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Paul Thomas Clements, Professor in Residence for the Nursing school, describes itself as prismatic. His home office in North Carolina reflects this. He is adorned with crystals, most notably a powder blue on his celestite desk, believed to increase understanding and higher consciousness and provide a source of positivity in his daily work.
He is a Forensic Psychiatric Clinical Specialist, as well as a Board Certified and Certified Hazard Assessment Specialist. Her areas of interest include mental health awareness, trauma and bereavement counseling, bullying, interpersonal violence, and workplace vulnerability risk assessments. In many cases, he hears about some of the worst times in people’s lives, especially children, as he works with them to treat their grief and emotions therapeutically. Like a crystal, part of Clements’ role is to scatter light in dark situations.
You live in North Carolina. Are you from there?
No, but my family is. I was born in the south of Jersey. I grew up in a farming community. My mother was number 11 of 14 children. They were an agrarian family and moved from North Carolina to South Jersey to farm. I have heard many stories of them waking up at five in the morning, going to the farm, going to school on the bus, then coming home and getting off the bus and farming.
What made you decide to become a nurse?
Initially, I wanted to be a chemist. In high school, I took extra chemistry lessons and graduated when I was 16. I took extra chemistry and physics classes and started college when I was 16 and a half which was a huge mistake because I wasn’t ready to go. But I had A’s directly in chemistry and physics. I decided that I was [more of] a sociable person, so I switched to psychology.
My mother found out that a friend of hers worked at the hospital and found me a job as a unit clerk. Word had spread that I was the best unit clerk in the world. People from the locked-down mental health unit asked if I wanted to come and work with them. Next thing I know is that they trained me to be a mental health technician and unit clerk. I discovered that I had this natural gift of working with the people in this psychiatric unit.
I’ve been exposed to all of these different professions, and I’ve narrowed it down. I wanted to be a social worker, nurse or psychiatrist. I started asking in my free time if I could spend time with each of them. [I felt] the psychiatrists did not spend enough time. And social workers were all about the systems and I wasn’t in the systems. So I did my associate, bachelor’s and master’s degree in nursing in five years. I went straight to my PhD program.
What made you want to help mental health patients?
These were people marginalized by society. One of the things I talk about with my students whenever they talk about mental health is that we always fight for parity and equity in funding for comprehensive care and research. I merged this with the forensic arena; people with mental health problems tend to become psychotic and may do illegal things.
For example, they can assault people or destroy things – and where do they go? They go to jail and do not receive any mental health care, but then they are placed in a mental hospital where they receive the care they need. And then they’re released but don’t get the follow-up care they need. Then they commit criminal acts again and they go to jail.
The worst place for someone with a psychiatric disorder is jail. It’s a vicious circle. Many of these people find themselves homeless. I have a big heart for them and for the way they are often lost in “the system”.
There is the act, the art and the science of nursing. You really have to stop and listen to people with psychiatric disorders and “listen between the lines” if what they are saying.
Even if you live in North Carolina, you still have an impact on UNLV Nursing’s role in the Las Vegas community. Can you tell us about the new partnership you helped to enter into?
I contacted a local bereavement counseling center called Adam’s place. The facility is a non-profit company that provides support to bereaved children, adolescents and families in safe and confidential environments. Through this partnership through our Community Nursing Program, our nursing students will have the opportunity to experience grief counseling in a real-world environment, learning to interact with patients with similar pain.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in the field?
People who have suffered severe trauma as victims are ultimately able to successfully reinvest in enjoyable and productive lives.
When people visit Asheville, where do you suggest they go?
Take a ride along the Blue Ridge Parkway, especially in the fall, when the leaves make the Great Smokey Mountains just amazing with their red, orange and yellow colors.
What are your hobbies outside of work?
Walking my black Labrador, Smoke, several times a day and meeting our “neighbors”: turkeys, bears and rabbits. I also collect rare hand painted Delft tiles that were originally used in kitchens and other open fire areas in old European homes. After the houses were torn up in town, the tiles were originally thrown away. They have now become a rare historical commodity.
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