Send us a text Happy Halloween Eve! Today's episode is all about the spooky. A few weeks ago on Instagram, I posted my call to action for your spooky stories and got some great responses! I was looking up the most haunted hospitals in the United States and here's what I found: Linda Vista Community Hospital , located in Boyle Heights, East LA. This hospital is considered one of the most haunted in the country. It closed in 1991 and has been featured in many films, television shows, and music vid...
Oct 30, 2024•31 min•Ep. 111
Send us a text Karen Zulkowski is the GOAT of wound care nursing. Her professional journey began with earning a BSN in 1972 and culminated with a Doctorate in Nursing Science. Throughout her career, she has held various roles, including business owner, associate nursing professor, and wound course instructor. Karen has also served on the National Pressure Injury Advisory Board and the World Council of Enterostomal Therapists. Her extensive research and publications in peer-reviewed articles, bot...
Oct 23, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 110
Send us a text The current state of healthcare, especially under the strain of a pandemic, has put immense pressure on those in the field. Nurses are burning out in record numbers and leaving a profession they used to love. My guest this week, emergency room nurse and author, Jennifer Johnson , is on a mission to bring back the love and it all starts with intuition. Jenn is known as the Intuitive Nurse and after working 16 years in the emergency room, she has honed her intuition, trusting her gu...
Oct 16, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Season 2Ep. 109
Send us a text Ebony Thyme does not let grass grow under her feet. Whether traveling for her job as a locum tenen family nurse practitioner or for leisure as a travel host , adventure is her game. As a teenager, Ebony was happily working at a Wendy's drive-thru, but her father urged her to aim higher. Perhaps it was her youthful spirit that made her laugh in the face of challenges or maybe it was her strong determination to see things through once she started them, but she took his advice to hea...
Oct 09, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 108
Send us a text This episode is a compilation of your responses to my Instagram post asking "Why are Nurses the Most Trusted Profession?" Thank you for your responses and for being the most trusted profession for 22 years and counting! Thank you to: @coachsheena.johnson @yourrnjourney @honestlyleslie @potassium_iv_push_rn @nursestradeoff Contact The Conversing Nurse podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconversingnursepodcast/ Website: https://theconversingnursepodcast.com Your review i...
Oct 02, 2024•12 min•Ep. 107
Send us a text I don't know when side hustles became a thing but they are officially a thing. Instead of picking up extra shifts, nurses are picking up side hustles. Enter Josh Condado, a certified registered nurse anesthesiologist who co-owns a real estate investing company with his sister Jenn and brother-in-law Colin, also, you guessed it, nurses. Now, the current annual salary for a CRNA can be upwards of $250,000. Why do you need a side hustle if you’re making a quarter of a million dollars...
Sep 25, 2024•54 min•Ep. 106
Send us a text If you're my age and can remember over 50 years ago, you might recall those lazy Saturday mornings spent watching Schoolhouse Rock. There was a clever cartoon skit called, “I’m Just A Bill” where we’d learn how a bill becomes law. This three-minute video was responsible for teaching an entire generation of kids about Civics. Enter Gilanie De Castro, also known as Citizen Nurse on social media, who through her bite-sized lessons titled Civics 101 for Healthcare highlights topics su...
Sep 18, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 105
Send us a text Are you a critical care nurse or aspiring to become one? If so, you won't want to miss my guest this week, Sarah Vance. With over 15 years of critical care experience, Sarah is dedicated to educating and mentoring nurses, both new and new to critical care. Sarah has a knack for simplifying complex concepts and bringing a lighthearted approach to the often intense ICU environment. She shares valuable free open-access medical education content on social media, covering topics such a...
Sep 11, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 104
Send us a text I want you to think outside the box for a moment. What if there was a platform where nurses could connect with other nurses to network, share ideas, build friendships, and support each other with valuable resources? A place where nurses can buy and sell with fellow nurses nationwide, amplify their voices, and advocate for their profession? You might think I’m indulging in fantasy, but it’s not a fantasy - it's a soon-to-be reality, all because one nurse, Jennifer Crow, dared to dr...
Aug 21, 2024•37 min•Season 2Ep. 103
Send us a text Today's episode is all about project management. I'm sure many of you have heard of this topic, but what exactly is it? My guest today, Kevin Pannell, breaks it down for us. Kevin is a project management professional in addition to having over 25 years of experience in leadership roles, critical care, incident command, military service, homeland security, and information technology. By now, you may be wondering what the connection is between project management and nursing. Well, l...
Aug 14, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 2Ep. 102
Send us a text Are you an experienced emergency, acute, or critical care nurse who needs a refresher on some of nursing’s most complex conditions? Then you need Annie Fulton in your life. Annie hosts the popular educational podcast, Up My Nursing Game. Through it, she helps nurses level up their learning because, spoiler alert, learning doesn’t end when you graduate from nursing school. She collaborates with experts in their fields to answer common clinical questions so we can feel more equipped...
Aug 07, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 101
Send us a text Wow, can you believe it's my 100th episode already? Before I dive into the details of this episode, I want to express my gratitude to you, the listeners! You listen from around the world, from Germany, the UK, the Philippines, South America, Australia, New Zealand, and many more, and of course to the many of you in the United States. Thank you for listening, sharing my work, sending emails, commenting, reviewing, rating, and engaging on social media. I do not take your dedication ...
Jul 31, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Season 2Ep. 100
Send us a text "Life is a journey, not a destination." This quote perfectly describes the path of my guest this week, Kim Kish, a surgical oncology nurse practitioner. Kim's journey started as a lab research associate where she learned valuable skills and even got published. From there, she moved into cardiovascular circulatory support, where she found herself observing nurses, doctors, and patients. She was again picking up crucial work and life skills that would prepare her for her next career...
Jul 24, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Season 2Ep. 99
Send us a text According to Coachfoundation.com, passion is one of the most important qualities of a good coach. Enter Dr. Ricky Fernandez, a doctor of physical therapy and a burnout coach and I was eager to talk with him for those reasons. We talked about all the things he does as a physical therapist: his schedule (which is kind of sweet), what his patients need, and the importance of collaboration with allied health professionals. As we delved into the topic of burnout, his passion became evi...
Jul 17, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Season 2Ep. 98
Send us a text Meet Gwen Sledge, a retired nurse and Certified Enneagram Coach. Gwen has a deep understanding of the Enneagram and is passionate about using her healthcare experience to help nurses understand how their personality, communication style, and behavior affect their relationships. Not sure what the Enneagram is? I wasn’t either but I learned it’s a personality typing tool that categorizes individuals into nine distinct personality types, each with its own core fears, desires, and pat...
Jul 10, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Season 2Ep. 97
Send us a text As a student nurse or a new RN, Dave Dovell is someone you should know. Dave is a registered nurse working on a Progressive Care Unit, with a diverse work history that includes being an executive chef, an educator, working in the 911 system and the emergency room. And his story of why he became a nurse? Let’s just say it will put you in an, “I’m not crying, you're crying” situation. Dave is known as the New RN and his Instagram is chock full of nursing hacks, study tips, and nursi...
Jul 03, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Season 2Ep. 96
Send us a text When I hear the words “flight paramedic” I immediately think of aviator glasses, compact spaces, aircraft propellers, jumpsuits, highly trained professionals, and a general sense of badassery. Enter Samantha Brawley. As a flight paramedic, she cares for the sickest of the sick, and the occasional walking, talking patient, who may just be her favorite, wink, wink. We discussed the team she works with, the procedures in her scope of practice, the territory she flies, and the mental ...
Jun 26, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 95
Send us a text I recently came across Dora Loun's LinkedIn profile, and her bio as a stem cell transplant nurse piqued my interest. However, when I had a conversation with her, I realized that what I thought she did and what she actually does are vastly different. Dora's experience in critical care nursing provided her with the perfect foundation for caring for some of the most severely ill patients. I usually ask my guests to walk me through a typical day in their life as a nurse, but Dora took...
Jun 19, 2024•57 min•Season 2Ep. 94
Send us a text My guest this week, Irnise Williams, has been a nurse for 16 years. Starting with her eye on medical school, she opted for nursing school, fell in love, and never looked back. Because if you’re looking back, you can’t look forward, and forward was the direction Irnise wanted to go. She could have advanced her degree by becoming a Nurse practitioner or a CRNA, two popular paths over a decade ago. Instead, she attended Howard University School of Law, became a lawyer, and establishe...
Jun 12, 2024•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 93
Send us a text Meet Kirsten Ferren, a nurse who has been serving in healthcare for over 23 years. She brings to the table her experience as a former Chief Nursing Officer and currently holds the position of Vice President of Patient Care. She is also an author, mentor, and leadership consultant at the company she owns, Nursing Inferno Coaching. We had a stimulating conversation about how leaders can show up for those they lead, strategies that help prevent staff burnout, and the qualities that n...
Jun 05, 2024•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 92
Send us a text What happens when two friends have cocktails and dish on a movie? Magic, pure magic. My first returning guest this week is Patrick Pickarts. Patrick debuted in episode 56 when he told us all about being a nurse in tech. And if you don’t remember him, well, how could you forget about Patrick, it would be like putting Baby in a corner and nobody puts Baby in a corner (Let’s see how many movie references I can get in here). In episode 56, Patrick referred to the hit movie, The Devil ...
May 29, 2024•1 hr 32 min•Season 2Ep. 91
Send us a text Meet Haley Diltz, an exceptional woman who had a childhood dream of being Indiana Jones but instead grew up to become a Neurotrauma ICU nurse. She knew early on she had an affinity for the dying and helping families navigate through some of life’s most tragic experiences. It took one very tragic experience in the ICU for Haley to take pause and re-evaluate how she could better serve the dying and is now dedicating her career to end-of-life and palliative care. Haley founded Third ...
May 22, 2024•54 min•Season 2Ep. 90
Send us a text Do you ever come across someone on Instagram who is meant to teach you something? For me, that person is Ashley Wynn-Grimes, also known as The Cannabis Nurse. Ashley is the owner of Cannabis Nursing Solutions, LLC where she teaches nurses the ins and outs of the cannabis industry. Cannabis nursing is a nursing specialty recently recognized by the American Nurses Association. Through Ashley, I learned about where cannabis nurses can work, who their patients are, and how they can ad...
May 15, 2024•52 min•Season 2Ep. 89
Send us a text Susan Farese is a nurse who has done it all. Well, let me rephrase that. Susan is a nurse who has done a lot. Maybe not all, but her career includes clinical nursing, education, staff development, research, legal nurse consulting, management and coaching. She's also a veteran, having served in the Navy and as a former Major in the Army. How has she been able to manage these stressful, demanding positions? Throughout her career and her life, Susan has tapped into her creativity. Sh...
May 08, 2024•48 min•Season 2Ep. 88
Send us a text Susan Davis is a class act. She's also a doctorally-prepared nurse and CEO of Code PRep, an in-hospital cardiac arrest mock code training program that helps teams prepare, execute, and evaluate codes more effectively. Now, I opened with Susan is a class act, and let me explain. Susan and I recorded an entire 1-hour podcast episode, or at least I thought we recorded. There was just one small problem, I never hit the record button. It pained me to tell Susan that we had nothing. Our...
May 01, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 87
Send us a text When I heard Gaby Morales speak about adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, on the Nine One One Nonsense podcast, I knew I had to bring their message to you. Gaby explained that ACEs are adverse childhood experiences such as physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, as well as other forms of household dysfunction like mental illness or substance use problems, and living with a violent or incarcerated parent. ACEs are linked to chronic health problems, mental illness, substance use ...
Apr 24, 2024•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 86
Send us a text I was completely captivated by my guest this week, Dr. Sarah Ratekin. Sarah is the Owner and Chief Happiness Officer of Happiness is Courage, LLC. I’m all about the happy and if there’s one thing the nurses need right now, it’s more happiness. With a background in organizational ethics and a doctorate in business administration she helps her clients, which include healthcare institutions, improve the employee experience, and spoiler alert, it doesn’t involve pizza parties. She exp...
Apr 17, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 2Ep. 85
Send us a text In 375 BC, the ancient philosopher Plato wrote, "Our need will be the real creator." But over time, the phrase has been condensed to its current form, "Necessity is the mother of invention." Alex Whitefield, aka "The Break Nurse", is an innovator and nurse leader who identified a need: hospitals were using outdated break systems which were making it difficult for nurses to get breaks. So he co-invented Breakalgo, a software program that optimizes break performance through smart sc...
Apr 10, 2024•49 min•Season 2Ep. 84
Send us a text Brian Cerezo is a nurse who likes to have fun, but he's also passionate about the nursing profession and proud about being able to financially support his family. And he doesn't solely rely on his W-2 job. He's made some risky moves by investing in real estate, stocks, and the dreaded crypto. We agreed investing can sometimes be uncertain, but as his portfolio grows, so does his comfort in knowing he's got a backup plan. Brian is also the host of the popular podcast called Direct ...
Apr 03, 2024•1 hr 9 min
Send us a text Tiffany Gibson is a radical nurse leader who has been featured in Oprah Daily and Ebony magazines and proudly shares her two cents on social media and through her podcast. So when she manifested her goal on LinkedIn to book twelve speaking engagements this year, I jumped at the opportunity to invite her to be my guest because her wisdom for nurses cannot go unheard. Tiffany is an emotional intelligence consultant and the founder of New Nurse Academy, LLC. During our conversation, ...
Mar 27, 2024•54 min•Season 2Ep. 83
