Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nannette Prevost. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Nannette, thanks for joining us today. Is there a heartwarming story from your career that you look back on?
Hello, my name is Nannette Prevost, I’m an RN, CEO and Founder of a nonprofit called Remember Me NFP. I am a surgical nurse of 37 years and a widowed mother to two boys. I have been a surgical nurse my entire career in the operating room of an urban hospital right here in Pinellas County, Florida. Life-Changing Event
Families often wonder why their loved ones take their own life; I know why. In my case, my ex-military husband Shane, left a suicide letter addressing his lack of care while living with bipolar disorder. In it he talked about his struggle trying to get off some of his medications by himself.
I lost my husband of 16 years in 2012, to a death which was sudden, unexpected, and impossible to explain to our sons, who were five and twelve at the time. Life as a single parent and widow is difficult for all of us, mentally and financially.
Through our years of marriage, I bore witness to the harmful effects of stigma surrounding mental health. The root cause of this, it seemed to me, was and still is, lack of education and understanding by family members, friends, coworkers, and lack of intervention without psychiatric medications. In Shane’s case his reluctance to seek help or to seek treatment was in fear of somebody finding out he had bipolar. He felt shame and judgement. I struggled to find any support groups for strength and encouragement for him and for me and my family and friends.
My worst nightmare had happened. Shane had died, my children lost their father, and I lost a best friend and husband. We had no family here at the time. Stigma existed in my workplace where nobody talked about suicide. As a community, we have a lack of communication about where to go for help after experiencing a loss to suicide. There is no requirement for mental health education for healthcare professionals in our state of Florida.
You are not only faced with a loss that is hard to understand, but now faced with living in poverty which you were once financially stable with two incomes. You receive social security benefits for your children that stop when they are 18 years of age and they put you in an economic income class as a retiree! I was 42 years old. You are not allowed to work over a certain number of hours, or you lose your social security or must pay them back. It forces you to work part time in which you end up paying a large amount for health benefits. Most people are unaware most life insurance policies are exempt from Suicide. Life for families after a suicide should fall under a disability. Recovery from a loss to suicide is a lifetime commitment.
My Road to recovery: Support groups and Faith
It was my Faith in God and my church that we found peace to heal. I eventually created programs that helped me heal and opened them up to the public to help others.
Since I live close to one of the most beautiful beaches on the Gulf of Mexico, I ended up experimenting with water therapy in general and paddle boarding. I found I could release my negative thoughts using nature. Water was very calming to me, and it was a place for me to cry by myself and gather my thoughts. I would paddle board sometimes 6 miles a day. I went on from there to hold the title as one of the fastest paddle board racers in West Florida. I am sponsored for that by Watersport West in Largo, Florida.
I figured if paddle boarding helped me, it could help anyone else who is struggling and help raise awareness. That’s when I came across the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s (AFSP), especially the Out of the Darkness program where I found healing and realized I was not alone. When I read the brochure they produce, Talk Saves Lives, it changed my life forever. In it they describe the warning signs & symptoms of failing mental health. I recognized multiple signs on many pages which my husband had been suffering from. How could I NOT have known this being a healthcare worker?
I realized that I had lost my husband to stigma and lack of education. I feel strongly that we need a mandate for all healthcare workers to be trained in mental health. AFSP has allowed me to advocate for that change. I was part of the implementation of our new 988 crisis hotline number for suicide prevention. Since then, I have gone on to create my own nonprofit 501 (c)3 during the start of Covid, Remember Me NFP, located in Pinellas County, Florida. We create programs that help to educate about suicide, decrease the stigma of suicide, and raise awareness for suicide prevention with mentorship. We also accommodate community service hours for anyone who might need it.
My Journey
It was with a collaborative effort of listening to your stories along with what I have learned and discovered what we need in our community that I have come to the belief that we need ongoing peer-to-peer support groups with like-minded people for daily support. Our volunteers are suicide survivors, hospital personnel, and area athletes.
Our current programs are; Paddle 4 Suicide Prevention -a 2-3 hour peer-to-peer program paddle boarding with a guide through mangroves and area beaches for physical and mental health education (up to 15 people) and Gizmo’s Pawesome Guide for Mental Health-for families or caregivers ages 2-12. A 45 min class that promotes literacy and music combined that establishes a mental health pledge with education on mental health, thoughts, and feelings. This is currently held at the Largo Library.
We are a support group that offers events and programs with education and referrals to like-minded people that address mental health issues, and we distribute Suicide Prevention swag-bags to the public for help and guidance. We are also currently a free Narcan distributor for Opioids Drug overdose with education and Registered with Bright Futures for community service with the Pinellas County Schools system. Stop by our tent and see us at and see us at various festivals Remember Me NFP
These programs are scaled with the guidance of Nannette Prevost
• 37 years Surgery RN,
• Widow to suicide
• AFSP State Facilitator of Talk Saves Lives
• NAMI Certified Family to Family Peer Specialist
• NAMI Mental Health Recovery & Wellness Recovery Action Plan(WRAP)
• Certified Adaptive Sports Abuse Prevention Trainer with the Christopher Reeve Foundation
• Certified National Council for Behavioral Health First Aid in Adult & Youth
• Certified Prenatal Fitness Instructor
• Certified JWB Evidence-Base Skills to Motivate Clients Toward Change.
I think what separates me from others is I have been creating innovative programs for the community for years but never for suicide prevention. Now as a lived-experience, my recent accomplishment is that I recorded a song with a famous music artist named Maryann Harmon on Music with Mar. The album is called Songs for Everyone and is now International, available on Spotify and Amazon Music. The song I’m singing with Mar is called Paws Up For Mental Health, which follows a story I read for children addressing mental health. Half the proceeds are donated to Remember Me NFP, INC. I’m also a well-known paddle board racer in the area.
My lesson with Covid I learned was that, as a society, it played with our mental health badly. It increased depression and suicide ideation in all ages. Our United States Surgeon General Report states that suicide and drug overdose deaths have risen dramatically due to community isolation and loneliness.
Contact:
• If you, or someone you know is in crisis CALL 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
We are available every second and fourth Saturday of each month from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm and Monday & Tuesday 8:00 am to 6;00 PM our number is 727-688-4544.
Please come out to relax and have fun with us on Indian Rocks Beach the second and fourth Saturday every month. Check us out on social media or give us a call to set up a free class from our programs or mentoring sessions. See us at various festivals around town. YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
• Website programsforsuicdeprevention.com
• Instagram Nan Prevost Remember Me NP
• Facebook Remember Me NFP
• Twitter Remember Me NFP, INC
• Youtube Nannette Prevost
Nannette, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Life-Changing Event Families often wonder why their loved ones take their own life; I know why. In my case, my ex-military husband Shane, left a suicide letter addressing his lack of care while living with bipolar disorder. In it he talked about his struggle trying to get off some of his medications by himself.
I lost my husband of 16 years in 2012, to a death which was sudden, unexpected, and impossible to explain to our sons, who were five and twelve at the time. Life as a single parent and widow is difficult for all of us, mentally and financially.
Through our years of marriage, I bore witness to the harmful effects of stigma surrounding mental health. The root cause of this, it seemed to me, was and still is, lack of education and understanding by family members, friends, coworkers, and lack of intervention without psychiatric medications. In Shane’s case his reluctance to seek help or to seek treatment was in fear of somebody finding out he had bipolar. He felt shame and judgement. I struggled to find any support groups for strength and encouragement for him and for me and my family and friends.
My worst nightmare had happened. Shane had died, my children lost their father, and I lost a best friend and husband. We had no family here at the time. Stigma existed in my workplace where nobody talked about suicide. As a community, we have a lack of communication about where to go for help after experiencing a loss to suicide. There is no requirement for mental health education for healthcare professionals in our state of Florida.
You are not only faced with a loss that is hard to understand, but now faced with living in poverty which you were once financially stable with two incomes. You receive social security benefits for your children that stop when they are 18 years of age and they put you in an economic income class as a retiree! I was 42 years old. You are not allowed to work over a certain number of hours, or you lose your social security or must pay them back. It forces you to work part time in which you end up paying a large amount for health benefits. Most people are unaware most life insurance policies are exempt from Suicide. Life for families after a suicide should fall under a disability. Recovery from a loss to suicide is a lifetime commitment.
My Road to recovery: Support groups and Faith
It was my Faith in God and my church that we found peace to heal. I eventually created programs that helped me heal and opened them up to the public to help others.
Since I live close to one of the most beautiful beaches on the Gulf of Mexico, I ended up experimenting with water therapy in general and paddle boarding. I found I could release my negative thoughts using nature. Water was very calming to me, and it was a place for me to cry by myself and gather my thoughts. I would paddle board sometimes 6 miles a day. I went on from there to hold the title as one of the fastest paddle board racers in West Florida. I am sponsored for that by Watersport West in Largo, Florida.
I figured if paddle boarding helped me, it could help anyone else who is struggling and help raise awareness. That’s when I came across the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s (AFSP), especially the Out of the Darkness program where I found healing and realized I was not alone. When I read the brochure they produce, Talk Saves Lives, it changed my life forever. In it they describe the warning signs & symptoms of failing mental health. I recognized multiple signs on many pages which my husband had been suffering from. How could I NOT have known this being a healthcare worker?
I realized that I had lost my husband to stigma and lack of education. I feel strongly that we need a mandate for all healthcare workers to be trained in mental health. AFSP has allowed me to advocate for that change. I was part of the implementation of our new 988 crisis hotline number for suicide prevention. Since then, I have gone on to create my own nonprofit 501 (c)3 during the start of Covid, Remember Me NFP, located in Pinellas County, Florida. We create programs that help to educate about suicide, decrease the stigma of suicide, and raise awareness for suicide prevention with mentorship. We also accommodate community service hours for anyone who might need it.
My Journey
It was with a collaborative effort of listening to your stories along with what I have learned and discovered what we need in our community that I have come to the belief that we need ongoing peer-to-peer support groups with like-minded people for daily support. Our volunteers are suicide survivors, hospital personnel, and area athletes.
Our current programs are; Paddle 4 Suicide Prevention -a 2-3 hour peer-to-peer program paddle boarding with a guide through mangroves and area beaches for physical and mental health education (up to 15 people) and Gizmo’s Pawesome Guide for Mental Health-for families or caregivers ages 2-12. A 45 min class that promotes literacy and music combined that establishes a mental health pledge with education on mental health, thoughts, and feelings. This is currently held at the Largo Library.
We are a support group that offers events and programs with education and referrals to like-minded people that address mental health issues, and we distribute Suicide Prevention swag-bags to the public for help and guidance. We are also currently a free Narcan distributor for Opioids Drug overdose with education and Registered with Bright Futures for community service with the Pinellas County Schools system. Stop by our tent and see us at and see us at various festivals Remember Me NFP
These programs are scaled with the guidance of Nannette Prevost
• 37 years Surgery RN,
• Widow to suicide
• AFSP State Facilitator of Talk Saves Lives
• NAMI Certified Family to Family Peer Specialist
• NAMI Mental Health Recovery & Wellness Recovery Action Plan(WRAP)
• Certified Adaptive Sports Abuse Prevention Trainer with the Christopher Reeve Foundation
• Certified National Council for Behavioral Health First Aid in Adult & Youth
• Certified Prenatal Fitness Instructor
• Certified JWB Evidence-Base Skills to Motivate Clients Toward Change.
I think what separates me from others is I have been creating innovative programs for the community for years but never for suicide prevention. Now as a lived-experience, my recent accomplishment is that I recorded a song with a famous music artist named Maryann Harmon on Music with Mar. The album is called Songs for Everyone and is now International, available on Spotify and Amazon Music. The song I’m singing with Mar is called Paws Up For Mental Health, which follows a story I read for children addressing mental health. Half the proceeds are donated to Remember Me NFP, INC. I’m also a well-known paddle board racer in the area.
My lesson with Covid I learned was that, as a society, it played with our mental health badly. It increased depression and suicide ideation in all ages. Our United States Surgeon General Report states that suicide and drug overdose deaths have risen dramatically due to community isolation and loneliness.
Contact:
• If you, or someone you know is in crisis CALL 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
We are available every second and fourth Saturday of each month from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm and Monday & Tuesday 8:00 am to 6;00 PM our number is 727-688-4544.
Please come out to relax and have fun with us on Indian Rocks Beach the second and fourth Saturday every month. Check us out on social media or give us a call to set up a free class from our programs or mentoring sessions. See us at various festivals around town. YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
• Website programsforsuicdeprevention.com
• Instagram Nan Prevost Remember Me NP
• Facebook Remember Me NFP
• Twitter Remember Me NFP, INC
• Youtube Nannette Prevost
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Life-Changing Event Families often wonder why their loved ones take their own life; I know why. In my case, my ex-military husband Shane, left a suicide letter addressing his lack of care while living with bipolar disorder. In it he talked about his struggle trying to get off some of his medications by himself.
I lost my husband of 16 years in 2012, to a death which was sudden, unexpected, and impossible to explain to our sons, who were five and twelve at the time. Life as a single parent and widow is difficult for all of us, mentally and financially.
Through our years of marriage, I bore witness to the harmful effects of stigma surrounding mental health. The root cause of this, it seemed to me, was and still is, lack of education and understanding by family members, friends, coworkers, and lack of intervention without psychiatric medications. In Shane’s case his reluctance to seek help or to seek treatment was in fear of somebody finding out he had bipolar. He felt shame and judgement. I struggled to find any support groups for strength and encouragement for him and for me and my family and friends.
My worst nightmare had happened. Shane had died, my children lost their father, and I lost a best friend and husband. We had no family here at the time. Stigma existed in my workplace where nobody talked about suicide. As a community, we have a lack of communication about where to go for help after experiencing a loss to suicide. There is no requirement for mental health education for healthcare professionals in our state of Florida.
You are not only faced with a loss that is hard to understand, but now faced with living in poverty which you were once financially stable with two incomes. You receive social security benefits for your children that stop when they are 18 years of age and they put you in an economic income class as a retiree! I was 42 years old. You are not allowed to work over a certain number of hours, or you lose your social security or must pay them back. It forces you to work part time in which you end up paying a large amount for health benefits. Most people are unaware most life insurance policies are exempt from Suicide. Life for families after a suicide should fall under a disability. Recovery from a loss to suicide is a lifetime commitment.
My Road to recovery: Support groups and Faith
It was my Faith in God and my church that we found peace to heal. I eventually created programs that helped me heal and opened them up to the public to help others.
Since I live close to one of the most beautiful beaches on the Gulf of Mexico, I ended up experimenting with water therapy in general and paddle boarding. I found I could release my negative thoughts using nature. Water was very calming to me, and it was a place for me to cry by myself and gather my thoughts. I would paddle board sometimes 6 miles a day. I went on from there to hold the title as one of the fastest paddle board racers in West Florida. I am sponsored for that by Watersport West in Largo, Florida.
I figured if paddle boarding helped me, it could help anyone else who is struggling and help raise awareness. That’s when I came across the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s (AFSP), especially the Out of the Darkness program where I found healing and realized I was not alone. When I read the brochure they produce, Talk Saves Lives, it changed my life forever. In it they describe the warning signs & symptoms of failing mental health. I recognized multiple signs on many pages which my husband had been suffering from. How could I NOT have known this being a healthcare worker?
I realized that I had lost my husband to stigma and lack of education. I feel strongly that we need a mandate for all healthcare workers to be trained in mental health. AFSP has allowed me to advocate for that change. I was part of the implementation of our new 988 crisis hotline number for suicide prevention. Since then, I have gone on to create my own nonprofit 501 (c)3 during the start of Covid, Remember Me NFP, located in Pinellas County, Florida. We create programs that help to educate about suicide, decrease the stigma of suicide, and raise awareness for suicide prevention with mentorship. We also accommodate community service hours for anyone who might need it.
My Journey
It was with a collaborative effort of listening to your stories along with what I have learned and discovered what we need in our community that I have come to the belief that we need ongoing peer-to-peer support groups with like-minded people for daily support. Our volunteers are suicide survivors, hospital personnel, and area athletes.
Our current programs are; Paddle 4 Suicide Prevention -a 2-3 hour peer-to-peer program paddle boarding with a guide through mangroves and area beaches for physical and mental health education (up to 15 people) and Gizmo’s Pawesome Guide for Mental Health-for families or caregivers ages 2-12. A 45 min class that promotes literacy and music combined that establishes a mental health pledge with education on mental health, thoughts, and feelings. This is currently held at the Largo Library.
We are a support group that offers events and programs with education and referrals to like-minded people that address mental health issues, and we distribute Suicide Prevention swag-bags to the public for help and guidance. We are also currently a free Narcan distributor for Opioids Drug overdose with education and Registered with Bright Futures for community service with the Pinellas County Schools system. Stop by our tent and see us at and see us at various festivals Remember Me NFP
These programs are scaled with the guidance of Nannette Prevost
• 37 years Surgery RN,
• Widow to suicide
• AFSP State Facilitator of Talk Saves Lives
• NAMI Certified Family to Family Peer Specialist
• NAMI Mental Health Recovery & Wellness Recovery Action Plan(WRAP)
• Certified Adaptive Sports Abuse Prevention Trainer with the Christopher Reeve Foundation
• Certified National Council for Behavioral Health First Aid in Adult & Youth
• Certified Prenatal Fitness Instructor
• Certified JWB Evidence-Base Skills to Motivate Clients Toward Change.
I think what separates me from others is I have been creating innovative programs for the community for years but never for suicide prevention. Now as a lived-experience, my recent accomplishment is that I recorded a song with a famous music artist named Maryann Harmon on Music with Mar. The album is called Songs for Everyone and is now International, available on Spotify and Amazon Music. The song I’m singing with Mar is called Paws Up For Mental Health, which follows a story I read for children addressing mental health. Half the proceeds are donated to Remember Me NFP, INC. I’m also a well-known paddle board racer in the area.
My lesson with Covid I learned was that, as a society, it played with our mental health badly. It increased depression and suicide ideation in all ages. Our United States Surgeon General Report states that suicide and drug overdose deaths have risen dramatically due to community isolation and loneliness.
Contact:
• If you, or someone you know is in crisis CALL 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
We are available every second and fourth Saturday of each month from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm and Monday & Tuesday 8:00 am to 6;00 PM our number is 727-688-4544.
Please come out to relax and have fun with us on Indian Rocks Beach the second and fourth Saturday every month. Check us out on social media or give us a call to set up a free class from our programs or mentoring sessions. See us at various festivals around town. YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
• Website programsforsuicdeprevention.com
• Instagram Nan Prevost Remember Me NP
• Facebook Remember Me NFP
• Twitter Remember Me NFP, INC
• Youtube Nannette Prevost
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
My lesson from losing a loved one to suicide is the lack of education for mental health education and about mental health drugs that are 99.9 % labeled a black box medication. That means they have a high rate of causing suicidal tendencies, which was ultimately I believe the cause of his death. His toxicology revealed this. Nothing else was found in his system . Any suicide death including mass shootings, this report should be revealed. Their is no definitive test what a mental health drug will do for you and they can become addictive in as little as 2 weeks. We are so quick to label people with a diagnosis and prescribe a pill. We are treating the Cause and not the Effect. We need more intervention, with talking things through and support groups with physical health in mind. As reported by our United States Surgeon General in a 65 page report , suicide and depression is linked to isolation and loneliness. Education on mental health and mental health drugs needs to be on the forefront for families, communities and healthcare providers. We need Mental Health Reform. Families that loss a loved one to suicide needs to be put into the IRS as a disability not classified as a retiree on social security in the work force. Your life will change forever. Your life is just not the same. There is a big difference trying to raise a family on one income after a loss to a suicide . I hope my story shares transparency and can help others.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.Programsforsuicideprevention.
com - Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/home.php
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/programsforsuicideprevention/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nan-prevost-10809b77/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/PrevostNan
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClw0OHeEib00BHGYlkmYMTw
Image Credits
John Grande image credit