See You Now Podcast

Homelessness across the U.S. is on the rise. The National Alliance to End Homelessness reports the number of unsheltered and chronically homeless individuals and families has climbed ~6% annually since 2017, and an estimated 582,462 people experienced homelessness across America in 2022. Advocacy groups and researchers say a big driving force is the decline of affordable housing, a problem decades in the making but one that has grown significantly worse in the past few years. And when people lose their homes, housing and shelter, their lives, health, and safety become far more complex and at risk.

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 and identities.

In recognition of the vital link between health and voting and a reminder to verify your voter registration and help others to do the same, we’re having another listen to an earlier episode with public health nurse and Delaware Lt Governor Bethany Hall-Long, where we discover how clinical practice, nursing expertise and research, and voting are critical drivers of influencing, passing, and enacting legislation to keep citizens, our environment, and our economy healthy.

A common stereotype of aging is an era of decline and shrinking horizons. The reality is far more nuanced. The process of aging isn’t uniform and many will find their health and functional trajectories widening as they get older. In fact some, like President Joe Biden or pioneering nurse-midwife Ruth Lubic, won’t make their greatest contributions until their later years. A key to healthy aging is maintaining or improving your health, which for our oldest adults, largely falls outside of healthcare facilities. For many, health allows us to feel safe wherever we are.

In celebration of International Women’s Day, and Women’s History Month, enjoy this episode, where we meet nurse innovators Ravenne Aponte, BA, BSN and Joanna Seltzer Uribe, RN, MSN, EdD (c) and their quest to introduce you to, in fun and sticky ways, NursesYouShouldKnow – and more importantly – WHY we should know them.

Despite decades of growing interest in improving Black men’s health and the health disparities affecting them, the health of Black men consistently ranks lowest across nearly all groups in the United States. As part of a Stories from Heart of Health event held in New York City in the middle of the U.N. General Assembly, Julius Johnson, DNP, RN, FNP-BC, a Nurse Practitioner, educator, and football coach, shared his stories and approaches supporting Black men’s health.

In this episode, Lauran Hardin, MSN, CNL, FNAP, FAAN, Senior Advisor at National Healthcare & Housing Advisors and Illumination Foundation shares the stories, proven solutions, and care models that are meaningfully improving the health and lives of our most complex community members.

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 lively panel discussion at the Aspen Ideas: Health conference, led by physician and former NYC Health commissioner Dave Chokshi, MD, seasoned clinicians Sandra Lindsay, RN, MBA, Adrian Billings, MD and Siobhan Wescott, MD MPH speak candidly about the exhaustion, debt, and moral injury plaguing the healthcare workforce; the political, financial, and workforce solutions they advocate for; and in spite of—or because of—the numerous system-level challenges, why working in healthcare remains a rewarding and promising career choice.