Penlight

It has been over a year since our last episode! Find out where I've been and what is to come with our mission at Penlight.

How do you take care of your mental? Ariel is a fellow traveler with 10 years of nursing under her belt. Listen as Ariel and I navigate topics like wound care, traveling, VIPs, and being on the other side of bedside. Ariel lost her father last year to a very rare and convoluted disease called HLH; Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. Her story is one of unparalleled strength, dedication, and resilience, and I am grateful for this opportunity to share it.

It's baaaack ;) Listen to me and Sarah, a new traveler from Milwaukee, WI, unpack our week as we talk about hot messes, traveler qualms, shitty assignments, nursing in Australia, tips for putting on compression socks, and naked hip-shaking men.

Cindy and Mirela are two Nurses from a Neurocritical Care Unit who implemented a system on their unit that identifies and addresses nurse burnout right at the start. This system has created a culture of nurses that lift each other up. It has helped increased retention rates for their unit, it has created empowerment and a new sense of resiliency among their nurses, and it has given them ARMOR for dealing with difficult situations. Listen to how they did it.

Its time to appreciate the ones that make sure our heads stay on straight! This week I put my own support system under the penlight as Matt and I discuss nursing from the perspective of the significant other. From quizzing Matt on medical jargon to talking through the logistics of traveling and long distance, we come up with a few effective ways to be supportive. Who do you unload on after a long day?

This episode we are getting into Oncology nursing! Julia has been an RN for the last 3.5 years on an Oncology/ BMT unit (Bone Marrow Transplant) and helped me dive right in to the challenges that come with some heavy patient demographics. WARNING: Graphic Content. This nursing story will leave you..hilariously..stunned. Just another day at the hospital.

Have you ever thought about being a Travel Nurse? I'm sitting down with Cassie, one of the fellow travelers that I've met along the way, to help me explain some the logistics of Travel nursing from working with recruiters, to housing & pay, to drowning in agency paperwork, to contracts, to what to bring, reasons to travel and things to consider while you're traveling. Are you not sure if you're the kind of person that would travel? Are you afraid to travel because of a relationship you're in? Listen to Cass and I work through the every day issues that travelers face.

What do you want out of this podcast as a listener? In this episode, I'm sitting down with one of my best friends, Shelby, to help me shape the goals and expectations for this podcast. With the help of Zeppelin, her 5 month old Aussie-doodle, we rant about a variety of topics from staffing, to nurse guilt, to outlets for stress, to robots. If you thought of any suggestions while listening to this episode(other than the awkward cuts in conversation...pardon my novice garageband skills), please let me know them at penlightpodcast@gmail.com