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Category: Coming Up on Nurse Talk

Laughter. Blood Pressure. Jean & Karen. Horizontal.

This week we’re sharing a vintage clip of one our favorite funny ladies, Ellen Degeneres in her first appearance on the Johnny Carson to start you off with some chuckles.

And Casey offers scientific evidence that “laughter is the best medicine.” What happens when we laugh? We change physiologically when we laugh. We stretch muscles throughout our face and body, our pulse and blood pressure go up, and we breathe faster, sending more oxygen to our tissues. In the last few decades, researchers have studied laughter’s effects on the body and turned up some potentially interesting information on how it affects us:

  • Blood Flow
  • Immune Response
  • Blood Sugar Levels
  • Relaxation and Sleep

Just to test the affects on blood flow and blood pressure, Casey and Shayne conduct a very dangerous “on air” experiment. You won’t want to miss it.

Plus RNs Jean Ross and Karen Higgins on why you should be involved in patient advocacy beyond the bedside and Dr. Christina Purpora discusses horizontal violence among nurses. A message for new grads: It’s systemic. It’s NOT you. Read more…

Miss Sylvia. Will I Ever Wear A Bikini Again? State Of Wealth-Being.Tribute To RNs on the Front Lines.

Welcome once again to Nurse Talk where laughter is the best medicine. Who is Miss Sylvia? Well, for those of you who were fans of Mad TV, (and we are if you haven’t already guessed) Aunt Sylvia was sometimes the school nurse, and sometimes the “fragile” absent minded pharmacist. Here she gives a class lesson on a rather private topic:

AND so goes another episode of Nurse Talk. BUT of course there’s more to us than that! Comedian, writer, storyteller, sitcom star Marilyn Kentz chats with Casey and Shayne about her new one woman show Will I Ever Wear A Bikini Again? Some of you may remember Marilyn and her friend and neighbor (from Petaluma, Calif.), Caryl Christensen from their 1990’s hit sitcom “The Mommies.” Marilyn talks about the value of humor in her life as well as the joys of aging without grace!

A tribute to our nurses from National Nurses United and all nurses around the world. Read more…

God’s Hotel. I Need a Nurse…But There Isn’t One! 89-Year-Old Goes Rogue. Or Does He?

San Francisco Giants“How about those GIANTS”, says co-host Shayne Mason. “What about them?” replies host Casey Hobbs. Disgraceful but true. It turns out neither one of them knew their own San Francisco Giants were in the national baseball playoffs! I know they’re nurses but–I also know nurses get around. Go GIANTS!

God's HotelWow! Do we have a great show coming up. A couple of months ago Casey read a book called God’s Hotel, A Doctor, A Hospital, and A Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine. The book was written by San Francisco physician Dr. Victoria Sweet about San Francisco’s Laguna Honda Hospital, the last almshouse in the country, a descendant of the Hôtel-Dieu (God’s Hotel) that cared for the sick in the Middle Ages. Ballet dancers and rock musicians, professors and thieves — “anyone who had fallen, or, often, leapt, onto hard times” and needed extended medical care — ended up there. Dr. Sweet ended up there herself, as a physician. And though she came for only a two-month stay, she remained for twenty years. Casey couldn’t put the book down and then couldn’t stop talking about it. So we decided to invite Dr. Sweet to talk with us about her amazing book. Read more…

Screeching. No Excuses. Contract Celebration. Laughter.

“Welcome to Nurse Talk where laughter is the best medicine. I’m Casey Hobbs.” “I’m Shayne Mason and we are two of the thousands of nurses on duty today.” Oh lord…on the show this week we have a horrible sound ensemble that includes what is now […]

Ross Perot. Misdiagnosis. “Michi-gone.” Tonsils. RN Driving Quiz.

WOW—take us back to the Ross Perot days! Damn that’s funny. Dana Carvey and the late Phil Hartman on Saturday Night Live.

Asserts Casey, “and Shayne that’s all I’m going to say about PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES! You can say more, but my lips are sealed!”

You have to wonder if Casey can really seal her lips about anything, let alone the debates. Tune in to find out.

We’ve got a visit with Deb Nault, RN, MS. Deb has more than 35 years of experience in women’s health care, including working as a certified nurse midwife in Michigan hospitals and as an adjunct faculty member at Michigan State University’s College of Nursing. She is currently director of nursing practice at the Michigan Nurses Association, the largest union for registered nurses in Michigan. Read more…

Coming Up…More Robin Hood and Compassion without Crashing

A little something to prime your funny bone, we have a clip of Vicki Lawrence playing Mama in which she gripes about the lengths she must take to get discovered as a spokesperson for an appropriate product like Depends or Super Poly Grip. I always loved Mama! I guess she got jealous when they discovered the homeless man with the “golden voice” a few years back…

Now on with the show…I’m sure our listeners have heard us talk about the Robin Hood Taxa small change for banks—a big change for people. This idea is global not local. A small transaction fee on the banks would raise billions to provide education, healthcare parity, infrastructure, and yes, even care for our fragile planet. What was once a movement—is now legislation—thanks to Minnesota Representative, Keith Ellison. Read more…

Coming up…New Fall Season for Nurse Talk…

Greetings to all of you and here’s hoping you spent the summer doing things you loved with family and friends or just by your little old self! Hard to believe (at least for us anyway) that we are starting our 4th year of Nurse Talk. […]