Send us a text My guest this week, Dr. Nancy Bellucci , is the academic program director for the College of Nursing at Columbia Southern University. She holds a PhD in nursing and has many credentials to her name. I always feel a bit nervous interviewing highly accomplished nurses like Nancy , but she assured me that those letters are ladders to more opportunities, which put me completely at ease. Starting her Associate program at the age of 38, Nancy brought both maturity and passion to her lea...
Jun 25, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 141
Send us a text Philip Layog is known as the "Work From Home RN" on Instagram, where he helps fellow nurses transition from hospital roles to remote positions. But first, he had to help himself. Philip started his nursing career in Med-Surg, moved to CVICU, then PACU, but once he started his family, he decided to explore remote nursing opportunities. With a decade of experience, he eventually landed his first remote job. Was it easy? No. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Philip now enjoys the freedom ...
Jun 18, 2025•49 min•Ep. 140
Send us a text Meet Tara Tourloukis . Tara is a registered nurse psychotherapist with more than 20 years of experience in mental health care. It’s a truly unique and rewarding niche. As a nurse psychotherapist, she runs her own private therapy practice in Ontario, Canada—a role that blends clinical expertise with compassionate counseling. During our conversation, I couldn’t help but tell her that if I had known about this nursing specialty 20 or 30 years ago, it would have been exactly the path ...
Jun 11, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 139
Send us a text Wendy Dixon-Jewitt is on a mission. As the founder and CEO of Brainstorm Soft Skill Solutions , she strongly advocates for creating safer and more sustainable nursing workplaces, and her passion is unmistakable. Early in her career, Wendy encountered a toxic nursing culture, which she described as "100% responsibility with zero authority to get the necessary tasks done." It’s alarming to think about how many nurses have left the profession due to such circumstances. But Wendy did ...
Jun 04, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 138
Send us a text My guest this week is Yasmin Sharifi, an operating room nurse with many decades of experience. She’s here to give us a glimpse into, as she says, “what really goes on behind that red line.” Yasmin didn’t initially set out to be an OR nurse. She started her career in med-surg but quickly encountered burnout due to a nursing shortage and inadequate patient-to-nurse ratios, often sharing 35 patients with another nurse. Realizing this was not sustainable, she transitioned to the PACU....
May 21, 2025•52 min•Ep. 137
Send us a text When I first stumbled upon Shatara Jewell’s Instagram, I thought, “Wow, she’s making an impact—I bet I could learn a lot from her!” So I reached out, she said “Yes” and the rest is history. Shatara serves as a Certified Psychiatric Nurse Lieutenant in the United States Navy and provides dedicated care to military personnel and their families dealing with mental health challenges. These challenges are significant; issues like rising suicide rates, alcoholism, and substance use diso...
May 14, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 136
Send us a text Meet Sheena Johnson, a remarkable Jamaican-born woman residing just outside London, where she serves as an ICU nurse practitioner with the UK’s National Health Service. Her journey took a profound turn during the peak of Covid when she faced the heartbreaking loss of her father while caring for some of the sickest patients. This loss plunged her into intense grief, prompting her to reflect deeply on her life. In a moment of stillness, she confronted difficult questions: What is ha...
May 07, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 135
Send us a text Erin Johansen is a communications supervisor for a medical flight company, and she’s got her finger on the pulse of the air transport industry. Having grown up in the flight business, she is intimately familiar with each position she oversees. Imagine a Situation room of sorts. During her 12-hour night shifts, Erin often navigates a bustling control room where 15 to 20 medical flights are in progress at any given time. On particularly hectic nights, that number can soar into the 3...
Apr 30, 2025•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 134
Send us a text Do you believe in divine intervention? After waking early one morning with Jade on my mind, I couldn't help but feel once again that there’s something greater at work here. Jade Barrera is a wife, a mother, and a NICU nurse. Having worked with her for many years, I’ve had the privilege of watching Jade grow from a novice nurse to a confident leader as charge nurse. As any nurse will tell you, we become a close-knit family, deeply familiar with one another's struggles and triumphs....
Apr 23, 2025•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 133
Send us a text Chinelo Okoye is a remarkable double-board-certified nurse practitioner specializing in both adult and pediatric care. Beyond her clinical expertise, she passionately advocates for the representation of nurses in the media. As the founder of Nurse on Purpose, she works to eliminate stereotypes and showcase the intelligence, professionalism, leadership skills, and dedication to patient care that nurses embody. I had a candid conversation with Chinelo about my complacency regarding ...
Apr 16, 2025•1 hr•Ep. 132
Send us a text Meet Lia Xiong-Ratley , a Family Nurse Practitioner, women’s health advocate, and rescuer of the underdogs, literally. Lia has worn many hats over the years, from pediatric ICU to cardiothoracic surgery, but after becoming a family nurse practitioner, she has found her place at Planned Parenthood. If you think the only services offered through Planned Parenthood are contraception and abortion, you're not alone; Lia and I thought this too. However, the reality is that they provide ...
Apr 09, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 131
Send us a text This week, I had the pleasure of catching up with a returning guest, the OG Nursepreneur, Farah Laurent . Since our last conversation over two years ago, she has been achieving remarkable success. Not only does Farah hold six board certifications, but she has also earned a doctorate in nursing. One exciting development is that Farah hosted her first nursing conference titled “Nurses Making Money Moves.” By the time this episode airs, the conference will have already taken place an...
Apr 02, 2025•36 min•Ep. 130
Send us a text In the heart of northern New Zealand, nestled between rolling hills and lush green valleys, lay Heart Place Hospital , a beacon of innovation in the world of healthcare. Founded by Jacqui O'Connor, a Registered Nurse with three decades of experience, this unique wellness charity is unlike any hospital seen before. After her own dismantling and rebuilding, Jacqui has devoted her life to the intricacies of mental well-being and integrative health, believing that true healing goes be...
Mar 26, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 129
Send us a text What can I say about Rachell Dumas ? Or perhaps, what can't I say about her? Rachell is an extraordinary nurse with a powerful story of pregnancy loss that will leave you both in tears and shaking your head in disbelief. After experiencing the loss of nine pregnancies, Rachell founded the nonprofit organization “A Light After Nine.” This organization aims to provide families navigating infertility, pregnancy loss, and maternal trauma with the emotional, financial, and mental healt...
Mar 19, 2025•47 min•Ep. 128
Send us a text This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with NICU mom and author, Jennifer Bernardo. Jennifer gave birth to twins—a boy and a girl—at just 26 weeks gestation. Her book, Week 26 , is a firsthand account of their lives in the NICU and beyond. Jennifer’s journey began with a distressing wake-up call: she was hemorrhaging. Rushed to the hospital, she underwent an emergency C-section, where she delivered her son, weighing just two pounds, followed by her even smaller daughter, weighi...
Mar 12, 2025•1 hr 11 min
Send us a text This week, I had the great pleasure of speaking with my friend and colleague, Dr. David Borge. David is an OB/GYN who has retired from the traditional 9-to-5 work schedule and now enjoys using his expertise in Saipan and, more recently, Panama, his country of birth. As the son of missionaries, David spent his early years with his five siblings in Panama, France, Egypt, and Madagascar. His father, a physician, often brought young David to the hospital, where he could round on patie...
Mar 05, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 126
Send us a text For today’s episode, I’ve got questions and Maggie's got answers. Do you need a nurse advocate? Well, consider this your lucky day. Meet my guest, Maggie Ortiz. As founder and CEO of Advocates for Nurses , she provides guidance, education, and empowerment to nurses facing legal, regulatory, and professional challenges. Terrified of facing a Board of Registered Nursing investigation? Maggie's your insider. Equally terrified of being deposed? She literally wrote the book on it. Do y...
Feb 26, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 125
Send us a text My guest this week, Joseph Harrison , is a nurse practitioner who facilitates the creation of independent practices for other nurse practitioners through his company, Avail Health . Per his LinkedIn profile, Joseph states, “Weaving together many threads to help realize the quintuple aim of healthcare.” To be honest, I was unaware of this ambitious initiative before speaking with him, but he clearly and succinctly explained both our current successes and the areas where improvement...
Feb 19, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 124
Send us a text This week my guest is Sachin Chauhan , the founder and CEO of An Extra M . This India-based organization has provided education and training to over 50,000 nurses and nursing students worldwide, focusing on the essential soft skills needed for effective interpersonal relationships with both patients and colleagues. You may wonder, what are soft skills? Soft skills include critical thinking, time management, teamwork, leadership and emotional intelligence, among others. While these...
Feb 12, 2025•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 123
Send us a text Imagine being a sick or injured child entering the healthcare system and being approached by nurses and doctors wielding strange objects, sharp needles, and unpleasant medications. Now picture being the parent of that child, who naturally wants to protect and advocate but lacks the health literacy to comprehend what is happening. Whether parent or child, you would likely be terrified and would want someone like Nurse Deon on your side. Fortunately, there is Deon Huffman , a pediat...
Feb 05, 2025•1 hr•Ep. 122
Send us a text Sleep. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders , quality sleep is as essential to survival as food and water. It is crucial for forming and maintaining the neural pathways in your brain that allow you to learn and create new memories. Lack of sleep can make it harder to concentrate and respond quickly. Now, imagine being a healthcare professional—a nurse, physician, or surgical technician—who is also the parent of a child who struggles to sleep and prevents a...
Jan 29, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 121
Send us a text Imagine for a moment if Angie Gray were a recipe. She would be equal parts professionalism, inspiration, and compassion, with just a pinch of badassery thrown in. But she is not a recipe. She is a thought leader, a nurse coach, a keynote speaker, and she has the challenging task of training C-suite executives to bridge the gap between them and the healthcare professionals on the front lines. Angie and I are soul sisters of a sort: we love sporting our rose-colored glasses, which i...
Jan 22, 2025•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 120
Send us a text Beth Sanford is known as the "Sunshine Nurse" for two reasons. First, she is a doctorally-prepared nurse who has conducted extensive research on the importance of vitamin D in improving patient outcomes. Her studies have explored how vitamin D levels affect ICU patients, long-term care residents, and global maternal health. Beth is passionate about addressing vitamin D deficiency in clinical practice, population health, and policy. Did you know that vitamin D is both a nutrient an...
Jan 15, 2025•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 119
Send us a text Here's a quick look at some of the great interviews and plans for 2025! Contact The Conversing Nurse podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconversingnursepodcast/ Website: https://theconversingnursepodcast.com Your review is so important to this Indie podcaster! You can leave one here! https://theconversingnursepodcast.com/leave-me-a-review Would you like to be a guest on my podcast? Pitch me! https://theconversingnursepodcast.com/intake-form Check out my guests' book re...
Jan 08, 2025•16 min•Ep. 118
Send us a text This week I stepped way outside my comfort zone and spoke with Tulare County Fire Chief, Charlie Norman. I can confidently say that many nurses do not fully understand what firefighters do. We often see them in the ambulance bay and in our communities, but do we really take the time to SEE them? Do we know where the budget for fire services comes from? Do we understand how firefighters advance in their ranks? Sadly, do we realize that firefighter deaths by suicide exceed those who...
Dec 18, 2024•59 min•Ep. 117
Send us a text Erika Browning is one of the most interesting guests I've had to date. She has a diverse educational background, earning degrees in Spanish, Biology, and Nursing. And the diversity doesn't stop there. Her nursing experience ranges from working in the emergency room to the ICU, from being a travel nurse to a sexual assault nurse examiner, and from a case manager to starting her own business as a Life Care Planner. Erika is truly living the tagline of her podcast, which is "basic nu...
Dec 11, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 116
Send us a text I jumped at the opportunity to talk to my guest this week, Sallie Jessie. Sallie is an incredible person with a unique perspective! First, she has a niche job: she is a mobile wound care clinic nurse and I loved hearing all about that. She is also a blogger. When she became a wife and mother, she identified a gap in resources for nurses balancing family and career and then took the initiative to create a supportive community through her blog, Bandaids and Bedtime Stories. This is ...
Dec 04, 2024•48 min•Ep. 115
Send us a text In my working days, I was a member of my institution’s Bioethics committee. I’m now a retired nurse and continue to serve as a community member. Constantly impressed by this committee’s work, I wanted you to meet two of these brilliant minds, so I recently sat down with Sandra Shadley, a licensed marriage and family therapist and our committee chair, and Dr. Ryan Howard, our hospice and palliative medicine physician. Sandra holds a unique certification: the HEC-C , or certified he...
Nov 20, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 114
Send us a text Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Kali Dayton . Kali Dayton is an ICU nurse practitioner and like Gandhi, MLK Jr., and Parks, Kali is peacefully protesting the way ICU patients are cared for. Similar to the civil rights advocates before her, Kali fights for the rights of ICU patients. She believes they have the right to limited sedation, early mobilization, open communication, and family participation. Kali was born as a baby nurse into an Awake and Walking I...
Nov 13, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 113
Send us a text Pablo Picasso said, “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” Sarah Lorenzini has a life filled with both meaning and purpose. She is a rapid-response nurse who utilizes her knowledge and storytelling skills to educate nurses in various critical care aspects through her popular podcast, Rapid Response RN, which has over 120 episodes. In the podcast, she effectively breaks down complex concepts such as cardiac tamponade, spinal cord ischemi...
Nov 06, 2024•46 min•Ep. 112
