Sedate the Stress

Every emergency department metric represents a person.

In this episode of Sedate the Stress, Adrianna Munoz sits down with Dr. M. Dustin Bass, DNP MHA RN CEN NEA-BC, healthcare executive, speaker, author, Yale-trained Doctor of Nursing Practice, and 2026 President of the Emergency Nurses Association.

In this episode, they discuss:

• What ER registration teaches us about the patient experience

• Why leaders do not need to have every answer

• How to keep patients and clinicians visible behind operational metrics

• Why culture and relationships matter as much as protocols

• How to build feedback loops that strengthen psychological safety

• Why asking for feedback and doing nothing with it destroys trust

• Why workplace violence is never “part of the job”

• The Emergency Nurses Association’s work in advocacy, education, research, and community

• Why belonging and “the power of us” matter in emergency nursing

Dr. Bass reminds us that technology, AI, and healthcare systems will continue to change, but compassion, trust, teamwork, and human connection will always be the foundation of exceptional care.

Connect with Dustin on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Keep up with ENA.

Connect with Adrianna on ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠, or if you're interested in her speaking or coaching you can contact her ⁠⁠here⁠⁠.

What happens when you thank a nurse?

Sometimes, it does more than brighten one person’s day. It reminds a nurse that their care mattered, gives a patient or family member a meaningful way to express gratitude, and creates a ripple effect that can strengthen a team, a hospital, and an entire profession.

In this episode of Sedate the Stress, Adrianna Muñoz sits down with Bonnie Barnes, Co-Founder of The DAISY Foundation, to explore the butterfly effect of meaningful recognition in nursing.

Bonnie and her husband, Mark, co-founded The DAISY Foundation in memory of her stepson, Patrick, after the extraordinary nursing care he received during his eight-week hospitalization. What began as a grieving family’s effort to say thank you to a few nurses has grown into an international movement recognizing nurses across the globe.

In this episode, they explore:

• The personal story behind The DAISY Foundation

• Why meaningful recognition matters to nurses, patients, and families

• The ripple effect created when someone takes the time to say thank you

• Why specificity makes recognition more powerful than a generic “good job”

• How nurse leaders can build cultures of intentional, authentic gratitude

• Why accepting gratitude honors the person who wants to give it

• How The DAISY Foundation recognizes nurses, teams, leaders, educators, and researchers around the world

• The importance of compassionate leadership, listening, and remembering the humanity behind the work

This conversation is a warm reminder that extraordinary nursing care often happens in moments that never appear on a dashboard or flowsheet: explaining what is happening, offering dignity, walking alongside someone in fear, or simply helping a patient and family feel less alone.

Resources Mentioned

The DAISY Foundation

https://www.daisyfoundation.org/Book

Shining the Light on All the Right: Celebrating the Art of Nursing Around the World

https://www.daisyfoundation.org/book

The DAISY Foundation Social Media

Facebook

Instagram

LinkedIn

YouTube

Follow Bonnie Barnes on LinkedIn.

Connect with Adrianna on LinkedIn, contact her here.

What does the future of healthcare look like for the people doing the work?

In this episode of Sedate the Stress, Adrianna Muñoz sits down with Beth Kutscher, Principal Content Manager for LinkedIn Learning and longtime healthcare journalist, to unpack the industry shifts shaping clinician careers, workplace culture, continuing education, and the patient experience (can I get a 'woot woot' for the engaging piece?!).

Beth shares her 30,000-foot view of healthcare, drawing from years covering hospital finance, digital health, workforce trends, and the changing realities of clinical work.

In this episode, they discuss:

• How healthcare finance and business decisions affect clinicians and patients

• Why pizza parties will not solve moral injury, trauma, or chronic understaffing

• How clinicians can build influence and share their voices on LinkedIn

• The difference between vulnerability and oversharing online

• What makes a healthcare story resonate beyond one specialty or hospital

• How LinkedIn Learning is creating more engaging continuing-education opportunities for clinicians

• Why nurses deserve better than click-through education

Beth’s message is clear: clinicians have more influence than they may realize. Their stories, expertise, and lived experience can help shape stronger careers, more responsive organizations, and a more human healthcare system.

Keep up with Beth on LinkedIn.

Connect with Adrianna on ⁠LinkedIn⁠, or you can contact her ⁠here⁠.

Grit and resilience are not the same thing, and knowing the difference can change how we build sustainable careers in healthcare.

In this episode of Sedate the Stress, Adrianna Muñoz sits down with Maj Jacki Roland, RN, MSN, CEN, TCRN, CPEN, emergency and trauma nurse, clinical educator, military officer, speaker, and president of the Colorado Emergency Nurses Association.

Jacki shares her unexpected journey into emergency nursing, her experience moving between civilian trauma care and military trauma training, and the leadership lessons she has learned along the way. Together, Adrianna and Jacki explore why trauma nursing is simple, but never easy, and why the strongest teams depend on more than clinical skill alone.

In this episode, they explore:

• The difference between grit and resilience

• Why strong trauma teams need clear roles, communication, and trust

• What civilian healthcare and military trauma care can learn from each other

• How mentorship and one encouraging conversation can change a career

• Why professional community matters for emergency nurses

• How to recognize when it is time to step back, reset, and protect your energy

• Jacki’s reminder that nursing begins with seeing the humanity in every patient

Whether you are new to emergency nursing, a seasoned clinician, or a healthcare leader looking for a more sustainable way forward, this episode is a reminder that you do not have to do everything, and you do not have to do it alone.

Connect with Jacki and follow Colorado ENA

Jacki's Facebook

Jacki's Instagram

Colorado ENA's Website

Connect with Adrianna on ⁠LinkedIn⁠, or if you'd like to contact her you can do that here⁠.

Emergency medicine is a team sport.

In this episode of Sedate the Stress, Adrianna Muñoz sits down with Dr. Nicolette Castañeda, a board-certified community emergency medicine physician in the Denver metro area, to talk about what it takes to care for patients and lead a team in one of healthcare’s most unpredictable environments.

Dr. Castañeda shares her journey from being the first physician in her family to becoming an emergency medicine attending and resident instructor. Together, Adrianna and Nicolette explore the human side of emergency medicine: building trust quickly with patients, leading with calm when the department is busy, communicating across disciplines, and finding meaning when you may not be able to give someone a clear diagnosis or immediate answer.

In this episode, they discuss:

• How ER physicians build trust during some of the hardest moments in a patient’s life
• Why a plan and clear communication matter, even when there is no easy diagnosis
• What nurses and physicians need from one another to work safely and effectively
• How Dr. Castañeda approaches leadership as a woman in medicine
• Why young women in healthcare do not need to change who they are to lead well
• The importance of mentorship, authentic leadership, and teaching the human side of medicine
• Her guiding philosophy: take care of the patient, then take care of each other
• How she decompresses after a difficult shift with movement, walks, and time with her dogs

For anyone working in healthcare, this conversation is a reminder that clinical excellence and human connection are not separate skills. The strongest teams communicate, support one another, and make space for people to bring forward concerns before they become bigger problems.

Connect with Adrianna on LinkedIn, or if you'd like to contact her, you can do that here.

Healthcare staffing is not just a numbers problem. Behind every open shift, staffing metric, overtime report, and labor budget is a clinician trying to provide safe care and a patient who needs them.

In this episode of Sedate the Stress, Adrianna Munoz sits down with Aaron Littles, former Marine Corps logistics officer, former JPMorgan executive, healthcare staffing entrepreneur, and founder of Streamlined Group and Day One Staffing.

Aaron shares how his experiences in the military, banking, and healthcare staffing shaped his approach to leadership, accountability, and solving complex workforce problems. Together, Adrianna and Aaron unpack why the staffing crisis is about far more than a shortage of clinicians. It is also about culture, leadership, safety, education pipelines, childcare, flexibility, communication, and whether healthcare workers feel valued enough to stay.

In this episode, they explore:

• Why staffing shortages are often indicative of bigger problems
• What healthcare leaders can learn from the Marine Corps about accountability
• How to make decisions when you do not have perfect information
• Why clinicians need to feel seen as people, not labor costs
• The role of childcare, scheduling flexibility, and workplace culture in retention
• Where technology and AI can streamline staffing without replacing human connection
• How nurses can advocate for safer conditions and resources
• Why partnership across healthcare organizations could improve staffing and patient care

Aaron’s message is simple: people stay where they feel supported, respected, and connected to a mission. Better staffing starts with better leadership.

Connect with Aaron on LinkedIn

Connect with Adrianna Munoz

LinkedIn

Instagram

Ogden Peak Website

In this episode of Sedate the Stress, Adrianna Munoz sits down with health psychologist, speaker, consultant, and former healthcare executive Dr. Nicole Eull, PsyD, to explore what it takes to thrive in healthcare without pretending that everything is fine.

With more than 25 years of experience across trauma centers, rehabilitation, academic medicine, clinician wellbeing, and executive leadership, Dr. Eull shares practical ways healthcare professionals can respond more thoughtfully under pressure, navigate conflict with greater empathy, and create psychologically safer teams.

Together, Adrianna and Nicole discuss

• Why toxic positivity can get in the way of real support
• A reframe for anger
• How leaders can use small “moments of mastery” to pause before reacting and choose a more effective response

If you are a healthcare leader, clinician, or team member trying to build more trust, connection, and courage at work, this conversation is for you.

In this episode:

• Why “this really does suck” can be more supportive than rushing to reassure someone
• How to recognize the fear underneath anger and conflict
• What psychological safety actually requires from everyone on a team
• How improv can strengthen communication, creativity, and collaboration
• Why “yes, and” creates better conversations than “yes, but”
• A simple practice for building culture: say the good thing out loud

Dr. Nicole Eull reminds us that healthcare needs more than people who can endure hard environments. It needs people who can help create better ones.

Connect with Dr. Nicole EullFollow Dr. Nicole Eull on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook. Grab a copy of her book.

Connect with Adrianna on LinkedIn or contact her here.

Leading in healthcare can make even highly capable people question themselves.

In this episode of Sedate the Stress, former Chief Nursing Officer and healthcare executive coach Michelle DeStefano, RN,MPA,NEA-BC, joins Adrianna Muñoz, MSN, RN, CNL, to share practical lessons for nurse leaders and healthcare professionals who want to quiet self-doubt, lead with confidence, and build teams where people can thrive.

Michelle reflects on her journey from bedside nursing to executive leadership and explains why leadership confidence is not about having all the answers. Together, Adrianna and Michelle explore:

• Leading through conflict
• Imposter syndrome

• How healthcare leaders can create cultures built on trust, accountability, and connection

This episode is for charge nurses, nurse managers, directors, physician leaders, executives, and emerging healthcare leaders who want to move from reacting under pressure to leading with greater clarity, courage, and intention.

Sedate the Stress is a healthcare leadership podcast by healthcare leaders, for healthcare leaders. Hosted by Adrianna Muñoz, MSN, RN, CNL, the show offers practical conversations on workplace communication, conflict resolution, psychological safety, team culture, burnout, and stress relief in healthcare.

Follow Michelle on LinkedIn and check out her book:

• Book
• LinkedIn

Connect with Adrianna on LinkedIn or contact her here.

Healthcare leadership can feel like carrying everyone else’s stress while trying not to lose your own humanity. In this episode of Sedate the Stress, longtime healthcare CEO Geoffrey Hall, MSW, MBA, FACHE, joins Adrianna Muñoz, MSN RN CNL, to share what it takes to lead healthcare teams through pressure, change, uncertainty, and the deeply human moments that come with the work.

Geoffrey reflects on his path from social work to hospital CEO and explains why operational clarity and human connection are not competing priorities. Together, Adrianna and Geoffrey explore

• Human-centered healthcare leadership
• Psychological safety

• Staying connected to people during organizational change and conflict

This episode is for:

• Nurse leaders
• Charge nurses
• Physicians
• Healthcare managers, directors, and executives
• Emerging leaders

Sedate the Stress is a healthcare leadership podcast by healthcare leaders, for healthcare leaders. Hosted by Adrianna, the show offers practical conversations on workplace communication, conflict resolution, psychological safety, team culture, burnout, and stress relief in healthcare.

Follow Geoffrey Hall on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/1geoffreyhall

Connect with Adrianna on LinkedIn, or contact her here.

Welcome to this episode of Sedate the Stress, a podcast for healthcare leaders by healthcare leaders.

I'm delighted to welcome Megan Dohn, BSN RN CEN TCRN and all around fantastic human and wonderful leader. She's served on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, and now is a practice manager.

Be sure to subscribe!

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About your host: Adrianna Muñoz, MSN RN CNL

Adrianna is a current ER RN, experienced operational healthcare leader with roots in inner-city Chicago and level 1 trauma ERs, and has served in every corner of healthcare.

Adrianna is a multi-award-winning nationally-recognized professional speaker who works with organizations to help them turn conflict into connection and transform a disengaged workplace into one of active participation through engaging, humorous, and actionable keynote presentations, workshops, and coaching.

***Bonus: workshops and keynote presentations are CE eligible.***

She earned her Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN) with a focus on Clinical Nurse Leadership (CNL), and has managed large change management projects and people, making her no stranger to tough conversations.

She's worked with international teams and facilitated conversations for national conferences on navigating conflict, psychological safety, and boundary setting.

Want to keep up with Adrianna? Subscribe to her newsletter below and get her free eBook, How to Manage People, here: https://ogdenpeak.com/ebook

Want to work & keep up with Adrianna?

• Email: [email protected]
• Call: (720) 794-5445
• Book a call: https://ogdenpeak.com/calendar
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriannamunozcoach/
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