See You Now Podcast

In this Moment of Awareness, Nurse Practitioner and researcher Timiya Nolan, PhD, APRN-CNP, ANP-BC describes her research as a “work of love” to young Black women, how representation allows research to move from academia to practice, and the power clinicians have in addressing disparities in care through partnership and collaboration with communities.

Around the country, makerspaces are popping up in collaborative hot spots like universities and community centers, making innovation and invention more accessible. It’s part of a growing, broader maker culture, which brings a DIY, democratized attitude to disciplines like engineering, coding, robotics, hardware development and more. And it’s a perfect environment to foster nurse-led innovation and direct it toward actionable solutions for the health workforce crisis.

Anna Young, the co-founder and CEO of MakerHealth, is bringing makerspaces into hospitals and putting technology and fabrication capabilities directly in the hands of frontline teams, such as those at UnityPoint Health Cedar Rapids, led by Nursing Research & Innovation Coordinator Rose Hedges, DNP, RN. In this episode, Anna and Rose share how makerspaces create the conditions that champion and recognize nurses as designers, device manufacturers, and app developers, and bring a sense of empowerment and autonomy to nurses.

In this episode, we hear the musings of nurses Leslie Oleck, president of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA), Linda Groah, the CEO/Executive Director of the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN), and April Kapu, president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) about the unique value their specialties bring to the healthcare system as a whole.

Samantha Roecker, RN has a “track record” (pun intended) of breaking many barriers and stereotypes and her success in competitive running combined with her experience as a nurse drove her to combine her passions to raise awareness and drive change for nurses. In this episode, we talk with Samantha about the impact stigma has on nurses’ ability to reach their full potential, what really defines a nurse, the power of mental health support, and the surprising overlap between nursing and competitive running.

In this episode, we learn how a health system’s leadership demonstrates their commitment to the wellbeing and flourishing of their team members; the rather unlikely story of nurses, singing, and stardom; and the surprising healing power of the arts. Special thanks to nurse and tenor singer Winnie Mele, RN, BSN, NE-BC, nurse and soprano singer Keshia Jaboin, RN, BSN , and Allison Lowenfeld from Northwell Health’s corporate marketing team for sharing their story, experience, and voices.

To celebrate Women’s History Month, we’re returning to an earlier episode to elevate the trailblazers of TODAY and ask what the preferred experience of health and design of health systems looks like when we center on the experiences and expertise of the women in nursing who lead the way.

We checked in with school nurse Liz Pray, MSN-Ed, RN, NCSN in Washington State to learn about the role of a school nurse during a pandemic, how she is experiencing this moment, learning from and gaining strength from the support of her national school nursing community, and why school nurses are more important and essential than ever.

Hackathons provide a fast-paced, high energy, community-building opportunity for a wide spectrum of participants to flex their innovation muscles and solve for some of today’s greatest challenges. While these events have traditionally been geared towards computer scientists and software developers, in recent years nurses, clinicians, and health innovators have started to convene health-challenge inspired events. Today the health hackathon landscape is exciting, rapidly evolving, and nurses are playing a lead role in driving them. In this episode, we learn from health influencers, hackers, and innovators Jane Sarashon-Kahn, MA, MHSA; Chris Recinos, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, NEA-BC; Anthony Scarpone-Lambert, BSN ‘21; and Jennifferre Mancillas, BSN, RN, RNC-NIC about how hackathons have impacted their thinking, skills, lives, career trajectory, as well as the landscape of innovative health solutions and products. And -- why you should register your interest at NurseHack4Health.org.

People newly diagnosed and living with chronic conditions increasingly turn to technology, the internet and social media seeking information and education, to share clinical information and the latest research, to receive and provide support, and to share solutions and resources. In the spirit of “meeting people where they are,” clinicians are following and joining patients in these social spaces, learning a lot -- and together -- are improving health.