Is your life really private as a nurse? In this episode Sara and Amie discuss the boundaries surrounding professional accountability/ professional standards vs private life.  What are the "dos" and "dont's"? We discuss the recent news of 2 Canadian nurses who travelled to Washington during the pandemic to attend an attempted coup to overthrow American Democracy. We don't hold back, well we never really do anyways. 

In this powerful episode, Amie and Sara team up with Dr. Vivian Stamatopoulos, a Professor, Essential Family Caregiver Researcher/Advocate and Long Term Care (LTC) Advocate. We discuss the crisis in LTC, outbreaks, essential care givers, the need for greater oversight and accountability from the provincial government and tangible actions that can be taken to raise awareness and advocate for patient voice. The gloves come off in this episode. Passion, love and GRIT!

The Gritty Nurses chat with Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, which represents over 200,000 nurses.

We discuss ongoing PPE shortages, the 40,000 or 20% of workers affected, and the government, municipal and hospital response. What did we learn from the first wave and apply to the second wave? Linda talks about the precautionary principle, using social media responsibly to advocate for our rights, and the strength of numbers for nurses - 20 million strong.

We end on the importance of mental health and incidence of violence against nurses, and to ask for help.

Resources: Wellness Together Canada

Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions

In this lighthearted episode, Sara and Amie discuss their experiences of attending holiday parties as nurses. The booze, the bods, the DJing? Grab your cup of hot cocoa and your favourite holiday Snuggie and have a listen. 

The Gritty Nurse are joined again by nurse Matthew, who describes a situation during his time as a nursing student where he experienced incivility between two nurses on the unit. He decides to take a stand, and exercise his responsibility to advocate for what is right.

Ultimately, incivility and bullying can harm patients! These situations are far more common than they should be, and we have to break the cycle. Nurses need to feed their young!

The tables are turned this week as the Gritty Nurses are interviewed by Sarah McVanel, recognition expert, professional speaker, and CEO of Greatness Magnified.

They give a recap of 2020, the Covid19 pandemic, occupational risks, PPE shortages, wage freezes, and what you can do to advocate for nurses by lobbying your local politicians, short and long term nursing shortages. What does nursing burnout look like to a patient?

Nurses have had a challenging year and aren't feeling like healthcare heroes. However, the Gritty Nurses discuss the great things about nursing, why you should use your voice, and our advice to nurses! 

Learn more about Sarah McVanel at www.greatnessmagnified.com! 

The healthcare industry has a problem with addressing discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Over 80% of women in medicine have experienced some form of harassment working in healthcare by their colleagues. We are here to call it out. 

In this episode, Amie and Sara have a roundtable discussion with Dr. Holly Atkinson, Dr. Stella Safo and Dr. Natasha Anu Anandaraja, 3 of 8 plaintiffs suing Mount Sinai Health System in New York. 

We discuss their lawsuit, the pervasiveness of misogynistic culture in medicine & healthcare, gender discrimination and inequity as well as useful tips on how to deal with harassment in the workplace. We can no longer stay silent. Our time to speak out is now. 

Learn more about the Equity Now Movement: https://www.equitynowatmountsinai.com

In honour of Movember, we talk about men's health in this episode! We get into the nitty gritty on prostate exams, testicular cancer, mental health, emotional literacy, and stereotypical ways men deal with their health. 

We cover current issues, myths, and small steps you can take to improve men's health, either for yourself or an important man in your life.

In this episode, we talk about grossest nursing work stories as told by fellow nurses! We share experiences in the following categories: Poop, poop and more poop, wounds galore, oral secretions, childbirth fluids, crotch goblins, lost body parts, random things up the butt, patients drinking their own fluids.

We discuss possible reasons why these crazy situations can occur, and what you can do if this happens to you! You can't make this $h!t up. 

The Gritty Nurses are born and bred Canadians! In this episode, we talk about what it's like living in a country with universal healthcare. We talk about what it is, what it isn't, pros and cons. The Gritty Nurses both share stories of Canadian relatives who have had experience with the US healthcare system.