See You Now Podcast

A key component of sound mental health that may help protect against depression and anxiety is resilience, and knowing that you’re connected to a greater purpose—to a story larger than your own—is key to building it. For Native and indigenous peoples, the stories of origin, history, and identity are central in building resilience and experiencing optimal health. In this episode, we meet indigenous nurse researcher John Lowe, RN, PhD, FAAN, and discover how he is addressing the long-standing structural impediments that have kept American Indian, Alaska Native and indigenous youth from connecting to their cultural heritage, native identity, and to a history that he describes as a source of great strength. John established the first Center for Indigenous Nurse Research For Health Equity where he is innovating on ancestral wisdom and tradition—through practices like the Virtual Talking Circle—to enable indigenous youth to move away from harmful behaviors and move toward lives and coping mechanisms that are both positive and strength-based.

Fathers play a unique role in their children’s lives and development, and plenty of research backs up the importance of a father's presence. But when it comes to preparing for parenthood, the focus is heavily skewed to preparing mothers for motherhood. So how are fathers getting the support and training they need to be successful -- especially in this age of pandemic parenting? And how does this all come together with the additional challenge of being a father who isn’t living with their children? It's not easy. In this episode, we learn how nurse scientist and researcher Wrenetha Julion, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, CNL, is innovating to build and bolster the involvement of African American fathers who live apart from their children through the Building Bridges to Fatherhood Program and through an exciting new Father Inclusive Prenatal Care program.

Episode Resources

· https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEhbCD-AC00

· http://www.chicagoparentprogram.org

The CDC reports that Black mothers die at three to four times the rate of White mothers and that the mortality rate of Black infants is higher than that of any other ethnic group in the U.S. Regardless of income and education level, childbirth for Black women is more dangerous than it is for White women. Even tennis legend Serena Williams had a dangerously close call during her pregnancy. In examining why these disparities are so stark, it is clear that structural and systemic racism, racialized health inequities, and implicit bias not only play a role but also signify areas within our society that desperately need improvement. In this episode, we hear from three healthcare innovators who personally and professionally—as Black women and advisors to the Black Mamas Matter Alliance—work tirelessly to advance policy grounded in human rights and reproductive justice to improve Black maternal health and lives. Tune in to hear Jennie Joseph, LM, CPM, RM, Founder and Executive Director of Commonsense Childbirth and Founder of the National Perinatal Task Force; Joia Crear-Perry, MD, Founder and President of the National Birth Equity Collaborative; and Monica McLemore, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, Tenured Associate Professor at the University of California, San Francisco and member of the Bixby Center of Global Reproductive Health, share their wisdom, outrage, approach, and perspectives on the causes and solutions to Black maternal health disparities in the United States.

Episode Resources

· https://blackmamasmatter.org/

· https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2019/p0905-racial-ethnic-disparities-pregnancy-deaths.html

· https://19thnews.org/2020/08/democrats-focus-new-legislation-on-the-pandemics-effect-on-maternal-mortality/

· https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2020/04/14/483114/community-based-doulas-midwives/

· https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2019/05/02/469186/eliminating-racial-disparities-maternal-infant-mortality/

· https://www.today.com/video/-this-is-not-a-new-crisis-how-jennie-joseph-is-working-to-change-maternal-mortality-rates-1488326723774

· https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/covid-19-is-no-reason-to-abandon-pregnant-people/

During a public health crisis, such as COVID-19, we are acutely aware of the connections between social justice, public health and innovation—especially in communities with vast disparities, such as those in Alaska where Tim Struna, MPH, RN, practices. To explore how public health nurses are innovating to respond to the unique challenges of the ongoing pandemic, we talk to Tim, Chief of Public Health Nursing in the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. He is focused on increasing access to health services for residents in rural areas, particularly during COVID-19, by innovating and coordinating health practices at a community level.

When we first aired the episode “Pause For a Moment” back in February of 2020, the world was in a different place, but we were already speaking to the experiences of nurses who, when faced with death, needed to take time to reflect and process each loss and hold time to grieve. Emergency nurse and palliative care liaison, Jonathan Bartels, RN, understands the toll that witnessing a death can have on healthcare worker resiliency. Bartels designed The Pause, a meaningful and effective practice that health systems are rapidly adopting to address the alarming rate of clinician burnout and mental stress. COVID-19 changed the death and dying experience in hospitals and forced nurses to not only innovate the end-of-life experience, but also to shoulder so much more of it.

Additional Resources:

• In Case of Emergency Film

• Pause App

• Learn more about Pause from the AACN Journal - https://aacnjournals.org/ccnonline/article-abstract/34/1/74/3295/The-Pause?redirectedFrom=fulltext