultural humility and trauma-informed care. We also have to have clear policies around workplace violence and what will and won’t be tolerated. And we have to have services and support systems for when those incidents occur, like workplace violence hotlines, peer support, medical support if needed, debriefing and things of that nature. There are some de-escalation programs or techniques that could be used and aren’t really used enough. And so, implementing some of those soft skills into the curriculum is something that’s needed and what I hope to do at TCU.
What would you like students to know about you?
It may be cliche, but I am open to talk – open door policy. I don't think there are stupid questions. I want to be the type of professor that people feel comfortable coming to, whether you’re in my class or not, about any concerns that you have. I just want to be a safe space for people. I’m like that in the clinical space; I definitely want to carry that here too.