Radical Nurse Talk

How can a Chief Nursing Officer influence conversations about serious illness? In this episode, Patricia Strachan explores this question with Dr. Leigh Chapman, a dedicated nurse and leader who is advocating at the highest levels across Canada to improve working conditions for nurses—helping them not only stay in the profession but thrive. And when nurses thrive, patients benefit too. Leigh Chapman was appointed Canada's Chief Nursing Officer in 2022, a positive outcome from the challenges posed by the pandemic, which caused severe nursing shortages and burnout. Since her appointment, Leigh has travelled across Canada—coast to coast—listening to nurses and using her platform to advocate for meaningful change. Her leadership is inspiring. In this wide-ranging conversation, Leigh shares insights from her diverse clinical experience, including her recent work in supervised injection sites, as well as her ongoing nursing advocacy efforts at the national level. She reflects on her work to create and sustain workplaces where therapeutic nursing relationships can develop and flourish. Leigh's message is one of hope and inspiration, and we believe it will resonate with nurses both in Canada and beyond.

How can nurses be involved in decisions that patients make about innovative heart valve interventions for which they may be eligible? In this episode Dr. Sandra Lauck thoughtfully describes her work and that of others in supporting nurses to have opportunities and language that open spaces for patients to question, understand and consider possible therapies. In this way she offers radical possibilities for all nurses to transform patient experience, not only in cardiac care, but in any practice setting. For more information visit: radicalnursetalk.com

How can we show up in our relational work with seriously ill patients, and for ourselves as nurses in the moments that are available to us? Grounded in professional and personal experience and yes, even the theoretical, Marie Cooper calls on each of us to stand up, use language and claim the relational work that makes what we do, nursing. Her passionate and articulate commitment to that effort will inspire nurses everywhere and help patients feel safe in our care. For more information and to access resources visit radicalnursetalk.com

It is well known that despite our best intentions preventable harm continues to happen to patients in healthcare systems. Further harm to patients, their families and to healthcare professionals, including nurses, can be made worse by the ways we then handle and/or talk about this unintentional harm. How can we talk about it in a way that doesn't incur further harm? In this episode, Jo Wailling invites us to advocate for a restorative versus punitive lens, so that learning and healing can occur for everyone involved. Jo is a nurse, clinician researcher, qualified human factors professional, and accredited mediator. Her career spans 30 years in critical care, patient safety, and clinical leadership. She currently advises international government agencies, researchers and advocacy groups on restorative initiatives, system safety and human centered design. For more information and to access resources visit radicalnursetalk.com

What do we mean when we talk about a good death? How can we describe the meaningful communicative work that nurses can do with dying patients and their families? In this episode, Patricia Strachan welcomes Dr. David Wright, a registered nurse, educator, and researcher. Dr. Wright is an Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa, and academic lead for Palliative Care and Nursing Ethics within its Centre for Research on Health and Nursing. Dr. Wright describes in passionate detail the many ways in which nurses help seriously ill patients and families craft stories in the liminal spaces of care that exist outside of treatments procedures. He invites and inspires us to recognize the great depth and complexity of nursing practice done well, and to name and claim the relational work that's so needed in the intimate spaces of advanced illness and end of life care. For more information and to access resources visit radicalnursetalk.com.

As a practicing Registered Nurse with extensive experience working in acute, critical, and community care settings, Janet Lovegrove has heard many caregivers' stories about feeling alone, overwhelmed, or invisible when providing care to people living with dementia or other progressive life-limiting illnesses. Sensing a real need that what most of them wanted was to be heard, to belong, and to be appreciated, Janet found creative ways and practical solutions for helping them to tell their stories while building a base of resilience and support in themselves. In this episode, we explore that work. Janet shares practice tips and language we can use across practice settings to support caregivers of people living with serious life-limiting illnesses. In particular, Janet has facilitated the Life Process Transformation (TM) (LPT) program created by Viola Fodor, M.Ed., that invites caregivers to learn more about how to take care of themselves - in body, mind, and spirit. To that end, she has led a long standing project in Ontario, Canada funded by the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Home and Community Care Support Services and in collaboration with the Alzheimer Society of Brant, Haldimand Norfolk Hamilton Halton chapters. For more information and to access resources visit radicalnursetalk.com.

Context is very important in healthcare. In this episode, we explore the context created at the intersection of geography, history, language, culture, and healthcare resources when Indigenous people in Canada's far north require care for serious illness. Our guest, Lianne Mantla-Look, is a Registered Nurse currently living and working in northern Canada. She has worked extensively in clinical roles both in hospital and community settings. Lianne works fluently in both her Indigenous language, Tłı̨chǫ, and English. In a wide-ranging conversation, Lianne shares her knowledge, reflections, and healthcare experience from her perspective as a nurse and an Indigenous person living in the Northwest Territories. For more information and to access resources, visit radicalnursetalk.com.

Have you ever thought of communication as a vital sign for patients in the intensive care unit? In this episode, you will hear Kali Dayton, DNP AGACNP and critical care outcomes consultant, share her passion for using evidence that promotes what she terms "Awake and Walking ICUs." Communication is key to the ABCDEF bundle – a group of interventions associated with helping patients do better in the ICU and in their lives afterward. Kali is also host of the Walking Home from the ICU and Walking You Through the ICU podcasts. For more information visit: radicalnursetalk.com

Communicating with people living with advancing dementia and who require care can be challenging and frustrating for everyone. Despite our best intentions, dementia is a serious progressive life limiting illness that has major consequences for the person diagnosed with dementia, their families and family caregivers. In this episode Mary Buck, an expert in fostering more effective communication practice in dementia, shares important information that also may challenge some of our usual practices. To learn more and to access resources, visit: radicalnursetalk.com

Having a baby is supposed to be a very happy event, but when a baby is diagnosed with a potentially life-threatening condition in the perinatal period, families are faced with new realities and require special support and understanding. Jennifer Callen is a Nurse Practitioner with 20 years of experience in neonatal intensive care. She currently works with the Quality of Life and Advanced Care Program at McMaster Children's Hospital in Ontario, Canada. Her role as part of the perinatal program there is to enhance patient transitions between hospital and home, and aims to reduce hospitalizations and emergency room visits. She is passionate about improving quality of life and comfort for patients and families facing significant health challenges. For more information and for resources visit: radicalnursetalk.com

Everyone needs access to an inclusive, equitable palliative approach to care. Palliative and end of life care is regarded in the western world as a necessary service to which everyone is entitled, and yet if we look closely, significant inequities exist in people living on the margins of societal norms, such as those who are homeless and without support who do not have equal access to such care. In this episode of Radical Nurse Talk we speak with Dr. Kelli Stajduhar, a Professor in the School of Nursing and Institute on Aging & Lifelong Health at the University of Victoria and Research Chair in Palliative Approaches to Care in Aging and Community Health. Kelli has led the call for change for people who are precariously housed and without resources to access the compassionate end of life care they require. For more information and resources, visit radicalnursetalk.com

What do you think of when you hear the word “palliative”? In this final episode of season one of Radical Nurse Talk, Kath Murray discusses the importance of words in serious illness. Words such as "palliative" that we use – or avoid using - can invoke fear, "giving up" and also, hope, support and quality of life. Listen while Kath, an exemplary nurse, author, entrepreneur and international educator shares insights and reflections about how language can open doors to a palliative approach to care that improves patient and family experience. To learn more and access resources visit: radicalnursetalk.com

In this episode, Matthieu Payette, Clinical Nurse Specialist at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton and Adjunct Lecturer/Clinical Instructor McMaster University School of Nursing, describes his experiences in various contexts in which people require help in a mental health crisis. He shares some possibilities for others who must respond to people in crisis and step into the moment to make a connection, build trust, maintain safety and provide dignity. To learn more and access resources visit: radicalnursetalk.com

In this episode, Dr. Erin Ziegler, champion and advocate for inclusive and dignified care of people who identify as LGBTQ2SA describes how words, and the assumptions that are behind them, can build or destroy the trust that is so integral to building therapeutic relationships especially in serious illness. To learn more and access resources visit: radicalnursetalk.com

Has a patient or family member ever asked you about medical assistance in dying (MAiD)? If someone did ask you, what would you say in this conversation? In this episode, I explore that situation with Jane Slemon, a director of care at a hospice in British Columbia. We discuss her work with individuals who are navigating the end of life and who sometimes want to talk with nurses about MAiD. We discuss those dynamics and how nurses can be supported in having these conversations. For more visit: radicalnursetalk.com

What does a trauma-and-violence informed approach mean for communicating in serious health situations? Dr. Susan Jack, a champion of and advocate for the training of health care professionals on trauma-and violence-informed approaches to care, shares the ways we can incorporate this into our communication praxis, and thereby promote health equity and avoid the re-traumatization of individuals with histories of trauma as they access the healthcare system. To learn more about Susan's work and access resources visit: radicalnursetalk.com

How can we talk with children about grief, about losses of any kind, dying and death? Drawing from years of experience as a registered nurse and psychotherapist, Andrea Warnick inspires us to learn how best to communicate with grieving children and families. She has inspired, taught and counselled interprofessional audiences from around the world including her work with the Canadian Virtual Hospice. To learn more about Andrea's work and access resources visit: radicalnursetalk.com

What are the lessons learned when nurse becomes patient? In this episode, best-selling author, nurse and advocate, Theresa Brown shares reflections on communication following her diagnosis of and treatment for breast cancer and in the context of her own nursing work. Her book, The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients' Lives, was a New York Times Bestseller. To learn more visit: radicalnursetalk.com

Sarah Crowe, a critical care nurse practitioner and Vice-President of the Canadian Association of Critical Care Nurses discusses nurses' communication in critical care settings, particularly the difficult and challenging conversations with families. More of Sarah's work can be found at: radicalnursetalk.com

How can we talk with patients and their families about a future that includes living with advancing illness, dying and death? In this episode with Sandra Andreychuk, N.P., Healthcare Ethicist, Advocate/Coach and Navigator we explore how to talk about the future and advance care planning with patients and families. To learn more about Sandy's work visit: radicalnursetalk.com

How do nurses build relationships and talk with families when serious illness hits? In this inaugural episode, communication scholar and champion of nurses Elaine Wittenberg shines a light on the essential communication work nurses do with families in the face of serious illness. We explore what works and doesn't – for nurses and families. She inspires and offers possibilities for making communication with families better understood, practiced and valued. To learn more about Elaine's work and access resources visit: radicalnursetalk.com

This is Radical Nurse Talk, a podcast about nurses' communication in serious situations and illness as a radical act of care. Join Dr. Patricia Strachan as she talks with nurses and others about nurses' expertise, experience, courage, joys and frustrations in having conversations that involve serious situations and illness, loss, life-altering and unwanted change, living in uncertainty, declining health and end-of-life. Premiering Wednesday, October 4th, the inaugural episode features Dr. Elaine Wittenberg who shines a light on the essential communication work nurses do with families in the face of serious illness. To learn more, and to see what other topics we cover visit: radicalnursetalk.com