Listen while I talk to Naomi Hammond and Brett Abbenbroek both Critical Care nurses who work at the George Institute in Sydney, Australia. This podcast was recorded to mark World Sepsis Day 2020. You can find more information on the Australian Sepsis Network at https://www.australiansepsisnetwork.net.au/and on Twitter @sepsisAU

Listen while I talk to Andrew Jull. Professor Andrew Jull is a registered nurse and clinical epidemiologist at the University of Auckland’s School of Nursing as well as Senior Research Fellow at the National Institute for Health Innovation.  Follow him on Twitter @1CommonReader

Listen while I talk to Adele Ferguson a Nurse Educator in both Intensive care and the Emergency department at Whakatane Hospital, a small rural community in the Eastern Bay of Plenty here in New Zealand. Twitter: @adeleeducator

Listen while I talk to Christina Whitehead a Research Clinical Nurse Consultant from Nepean Hospital ICU. She is also a PhD candidate exploring the integration of genomics into mainstream nursing clinical practice. Twitter: @GenomicsNurse

In this episode we talk about the realities of caring for COVID-19 patients in her ICU; how it really sucks; how she and her team are looking out for each other in these challenging times and how she hopes that some positive change will come out of this. Simone is a Kiwi ICU nurse at Mt Sinai Hospital New York. Simone wrote “An ICU Nurse’s Coronavirus Diary” published in the New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-icu-nurse.htmlan insightful and through provoking piece. Follow her on Twitter @kiwi_yankee

In this episode we talk about assessing the state of play in the ICU; what we think Florence Nightingale might be proud of; empathy; how nurses are bloody minded and make a difference to patients and outcomes; putting yourself in the patients or families shoes; advice we would give to new ICU nurses, registrars or consultants; how healthy debate can lead to innovation and whether or not we would do it all again!

This is episode #13 recorded in January 2020 and today I bring you something different!

I invited four of my best friends to sit down and have a chat. Between us as you will hear we have over 140 years of ICU experience… we think! We have all worked together and 20 or so years ago became the Westie Book club.

I wasn’t sure how chaotic this was going to be but knew that with the experience of these amazing nurses there would be a few gems! So, on a hot summer’s day we sat down and over a couple of glasses of sangria and some delicious snacks we talked about the support and collegiality of ICU; the importance of empathy; the team environment in ICU and how polarising it can be; the importance of acknowledging how tough ICU work is; our passion for nursing and the importance of remembering what it is like to be new to ICU. Now this podcast actually was recorded over two hours – we couldn’t stop talking!! – so rather than you have to sit through two hours in one go, I have split this into two episodes. So you’ll have to come back next time to listen to the next half!

In this episode, Ann and I talk about how her various roles in the paediatric intensive care; her volunteer missions to Fiji undertaking paediatric cardiac surgery; the PICU bereavement service; the importance of making death as bearable as possible for families; how to care not only for families and children at the end of life but also for our colleagues and the importance of gratitude and quiet.

In this episode, Julia and I talk about how she was born to be a nurse; her career trajectory so far; the importance of learning and growing along the way and seeking out opportunities; fundamentals of nursing care; the importance of building networks and collaborations and how an academic career is tough and demanding but worth it both for ourselves and our patients.

In this episode, Nic and I talk about her journey from new graduate in the ICU to nurse unit manager. Of the importance of putting the child and family first – and how this can be applied in an adult ICU; strategies for maintaining open communication when your staff is so large and diverse; succession planning; the role of and challenges faced by the nurse unit manager; differences between managing and leading; and why you must be prepared to stand up and fight for your staff.