Radical Nurse Talk

This episode of Radical Nurse Talk features Dr. Aric Rankin sharing his nearly 20 years of experience working in Indigenous health care across remote and urban settings. The conversation explores building trust and therapeutic relationships with Indigenous patients through humility, cultural respect, and ongoing learning. Dr. Rankin highlights the influence of place and history on care delivery and stresses the importance of supporting Indigenous self-determination and health equity. This episode offers valuable insights for health professionals seeking to enhance their practice and meaningful connections in Indigenous contexts.

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In this episode, we explore the sensitive and complex topic of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in Canada, a legal medical procedure that can raise profound questions for nurses, health professionals, and the public alike. Our guests, Paul Magennis, RN and Kim Carlson, RN, are experienced registered nurses and educators from British Columbia who bring years of expertise in palliative care and MAiD education. Together, they share their insights on navigating conversations about MAiD within a nurse’s scope of practice, understanding the legal and ethical dimensions, and providing compassionate, evidence-informed support to patients and families. As co-authors of the MAiD in Canada Substack newsletter, Paul and Kim combine factual knowledge with mentorship and empathy, helping to foster open dialogue and professional understanding around one of modern healthcare’s most challenging topics.

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In this episode of Radical Nurse Talk, Patricia Strachan is joined by Jennifer Campagnolo and Mallory Peters to discuss the “Be Prepared Guides”, a practical resource designed to help family caregivers recognize and respond to palliative care emergencies. They share how these tools can reduce unwanted hospital visits, ease suffering, and empower caregivers to provide compassionate support at home. Listeners will hear insights on integrating emergency planning with palliative care and the impact this approach has on patients, families, and the nurses who care for them.

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In this episode, Dr. Connie Schumacher, RN, PhD and Associate Professor at Brock University, explores how nurse-led conversations can support people with chronic illness to manage their health, avoid emergency department visits, and live well at home. Drawing on over 25 years of clinical experience and current research into caregiver burden and chronic disease, Dr. Schumacher offers practical insights into relational nursing, mutual care planning, and why communication is a radical act of care.

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In this thought-provoking episode, Dr. Elise Tarbi invites us to move beyond traditional models of clinical communication and explore the deeper, more human side of nursing. Rather than focusing solely on information delivery, Dr. Tarbi emphasizes the relational and existential aspects of serious illness conversations — the kind of dialogue that helps patients and families feel truly seen and heard.

A board-certified Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner with advanced expertise in hospice and palliative care, Dr. Tarbi is an Assistant Professor of Nursing at the University of Vermont and Associate Director of the Vermont Conversation Lab. Her research centers on improving the quality of communication in serious illness care, with the aim of reshaping healthcare to prioritize connection and meaning.

This episode is a powerful call to embrace high-quality, human-centred conversations in our practice — and to rethink what it really means to care. Prepare to be inspired.

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How do you effectively communicate with people who require prolonged mechanical ventilation and thus cannot vocalize? How can we better connect with people who cannot speak for themselves? What assumptions do we have that need to be challenged? What practical tips and tools could improve and humanize communication and therefore patient safety - for you, the nurse and for patients and their families?

In this episode we hear how curiosity about these questions and others compelled Dr. Laura Istanboulian to explore interventions to support adult patient communication in the intensive care unit during and beyond. She eloquently describes patient, family and nursing perspectives that can deepen our understanding and praxis in important ways.

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For generations, people have been judged, shamed, and blamed for their weight-by families, friends, healthcare practitioners, and society at large. These messages become so deeply internalized that many of us don’t even recognize when we’re turning that judgment inward. Why do so many patients describe themselves as “bad” for what they eat? How did food choices become a moral issue?

In this episode of Radical Nurse Talk, Nurse Practitioner Heather Watson, an expert in obesity medicine, invites us to rethink the language we use about body size, health, and care. Heather explores how terms like “obesity” are often misunderstood and misused, and how negative stereotypes and moral judgments can do real harm, especially for those living with serious illnesses like cancer or organ failure alongside obesity.

Drawing from her clinical experience and her passion for advocacy, Heather challenges listeners to consider: How does our language, intended to care, sometimes cause harm? What would it mean to communicate with patients about weight in ways that are truly supportive, evidence-based, and free from stigma?

Join us as we unpack the complexities of weight, health, and communication, and discover how nurses and healthcare professionals can lead the way in creating more compassionate, equitable care for all.

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Although much of the conversation around health focuses on illness, this episode takes a different path—delving into the complex realities faced by pregnant individuals navigating socioeconomic vulnerabilities. We explore how precarious housing, mental health crises, substance use, past trauma, and intimate partner violence can intersect to put both mother and baby at risk before and after birth.

Our guest, Lindsay Croswell, Nursing Practice Lead for the Nurse-Family Partnership ® (NFP) Program in Ontario, Canada, shares her extensive experience working with first-time parents in challenging circumstances. Lindsay was among the first public health nurses to implement NFP in Canada 17 years ago and has since played a pivotal role in shaping the program nationally and internationally.

Listeners will hear how nurses, through skilled therapeutic communication, provide vital antenatal and postnatal care in the community—building trusting relationships that transform lives and outcomes for vulnerable families. Lindsay discusses the evidence-based NFP model, where the nurse is the intervention, and how this approach supports young, first-time parents to achieve healthier pregnancies, stronger parenting skills, and brighter futures for their children.

Tune in to discover how compassionate, evidence-informed nursing can make a profound difference when pregnancy and parenting are complicated by social and economic adversity.

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Throughout any given shift, regardless of the practice setting, nurses regularly provide care to individuals who are grieving or have experienced various forms of loss. But what about the nurses themselves? How are they coping? Nurses grieve too.

In this episode, Cory Burdock shines a light on the often-overlooked reality of nurses’ grief, acknowledging it as a normal and genuine part of the healthcare profession. For too long, this aspect of practice has been dismissed, suppressed, or even pathologized. Through an open and thoughtful discussion, Cory urges both individuals and organizations to recognize and reframe the grief paradigm, ultimately bringing the experience of nurses’ grief and its impact out of the shadows.

Cory Burdock is a registered nurse with a certification in Hospice Palliative Care Nursing from the Canadian Nurses Association. She is the president-elect of the Canadian Palliative Care Nurses Association and is deeply committed to the need for a wider recognition of nurses’ grief. Following graduate studies in Palliative Care Education and nurses' grief, Cory works as a Clinical Nurse Specialist specializing in Pain and Symptom management in Alberta, Canada. She also focuses on quality improvement, policy development, and program planning for palliative care, while serving as an educator and mentor for advanced practice nurses.

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Birgit Umaigba is a registered nurse and PhD student at Queen's University's School of Nursing. She is also a thought leader, speaker, health equity advocate, nurse educator, and consultant. At the heart of her work is a commitment to integrating an equity-focused perspective into nursing, particularly in addressing the needs of Black, Indigenous, and racialized communities.

Patricia Strachan, host of Radical Nurse Talk, first learned of Birgit’s advocacy through an article in The Canadian Nurse in 2024. The article highlighted Birgit's efforts to push for the collection and publication of race-based data in Canadian healthcare—a critical step toward identifying and addressing systemic racism.

Racism and inequality remain pervasive challenges in Canadian healthcare, affecting patients, families, and nurses alike. In this conversation, Birgit shares her insights on how we can all be part of the solution, advocating for a shift toward a more inclusive society and nursing practice. She explores how our everyday interactions—our language, attitudes, and actions—can foster inclusivity, allowing both healthcare providers and patients to show up authentically. These principles are vital not just in nursing, but in all healthcare conversations, particularly when caring for people facing serious illness.

For more information and to access resources visit: radicalnursetalk.com