The nursingthefuture's Podcast

Episode 10: Emergency Medical Transport (EMT)

Episode #10: Emergency Medical Transport (EMT)

Flight nurses work with a multitude of trained health-care professionals, including other emergency allied professionals, paramedics and physicians, to ensure patients are well-cared for during emergency transit and that they reach their end destinations safely. 

More about our guest Thomas Froh, BScN, RN

Thomas has been a nurse for 13 years to date. He started his career with a brief stinti in oncology, moving to the Emergency Department (ED) after about 6 months post-graduation. Drawn to urgent care practice, Thomas trained in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nursing practice in 2011 and worked in both Coronary Care Unit (CCU) and ICU settings. He began his flight nursing journey with STARS Air Ambulance in 2012 and currently works a .75 FTE , filling the rest of his hours up working in the ED setting. As a flight nurse Thomas works to stabilize, transport and manage critically ill and trauma patients.

Reference:

STARS air ambulance:  https://stars.ca/

Episode 9: Indigenous Women in Canada Accessing Services for Substance Use

Adigo Angela Achoba-Omajali, (she/her) originates from the Ibaji tribe in Kogi state of central Nigeria, situating her as a Black Nigerian-Canadian Nurse practicing in BC. Angela earned her BScN and MN degrees from Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in Kamloops, BC where her graduate work focused on what we know about the experinece of Indigenous women accessing the Canadian healthcare system for issues related to substance use and mental health.  Angela has been working as a Registered Nurse for about 10 years, the past 5 years  as part of the Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) program. This unique grassroots program provide services to clients living with complex mental illnesses and substance use disorders. Most recently, Angela has been temporarily seconded to a position as Steward-at-Large with the British Columbia Nurses Union (BCNU). Angela’s passion continues to be at the point of engaging in research that addresses Anti-Black and Indigenous-specific racism in the healthcare system. Her lifelong committment to allyship positions her as uniquely qualified to advocate for anti-racism in BCand take action against Indigenous-specific racism and discrimination on multiple levels within the health care system.

 

Episode 8: PTSD Support for Nurses

A nurse seeking help when experiencing PTSD should not be viewed as personally weak, nor should expressing the challenges of stress be seen as dangerous to one's career.

Cecilia Yeung: “IT’S OK NOT TO BE OK”

Guest Cecilia Yeung, RN, has been a critical care nurse for over 10 years and currently works at Vancouver General Hospital in the Intensive Care Unit (VGH ICU). As a VGH ICU nurse, Cecilia looks after patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), those undergoing continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) or individuals with brain injuries who require intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring, as well as post-transplant and post-trauma patients and their families. This high pressure care is standard in the ICU population. Cecilia is also the founder of PTSD Support for Nurses. The objective is to promote self-care that can protect nurses from psychological injury incurred in the course of ‘doing their work’, which then can lead to stress, burnout, exhaustion, or post-traumatic stress. This program provides a judgment-free safe space for healthcare workers to de-stress and nourish their resilience. One of the initiatives is to provide frontline healthcare workers with someone to talk to when they have experienced something traumatic, as well as personalized self-care packages delivered to their door. Nurses can request these personalized self-care kits so if this interests you please reach out to ptsdhelpfornurses@gmail.com. Cecilia was recently recognized as a Business in Vancouver Forty Under 40 for her work with nurses; this recognition notes entrepreneurs under 40 who have demonstrated excellence in business, judgment, leadership and community contribution.

Episode 7: Boots on the Ground_Critical Care During COVID

The World Health Organization (WHO) designated the year 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. During this time, the emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) became a global event for which nurses had limited time to prepare before receiving an influx of high-acuity patients experiencing respiratory instability and other co-morbidities. Nurses, both novice and expert, truly displayed their power to advocate for their patients and demonstrated their profound sense of teamwork. It is fortunate that nurses, such as our guest Kim Scherr, is willing to share their individual reality of COVID-19 in a critical care setting.

More about Kim Scherr, NP, Critical Care and Rapid Response Team Member

“I have worked in critical care for most of my career, and have been a nurse practitioner for the past 24 years. My areas of interest have been critical care/rapid response teams, cardiovascular nursing and advanced practice nursing, and I have presented in those fields at many conferences and published several papers as well. I have worked in the Misericordia Hospital ICU for the past 12 years where I contribute to a collaborative interdisciplinary team providing care for critically ill patients. I am the Team Lead for the institutional Rapid Response Team. This team responds to calls from unit staff with the intent to initiate early interventions that prevent further illness and deterioration which could ultimately lead to cardiorespiratory collapse and the need for ICU admission. I am also a champion for the prevention and treatment of ICU delirium, and have been a member of national and provincial collaboratives whose goals are to improve long term cognitive outcomes for ICU patients. Currently I am working in collaboration with Dr. Elizabeth Papathanassglou from the Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta to conduct research on the use of integrative therapies (music, therapeutic touch, guided imagery, massage) in the prevention of ICU delirium.”  ~ Kim Scherr

Be proud to be a HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL.

Episode 6: New Graduate Resilience

Resilience is defined as the ability to overcome adversity and grow stronger from an overwhelming experience. In the context of the nursing profession, increased resiliency has been shown to positively impact nurses in practice. With this knowledge, recommendations to incorporate resilience training into nursing education have been made.

Satvir  Kaur, BScN, RN, MN is an internationally educated nurse from India who came to Canada in 2017 to complete her graduate nursing studies at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC. As a part of her graduate program, Satvir completed a scoping review on resilience in newly graduated nurses transitioning into the workplace. It is hoped that her findings from the review will support the development of workplace programs that facilitate successful transition of newly graduated nurses into the workplace. In this podcast, Satvir shares how at an individual level, promoting resilience has the potential to produce better patient outcomes.

 

Episode 1: The Daunting First Year

Ben Aubrey, RN and recent graduate discusses elements of his individualized first year of professional practice. He graduated April of 2019 and is working full-time for a travel nursing company called International SOS doing screening and testing for COVID-19 on a film set. He remains casual on a medical ward at Royal Inland Hospital, in Kamloops, B.C., and is planning to move into a casual role at Vancouver General Hospital. 

Episode 5: Nurse Tilda

This podcast is hosted by Madison Cook, RN, BScN and features Tilda Shalof RN, BScN, CNCC (C), who discusses a VISION for grassroots nursing. Tilda has been nursing for 38 years after graduating from the University of Toronto in 1983. For 28 years, Tilda worked as a critical care nurse in the Medical-Surgical Intensive Care Unit at the Toronto General Hospital. 

 

In 2004, during the SARS pandemic, Tilda published her first book, A Nurse’s Story, Life, Death, and In-Between in an Intensive Care Unit. Over subsequent years, five more books followed. Currently, Tilda works in various settings with the University Health Network (a public research and teaching hospital network, currently the largest health research organization in North America) and in primary care within the community setting. In a consulting role, Tilda has had the opportunity to visit universities and colleges all across Canada and the Unites States to speak with nursing and medical students, the media, and the public at large. She believes it is important that they understand what nursing is all about. Most currently, Tilda consults as an NCLEX Instructor at Hurst Review helping students and new graduate nurses prepare to successfully write the NCLEX.

 

Episode 4: Internationally Educated Nurses

The shortage of healthcare professionals is an important issue both provincially and nationally.

However, growing concerns have arisen over the numerous internationally educated health professionals who are voicing their struggles to become either re-certified or are unable to practice their profession due to delays in registration.

This podcast is hosted by Madison Cook, RN, BScN and features Edward Cruz, RN, CCNE, BN, MScN, PhD who discusses the current challenges, solutions, and opportunities faced IENs transitioning to practice in Canada. Edward has been a Registered Nurse in Ontario since 2006. He is currently employed at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada as an Assistant Professor with the Faculty of Nursing, teaching in both the Undergraduate and Graduate programs.

 

Earlier in his career, Edward Cruz worked as a float pool nurse (nursing resource team) at a community hospital in Ontario and at a shelter for homeless men. Subsequently, in 2008, he found part-time work as a clinical instructor at a community college in Toronto and soon thereafter, was able to secure a full-time teaching position. Later, he became a coordinator of bridging programs for IENs where his passion on this topic emerged. Edward’s other interests are nursing education, interprofessional collaboration, as well as refugee and immigrant health. Most of his projects have centered around IENs, including his master’s thesis. Edward has also authored and co-authored articles focused on IENs. In Ontario, the largest project he engaged in was a collaborative project led by Pat Marten-Daniel of George Brown College, where five other bridging program providers contributed. This was funded by Ontario’s Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration for 3 years spanning from 2014 to 2017.

Episode 3: Stages of Transition

Dr. Judy Duchscher discusses the 3 stages of professional role transition for the newly graduated nurse.

Episode 2: Transition Shock

In this Episode, Madison Cook interviews Dr. Judy Duchscher, originator of the concept of 'Transition Shock' for new nursing graduates.