Coming Up on the Show This Week
Welcome to Nurse Talk. Hope you are all having a wonderful summer. This week Casey and Shayne take an emergency call from a listener named Ginger. Ginger has a—shall we say—“burning” question and some important advice for our listeners who might just be inclined to do what she did! We’re pretty sure Ginger is not the only one who has ever done this…but we know she won’t do it again! Check it out. Thanks Ginger.
And from the Patient Advocate Desk—our friend and frequent guest RN and healthcare activist DeAnn McEwen talks about life-saving RN-Patient Ratios and what you need to know when you go to a hospital.
It seems the California Hospital Association and United Healthcare West are pushing a proposal to allow all California hospitals to suspend compliance with the life-saving 2004 RN Patient Ratio law. Read more…
And healthy without health insurance? Protect yourself says Dr. Mathew Edlund. A countdown to healthcare as we know it. Some would say it is a real stretch to claim that if you just use the amazing and innovative technology of the human body and its incredible regenerative powers you can be healthy. What do you say? Read more…
And Casey and Shayne visit with Joyce Hoffman. You may remember Joyce was our Golden Bed Pan Award winner a few weeks back. IN APRIL OF 2009 in the middle of the night, at age 51—Joyce’s life changed forever. She had a stroke.
Blogalicious. Patient Stories. Nurse Stories. Tell Us Where it Hurts!
Hello everyone. This week we have a rewind for you but before we chat about that—I do want to put in a plug for our wonderful Nurse Talk blog. Every time I read a new post I am either moved to tears or laughter. Honestly—take a few minutes and check it out.
We’ve mentioned Missy Vaughan and Barbara Taylor Vaughan before. Missy is Barbara’s daughter and she takes great care of Barbara who has Alzheimer’s. Their ongoing blog posts talk candidly about the progression of Barbara’s disease, the ups and downs and everything in between. Oh—and did I mention Missy has M.S.? Together they articulate the “reality” of their lives in Alzheimer’s in the First Person.
And then there’s Brandi Chase. Brandi’s blog called Lymphoblaster is an online chronicle through her bout with Leukemia. In one of Brandi’s entries she writes:
“The litany against fear is an incantation spoken by the Bene Gesserit, a secret sisterhood from the Dune book series, in order to focus their minds in times of peril.
I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
I confess, I use it, and it works. Upon waking for the first time after having my central line installed, I was overwhelmed with fear. The pain from the procedure was upon me, and every movement hard, and unfamiliar. I saw two years of this and wondered how I would ever endure it. It was a dark place, and I looked into it, long and deep. It passed over me, and through me. And here I am. Day 23. I remain.” Read more…
This week we’re featuring a redux of show 449 where we share touching stories like these from our Nurse Talk blog and salute the great writers and contributors that are featured each week. We also have an interview with Deborah Burger on the one-woman play about nursing in America, Tell Us Where it Hurts by Anna Deavere Smith.
Anna is also known as Gloria Akalitus on television’s Nurse Jackie. We share some touching stories recreated by Smith in the play from the caretakers—career RNs—who have also been hit by the failing economy and healthcare costs. Their stories are told with honesty and courage. Share the humanity of what is happening all across the country.
Casey and Shayne also have fun with some—well—rather messy nurses notes, like this one from cardiology: “Patient has chest pains if she lies on her left side for over a year by the time she was admitted to the hospital, her rapid heart had stopped and she was feeling much better.” We also hear from an old friend, Lucille Jones—a rather crazy one at that (no offense Lucille). Lucille’s stories have been memorialized in our Nurse Talk Comedy Pharm…Check them out!
Oklahoma. Talk’s Cheap. All Aboard.
Coming Up…
We lost Shayne to Oklahoma this week..but he called in from the streets of Colon (population 800), to give us the lay of the land on healthcare in his home state. He tells us access to care is difficult to non-existent in many areas, diabetes and heart disease are disproportionally high, and night life? Well…Shayne will tell us all about that when he returns to the show next week.
Our guest co-host shows us once again that “talk is cheap!” We paid her nothing and she talked all through the show…no dead air time on this one!
Our good friend and D.C. Healthcare correspondent Donna Smith joins us from the road—on the National Nurses United Medicare For All bus tour. The bus pulled out of San Diego, CA last week with 22 stops along the way. The nurses are providing mobile blood pressure screenings, information about accessing health screenings and check-ups in their own towns and cities and about the Robin Hood Tax. Good stuff peeps!!! Oh, and for anyone who thinks the Robin Hood Tax is a pipe dream…check out this article…13 European nations—led by Germany—are moving closer to signing onto this initiative.
WANTED…preferably alive! Nominees for the Nurse Talk Golden Bed Pan Award. Yes…we know it’s not particularly P.C. but we do like to celebrate those silent heroes out there. Send us those worthy people or organizations—even if it’s you! Email Pattie@nursetalksite.com.
On the Blog this week: Behavioral Health Teen and the ER Setting on Love Your Nursing Life by RN Bobbi McCarthy. She writes, “I do not know if our nursing intervention helped her in any way but I believe that it did…I can only hope that it meant something to her and that she will in her heart know that there are kind adults in the world.”
Workin’ 9 to 9. Fun with Eileen. Depression.
Coming Up…
“Well don’t you know that’s the sound of the men..workin’ on the chain…gaaang, that’s the sound of the men workin’ on the chain…gang…” Those, the words of the immortal Sam Cooke.
Well, that’s really the sound of the nurses in Massachusetts working harder and faster—but not if the state legislature has anything to do with it.
Casey and Shayne visit with Massachusetts Nurses Association President RN Donna Kelly Williams about the Massachusetts State Legislature House & Senate versions of a health reform bill that would ban mandatory overtime. Donna and her street gang of nurses have literally been on the state house steps to support their efforts. Some may be asking…”Why should I care about this?” You don’t want a tired nurse—now do you?
Also on the show this week is author/humorist and cancer survivor, Eileen Kaplan who wrote a book called Laughter is the Breast Medicine. Eileen is now a speaker and cancer awareness advocate. She shares her journey about surviving breast cancer, and dealing with its aftermath. Eileen is just one of those NATURALLY funny people…who really knows how to make laughter out of lemons! Check our her website.
And an email question—about a beloved sister—initiates a conversation about “family depression.”
And from the Producers “Humor Desk”—hmmm, comes a little Joke from our friends at the Journal of Nursing Jocularity’s. Stand by…PADDLES!
Pomp. Circumstance. Debt. Groundbreaking.
Coming up on the Show this week…Graduation! You’ve made it to the finish line—now what’s next? The song “Pomp and Circumstance” by English Composer Sir Edward Elgar plays on as graduates march on that glorious day. You’ve worked hard, spent lots of money to get a good education and now it’s time to put that education to work.
All of those things are true but not so fast! Unfortunately there are some realities that are facing college graduates today. To begin with graduates are burdened with an average of $80,000 in student loans and many are finding it very difficult to find work in their chosen profession upon graduating. Unfortunately that is no different in nursing and it appears that some of that may be by design. RN and healthcare activist DeAnn McEwen joins us.
Casey and Shayne welcome a very special guest Dr. Francine Shapiro. Dr. Shapiro discovered one of the most important breakthroughs in the history of psychology, EMDR Therapy, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. Her new book is Getting Past Your Past: Take Control of your Life with Self-Help Techniques from EMDR Therapy. “This groundbreaking therapy has given a life-transforming gift to the world by her rigorous development of a science-validated approach to soothing the suffering of our small and large life traumas,” says Daniel J Siegel, MD. You won’t want to miss Dr. Shapiro. For more information on EMDR and “Getting Past Your Past” you can visit the EMDR Institute’s web site.
And this from our friends at “I’m your Nurse not Your Waitress,” How do you tell the difference between the new graduate nurse and experienced nurses? Read on…
Teachers. Babies. Donna. Lollygag.
Coming up on the show: A salute to teachers, great advice for parents of babies, defining lollygag and other popular sayings plus Donna Smith and Marsha Podd.
Donna Smith, our National Nurses United D.C. correspondent brings us up to speed on all things Washington. Donna also shares a bit of personal news about her own health. Donna Smith is best known as one of the documentary subjects of Michael Moore’s 2007 movie, “SiCKO.” Donna now works as a national single-payer healthcare advocate and community organizer for National Nurses United. Read more about Donna.
And, it’s always a treat to have our friend RN Marsha Podd with us in the studio. A.K.A. the “Baby Whisperer.” When Marsha comes to the studio we all go to sleep. We mean that in a good way, as Marsha has one of the most soothing voices you’ll ever hear. Marsha, is the author of Secrets of a Baby Nurse. The book is getting rave reviews and if you know of anyone that is expecting a child, has babies or toddlers already, has looked at a child or even thought of a child–you need this book!
Being a nurse is hard work! There are the perennial issues of not enough…staffing, time, appreciation. But on the blog this week, Love Your Nursing Life RN author Bobbi McCarthy writes about one of the ways nursing renews the spirit in The Gift in Room 3.
Win FREE TICKETS to RN Alison Whitaker’s play “Vital Signs” at the Marsh Theatre in San Francisco June 8 thru July 21. Read more…
Dancing in the Streets. Tell Us Where it Hurts. Play it Again, Sam.
There was “dancing in the streets” in Chicago at the National Nurses United Staff Nurse Assembly. O.K. So we looked a little silly in our Robin Hood hats. But 3,000 nurses and 2,000 of their closest friends got some attention for the Heal America Campaign .
And…whatever your political persuasion, we invite you to just check out an idea that might not be so crazy. Visit robinhoodtax.org.
And one of the highlights in Chicago…Anna Deavere Smith’s Tell Us Where It Hurts performance.
“Tell Us is one of the most relevant current theatrical pieces and will hopefully be taken on the road across the country…Revealed in the dialog of the show is the courage of nurses in face of a system which places barriers on their ability to heal.”
–Kevin O’Donnell
Member of the American Theater Critics Association; New York Times Company Foundation-sponsored critic fellow
Read the whole review. This show is a must-see for all nurses (administrators and legislators).
While we were away in the beautiful city of Chicago… We asked those left behind to pick a great “rerun” and so…we are playing it again, Sam. We present…RN Greg Montes on mental health services cuts and Hal Isen on making your life a work of art.
Coming Up on Nurse Talk: Dropping Acid. Vital Signs. Robin Hood.
Casey and Shayne check in with RN and playwright RN Alison Whitaker. Some of you may remember Alison was on the show last year introducing her one-woman play called, Vital Signs. It’s a great show and she opens in June at the Marsh Theater in San Francisco. And if you are paying attention you can win two VIP tickets to Vital Signs.
And we talk with one of our favorite guests RN and Co-President of National Nurses United, Jean Ross. Jean will tell us about the upcoming Nurses Assembly in Chicago next week where over 1200 nurses will gather to talk about everything from healthcare to Medicare and beyond. The nurses will also hit the streets of Chicago in a peaceful demonstration to promote a Wall Street Transaction Tax.
And then..for you 60’s hippies…let’s talk about Dropping Acid! That’s right…but of course, not the kind you think. Dr. Jamie Koufman will be with us to talk about acid reflux and what you can do to control or cure it by simply changing your diet. Dr. Koufman has written a book called Dropping Acid, The Reflux Diet Cookbook and Cure. According to the book, acid reflux affects 30-50% of the population. You won’t want to miss this. Read more…
Like Pulling Teeth. Hospital Closures. Organ Donors. Love Letters.
Shayne and Casey have some fun with the story about the dentist who pulled all of her ex-boyfriend’s teeth! At least as much fun as you can have over such a tragic loss. Dumping a girlfriend is never easy but having all 32 teeth pulled out by her is the worst that could happen to anybody. Listen and find out just how this happened. There is a moral to the story too. A fairly obvious one at that.
We also visit with San Leandro Hospital RN Carol Barazi about Sutter Corp’s announcement to close yet another hospital in the Bay Area—this time in San Leandro—which serves the East Bay. Of the 27,000 patients seen in the San Leandro emergency room last year, more than 60 percent came from East Oakland, patients who will now need to drive many miles over crowded freeways for care. Again—closure of a hospital that serves the “underserved.”
Ever wonder whats behind the old face? Angil Tarach-Ritchey RN, and national expert in senior care provides us with an insightful look at the lives of the aging. With over 30 years experience in senior care and advocacy Angil passionately talks about her elder advocacy project and book, Behind The Old Face. Angil is a frequent blogger on the Nurse Talk website and comes to Nurse Talk by way of our friends at Nurse Together.
Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerburg win the Golden Bed Pan Award for starting the majorly successful organ donor project. More than 100,000 new organ donors signed up during the course of a week. Congratulations and great work!