Happy Valentine’s Day! This week, we discuss romance and finding a partner as a nurse! From listener-shared meet-cutes, to what makes relationships work, to nurses dating fellow nurses, we aim to help you find love in this wild world!

This week, we were joined by Tauqilla Manning, the founder of Black Nurses Week. Their mission is to empower and impact the lives of Black nurses by building a thriving community to celebrate Black nursing excellence. In this remarkable conversation, Tauqilla shares the founding story, the meaning of her work, and the challenges black nurses face. 

For more on the work Tauqilla is doing, please follow @blacknursesweek on Instagram!

CW: Eating Disorders/Disordered Eating

For this week’s Mental Health Matters, Carley and Sarah spoke with NYT Bestselling writer Christie O. Tate. Christie is well known for her profound and moving words, as well as a "startling" hopefulness and honesty. We were so fortunate to experience that on the pod, as she talked with us about shame and confidence, isolation and relationships, our self-image and public personas, and the impact of being truly heard by someone.

For all that Christie has to offer, please follow @christieotate or visit christietate.com for info on upcoming writing workshops or to get your hands on her books!

For this week's Mental Health Matters, we were thrilled to be joined by Darnell Walker! Darnell is a writer, filmmaker, teacher, and a healer. He is also well known for his work as a Death Doula, which is one of the big focuses of this incredible conversation. Darnell talks with us about his mental health journey, his work, end-of-life care, grief, mentors, and so much more. We end up with one of the most deep and vulnerable episodes we've ever had.

For more of Darnell, please follow him @hello.darnell on Instagram or visit darnellwalker.com!

On this week episode of the Self Care Unit, Carley and Sarah spoke with Britt Frank. Britt is a clinician, educator, trauma specialist, and the author of The Science of Stuck: Breaking Through Inertia to Find Your Path Forward. We had a fascinating and revelatory conversation, as she talked us through what it means to be stuck and shared her process to find a way out!

If you want to learn more about getting unstuck or just want more of Britt, please check out her instagram @brittfrank or her website scienceofstuck.com!

The Self Care Unit rings in 2024 with an episode about financial stability for nurses! To that end, April Waddell joined us as our expert! She is the founder of NurseMoneyDate, a retired pediatric nurse, and a financial coach exclusively for the nursing profession. We discussed the basics of finances, her specific strategies for nurses, how to manage the fears and stresses that can arise, and more! April is one of those incredible talents that can take a complex topic and make it so approachable, so this is an episode you don’t want to miss!

For more of what April has to offer, check out nursemoneydate.com or her Instagram @nursemoneydate!

Happy Holidays from the Self Care Unit! This week our episode is all about holidays in the hospital. When you’re working the holiday shifts, how can you make the most of it for you and your coworkers? Our lovely hosts give their takes on potlucks, fun traditions, gifts, and other classic holiday favorites. We end with affirmations for any nurse struggling during this holiday season.

From everyone at The Self Care Unit, we wish you a holiday season full of support, kindness, and hope!

This week, we tackled Hospital Jargon! Is jargon helpful for clarity? What purpose does it serve? What problems can it cause? To find our answers and to have some fun, we had a quiz show! Carley and Sarah asked Joe to give his best guess for what bits of jargon meant and spoiler alert: he didn’t do very well! While we had fun roasting Joe, there are some good lessons here for nursing students on communication and how and when to use jargon!

On this week's episode of The Self Care Unit, Shannon, NICU nurse and founder of Operation Happy Nurse, sits down with Sarah and shares journal entries that she recently came across from her first three months as a nurse, her thoughts and fears about nurse burnout then vs. now, and the thought-provoking realizations they've given her nearly eight years later.

If you'd like to share you own journal entries, anonymous or not, please send to [email protected]!

The Self Care Unit was thrilled to have Tiera Skovbye return for another Mental Health Matters episode! Besides being an incredible actress, Tiera is a passionate mental health advocate and a lovely human being. She sits down with Carley and Sarah for a vulnerable conversation about careers, family, seeking help, being prescribed antidepressants, and more!

Make sure to follow Tiera @tskovbye1 on Instagram!