Don't Eat Your Young: A Nursing Podcast

From Academia to Functional Medicine, Running the Gamut with Kerry Johnson

Kerry Johnson has worn many hats in her time as a nurse: bedside nurse, FNP, and Functional Medicine NP. What better person than her to teach the new nurses coming into the profession. Listen today to hear how Kerry got into education and how her passion for health turned her to functional medicine. ABOUT KERRY Kerry Johnson had been working as a nurse for several years when she decided to get her family nurse practitioner certification. Once she received that degree and was seein...

Leading with Nurse’s Wellbeing in Mind with Alex Whitefield

Alex Whitefield knows what it’s like to be an exhausted bedside nurse. It isn’t ok for nurses to do the work that they do without a break away from their patients. So he decided to change that. Listen this week to hear what Alex is working on to help manage the complexities of scheduling our breaks. Alex Whitefield was an ER nurse before becoming a nurse leader. During the time he was working at the bedside, he realized how important it was that nurses needed their breaks so that t...

Eating Your Young From a Unique Perspective with Ryan George

Ryan George, an experienced ICU nurse, offers a candid account of his decision to leave his job due to workplace bullying, ultimately leading him to exit the nursing profession altogether. As a gay man in a predominantly female field, Ryan sheds light on the reality of toxic workplace dynamics, particularly the "mean girls" phenomenon. Despite his proficiency as a nurse and dedication to teaching, Ryan found himself targeted and uncomfortable in his work environment. He emphasizes t...

Taking the Fear Out of Cardiac Codes with Susan Davis

Welcome back to Don't Eat Your Young, the podcast that delves into the inspiring stories and impactful work of individuals shaping the landscape of healthcare. In this episode, we shine a spotlight on Susan B. Davis, widely known as the Rescue RN, who has become a leading figure in cardiac arrest awareness, CPR training, and AED preparedness within communities. Susan B. Davis has dedicated her career to transforming public understanding and response to cardiac emergencies. In the h...

Protecting Your Rights as a Nurse with Maggie Ortiz

Maggie Ortiz, a seasoned nurse with over 23 years of experience, brings a wealth of expertise to the nursing community. Having worked in diverse roles, including bedside nursing, administration, and as a Texas Board of Nursing investigator, Maggie is well-versed in protecting nurses from litigation. As the Founder of Advocates for Nurses, she educates fellow nurses on navigating challenges, shares valuable tips on self-protection, and offers her connection for nurses dealing with li...

Fighting Violence in the Workplace with Mel Cortez

Mel Cortez has been a nurse for 15 years, and an entrepreneur for many of those years. She noticed a gap in nursing and took action. In this episode, she shares her experience facing a violent patient in a community hospital, leading her to initiate a "ground-up" approach to empower nurses. Collaborating with military friends, Mel developed Cortex Gold, a comprehensive training program for healthcare professionals to prevent and handle violence. Discover how Mel is making workplaces...

Healing PTSD in Nursing with Jill Brandl

Jill Brandl was an RN who worked to become a Holistic Psych Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. Despite her education in mental health, Jill needed help with her own burnout from her years in healthcare, as well as dealing with trauma outside of her job. After what she describes as “total burnout”, Jill decided it was time to put herself first and begin the journey to a more healthy life. She stepped away from her job to focus on helping herself so she could continue to help others. ...

Cannabis Nursing with Alicia Schaal

With the explosion of cannabis use in the U.S., Alicia Schaal saw a gap in knowledge for healthcare professionals. Without much evidence-based information to find, she decided to educate herself so she could share that knowledge with others, namely the nurses and physicians that were unsure how cannabis impacts the our patients and the care that we deliver.   Alicia is currently taking pharmacology and other related courses to arm herself with the most up to date research. She is ...

From RN to Patient: Navigating Breast Cancer with Natalie D'Itri

Being a nurse was the easy part compared to being a patient. Natalie D'Itri was an educator and was involved in oncology research as an RN. What she didn't anticipate was being a patient and learning how to navigate the healthcare system in a totally different capacity. In this week's episode, Beth talks with Natalie about her journey with breast cancer, from both perspectives – patient and nurse. Last season, we heard from Natalie as the podcast host of CareerWise Nurse. This seas...

Season Four is Coming Soon!

Welcome back to Season Four of "Don't Eat Your Young"! I'm your host, Beth Quass, and I am beyond excited to be back recording for this season. A huge thank you to all you amazing listeners who keep coming back to hear the incredible stories from nurses just like you. I'm incredibly grateful for the nurses who join me on the show, sharing their expertise, vulnerabilities, and experiences in this challenging profession. We all know how tough it is in healthcare right now, especially...

Professional Development for Nurses with Rachael Murray

Neonatal nurse practitioner Rachel Murray joins your host Beth Quaas to talk about her shift from nursing to also start working as a professional development trainer. She studied at Dale Carnegie Training, which gave her a unique perspective on how to train others. The program fanned her passion to educate people. She and Beth discuss her training methods she’s learned and how these training methods could (and should!) be used in training nurses as well as administrators.  ABOUT RA...

Moving Beyond Toxic Workplaces with Allison Twede

Beth talks with Allison Twede about her journey through nursing – from toxic workplace environments to admin positions to finally finding her calling to help other nurses heal. It’s a powerful conversation as they explore her path to healing herself while also following her calling to heal others. Allison Twede is a registered nurse, teacher, podcast host and creative entrepreneur. Allison has been on a spiritual journey for years and is passionate about helping others on their jou...

From Nursing at Sea to Dogs with Diabetes – a Conversation with Denise Gruzensky

Nursing at Sea Her adventures started when she took a job as nurse on a Carnival Cruise at the turn of the century. The travel was a selling point, but Denise Gruzensky loved nursing in this unique environment. She worked as a nurse practitioner but could also work as a nurse when needed. Gruzensky’s taken advantage of the world of online consulting and sees a lot of good in this shift. When she found out her dog had diabetes, she used that as a teaching opportunity to write a chil...

Living the NursePreneur Life with Catie Harris

With the launch of NursePreneurs, Catie Harris created a mentorship program that empowers nurses to monetize their knowledge, develop business skills, and help healthcare delivery evolve. Join us today as Catie talks about her program and her journey to start it. Catie talks about her exploratory approach she takes with clients, and the varieties of areas nurses have ideas for great business ventures. Her approach is to help them nurture those ideas and share them with the world as...

Expanding Your Creativity with Rachel Dick

Meet Rachel After a discriminatory incident at work showed Rachel how the system thought of her and her fellow nurses, registered nurse Rachel Dick decided she needed to be in a place where she didn’t have to answer to anyone but herself. That led her on a journey to become a certified holistic nurse coach, working with nurses to unlock their own potential. Rachel coaches nurses and runs workshops, helping them to unlock their own creativity and find their own voices. She also work...

Life in the OR with Sonya Spruill

Meet Sonya I was born and raised in Walterboro, South Carolina. I was told that at the age of three, I told my family that I wanted to be a nurse.  After high school, I attended college for two years at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, where I thought I wanted to major in Industrial Psychology.  Somehow, nursing was not on my compass at the time and I took a different path. I left Spelman and came home to hold various jobs. I became a career administrative assistant for various...

Holistic Well-Being with Liz Burkholder

Meet Liz Liz Burkholder from Charlotte, North Carolina, joins Beth today. Liz Burkholder is an integrative, double-board certified Family Nurse Practitioner and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, hypnotherapist, trauma specialist, and mind-body practitioner. She and Beth talk about holistic well-being and how to take care of yourself through deconstructive transformation. About Liz Liz began her own healing journey at age 17 after a divine intervention changed the traje...

Learning Like a Renegade with Antra Boyd and Karen DiMarco

Antra Boyd met Karen DiMarco when Karen was teaching nurses how to work and advocate for our patients by thinking outside the box. Through that chance meeting, they formed a company called RNegade. They are changing the way that nurses and others learn and make it fun and informative. RNegade offers continuing education credit by listening to podcasts with guests from various backgrounds and experiences, but all knowledgeable in the content they are speaking on. No more boring grind...

You are Worth It! with Tammy Ward

From Caring for Patients to Caring for Caregivers Tammy Ward has been in healthcare for 23 years. She moved from bedside nursing to becoming a CRNA. Throughout that process, she has realized that she has more to give. Her love for taking care of patients has moved out of the hospital setting to one of caring for the caregivers. She works with clients on a more personal basis, teaching them to put themselves first. Tammy wants others to succeed just as she has and helps others find ...

Historic MN Nurses Strike: How it Impacts Nurses and Patients with Chris Rubesch

Chris came into nursing as a second career. For seven years, he has worked with cardiac patients in a large hospital where he takes care of some of the sickest patients. In order to do his job well, Chris needs time with each patient, resources to assist him in that care, and a safe environment to do so. But as we've seen, staff to patient ratios are not aligned, and resources are diminishing. Violence in healthcare settings is at an all time high. Early on in his nursing career, C...

Reducing Your Stress Through Calming Calligraphy with Angie Bailey

After struggling with the ever-shifting challenges of nursing during the pandemic, Angie Bailey realized she’d had enough. That’s when she retired from the profession and moved to a focus on the art of calligraphy. She found an incredible peace with it and now teaches it to help others find that sense of calm.  Angie joins Beth in this episode to talk about her struggles in the nursing field and how this shift has led to a more positive, peaceful life for not just her but also for ...

The Careerwise Nurse with Natalie D’Itri

Meet Natalie D’Itri In this episode, Beth talks with Natalie D’Itri, a coach for nurses who want to grow in their professional lives as well as host of the Careerwise Nurse podcast. Their conversation ranges through Natalie’s background and how and why she moved into coaching. They talk about their goals to help nurses realize their career dreams and realize them. Learn more about supporting the Don’t Eat Your Young Podcast with a membership — visit Don’t Eat Your Young’s membershi...

Mentoring and Positive Growing with Laurel Ash

Meet Laurel Ash Beth and Laurel have a conversation about Laurel’s start in hospice and home care, working as a nurse practitioner, her transition to academia, her mentorship program, and more. Laurel currently goes out doing healthcare with seniors and is loving what she’s doing. She loves working in this capacity, and they talk about the return to a system where healthcare workers go out into the field to work instead of at a facility. The transition to practice and mentoring is ...

Mapping the Right Direction for Your Career and Life: Talking Inspiration with Susan Farese

Susan Farese, a Force of Nature Susan has been a nurse, but has also worn many other hats as she’s moved through life. Currently, Susan runs SJF Communications – her own PR firm – where she helps pretty much anyone, including nurses market themselves and find the directions for their own lives they’re most excited about. It’s invigorating to listen to Susan as she is full of positive energy and believes in people. She knows nurses are powerful forces in their roles, but also sees ...

Funding Our Healthcare System: An Old Model Reimagined with John Silver

The Public Utility Model John Silver joins Beth to discuss the Public Utility Model, a plan to shift the healthcare insurance structure, bringing needed healthcare to everyone. A central council led by nurses – which would also include physicians and other allied healthcare professionals – would work to provide a better and stronger foundation for preventative healthcare for the people of the US, not just disease care. John talks about his look back through history to find a model ...

A Broken System Revealed: Nursing During the Pandemic with Troy McMullen

In this week’s episode, Beth is joined by new nurse Troy McMullen, a nurse of three years who started just before the pandemic hit. Beth and Troy talk about his journey to become a nurse and what that meant when COVID took over the world. He talks about the various locations he worked as a travel nurse and how similar they all were in the frustrations he had with the system’s lack of proper care for the patients. Troy and Beth remind everyone that you have to know when to say no, ev...

Learning to Protect Yourself with Maggie Ortiz

Maggie Ortiz In today’s episode, nurse advocate Maggie Ortiz joins your host Beth Quaas to talk about the challenges in our nursing system today. Why is it so frustratingly complicated and why does it seem to be working against the nurses in it? What can nurses do to protect themselves? How do they deal with liability? Do they need their own insurance? There’s a lot of information in today’s episode so make sure you tune in to this one! Learn more about supporting the Don’t Eat Yo...

The Compassionate Approach with Sandra Capito

Sandra Capito In today’s episode – which was recorded September 2021, so information may be a bit out of date – nurse Sandra Capito joins your host Beth Quaas all the way from Melbourne, Australia, to talk about her work as a nurse to bring more compassion and empathy to the workplace for patients and fellow nurses. The goal? Making everyone feel worthy. Learn more about supporting the Don’t Eat Your Young Podcast with a membership — visit Don’t Eat Your Young’s membership page! ...

A Nurse’s View From the Patient’s Side with Rachel Chianakas

Rachel Chianakas and Compassionate Care Rachel Chianakas lost her ability to work as a bedside nurse after a knee injury with a subsequent failed surgery. Following her first surgery, she was made to feel “crazy” and “embarrassed” when she was told that she was fine and was healing normally. With her symptoms continuing, she was losing hope until a complete stranger told her she should seek a second opinion. She did just that and found that her symptoms were real. She finally felt ...

Helping Nurses Heal Nurses with Traci Powell

Traci Powell is helping nurses heal. Traci Powell is a PMHNP and is nationally certified in Trauma Care. She has known 3 colleagues that have completed suicide and is dedicated to helping others heal before they take their own lives. She says that professionals in medicine don’t usually reach out for help. Traci offers intense therapy in different states in the US, hoping to reach as many people as she can. Traci has a Facebook group called Nurses Healing Nurses that is a dedicate...

Happy Holidays from Don't Eat Your Young

May your holidays bring peace, rest, and joy. To all in our family of nurses, we love you, we thank you, and we wish you strength. (00:00) - Happy Holidays from Don't Eat Your Young

Stopping Health Care Violence with Sheila Wilson

Fighting to Stop Violence in the Healthcare System Sheila Wilson has been a nurse for decades, but is still out there advocating and supporting nurses. Have you been a victim of healthcare violence and didn’t get the support you needed? Sheila will talk about how to find resources and continues to fight to decrease the incidence of assault and battery of our bedside nurses. Learn more about supporting the Don’t Eat Your Young Podcast with a membership — visit Don’t Eat Your Young’...

When Standards of Care Are Breached with Ashley Hughes

The Legal Side of Nursing Ashley Hughes has been a Legal Nurse Consultant for several years and is back this season to talk about implications when standards of care have been breached. She will share tips on documentation and how to learn more about standards of care. Ashley also discusses how this impacts travel nurses, and how to become familiar with the state or facility that they are working in. Don’t miss out on this very informative episode! Learn more about supporting the ...

Working to Stop Healthcare Violence with June Garen

Healthcare violence is all too real and June Garen is fighting to change that. After decades in the OR, June Garen decided it was time for a change. She was interested in psych mental health nursing and took a job at a state mental health facility. In 2017, she was assaulted by a patient and suffered a head injury, among other physical and emotional injuries. After the violent act, she found there were no resources for her to get help and she felt “shamed and blamed” at work. Sinc...

Fighting to Improve Working Conditions with Rasheda Hatchett

Rasheda Hatchett Rasheda Hatchett is a nursing leader making every effort to improve the working conditions of the organizations for which we work. Healthcare is a business, but nurses see it differently. We want to care for patients the best that we can, but it can conflict with the actions of the administrators that are removed from what that care entails. Rasheda works with administrators to help them understand how to take care of the healthcare workers that care for the consum...

Finding Your Inner Wellness with Nasrin Parsian

Finding Your Inner Wellness with Dr. Nasrin “Nas” Parsian On today’s show, Beth is joined by Dr. Nasrin “Nas” Parsian. Nas is a Holistic health professional, Academic Nurse and Emotional health Consultant, Certified Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Hypnosis Trainer. She has 25 years of experience in a wide range of health and wellness paradigms as well as an evidence-based practice with a focus on significance of self-transformation in management of chronic illnesses and ment...

Overcoming Burnout with Tessa Hayman

Tessa Hayman Tessa Hayman is a RN in Canada that specialized in palliative care. It wasn’t until after she left bedside nursing that she was able to recover from the burnout she had been dealing with. After seeking help to deal with her burnout, she moved into the coaching space to help others in healthcare that are working through issues that are negatively impacting their lives. Tessa is part of a larger group that held a Burnout Summit. She is a speaker that advocates for healt...

Dealing with Nurse Bullying with JoNeil Smith Conley

JoNeil Smith Conley JoNeil Smith Conley has been in nursing for 44 years and has many academic accomplishments. The roles that JoNeil has held include bedside nurse, leader and consultant. She spent years researching nurse bullying within organizations and has great insight into the issue. She also developed a tool to decipher bullying from other negative styles of communication. “It is not the nurse’s job to fix the bully. That’s administration’s job,” she says. JoNeil works with...

Season Two is Coming Soon!

Season One Is Over! We’ll see you back here for Season Two!

It’s the end of Season One! Thanks to everyone who has tuned in so far and made this a success. Thanks to all of our guests for opening up and sharing their stories. We’ll see you after our hiatus for Season Two!

We'll see you back here for Season Two!

It’s the end of Season One! Thanks to everyone who has tuned in so far and made this a success. Thanks to all of our guests for opening up and sharing their stories. We’ll see you after our hiatus for Season Two! Learn more about supporting the Don’t Eat Your Young Podcast with a membership — visit Don’t Eat Your Young’s membership page! (00:00) - Welcome to Don't Eat Your Young • End of Season One

Nursing Beyond Grief with Patricia LaVallee

When Tricia LaVallee was 4 years old, she learned about caring for her dying grandfather and what death meant. Since that time, she has wanted to help others heals as they deal with grief, loss and guilt. Many times, grief is the product of loss, but not just of a loved one; grief can come from job loss, changes in relationships, loss of a pet or guilt about someone else’s death. As nurses, we care for dying patients and their families, but don’t often take the time to grieve or heal from th...

Nursing Beyond Grief

When Tricia LaVallee was 4 years old, she learned about caring for her dying grandfather and what death meant. Since that time, she has wanted to help others heals as they deal with grief, loss and guilt. Many times, grief is the product of loss, but not just of a loved one; grief can come from job loss, changes in relationships, loss of a pet or guilt about someone else’s death. As nurses, we care for dying patients and their families, but don’t often take the time to grieve or hea...

Running Toward COVID and The Unknown with Ivette Palomeque

Ivette Palomeque is an experienced ICU nurse that does not back down from a challenge. She saw the need for her services in the busiest ICUs that had been hit by the pandemic. She took a travel assignment in NYC and worked during the height of the COVID-19 crisis and recounts what it was like being a healthcare worker at that time. She also talks about the teamwork that she saw all around her to care for patients that were constantly at the brink of death. The toll that this pandemi...

Making Frontline Mental Health a Priority with Katie Walker

Katie Walker has been a CRNA for the past 10 years. Although she loves giving anesthesia, she felt there was more she could be doing to help others. She decided to open the Revitalist Clinic. Her clinic offers ketamine infusions as well as a holistic approach to treat patients with depression. Katie’s clinic has psych mental health NPs & psychologists, and is working to add neurologists as well. She runs her clinic with a nursing foundation: by treating the whole patient, not just a...

Take a Walk on the Legal Side with Ashley Hughes

Ashley Hughes loves being a nurse. She still works with patients on a part time basis, but she came to the realization that she wanted to do more than work in the hospital for her entire career. With all of her nursing knowledge, Ashley decided to become a Legal Nurse Consultant. She has learned so much about what it takes to become an LNC; she has also learned that she has so much to teach nurses in how to document properly in order to keep themselves safe. Ashley is now devoting ...

Thriving in Nursing School With Maureen Osuna

Maureen Osuna was in advertising before deciding later in life that she wanted to be a nurse. Because of that, she has a different perspective on life as a nursing student than some of the more traditional nurses. She could see what was being taught, but also what was lacking in nursing education. After working in the ICU and then transitioning to the PACU, she decided to start educating nurses in a non-traditional way – the beginning of her podcast. Nurse Mo, as she is known, star...

Living With a Purpose With Eboni Gee

Eboni Gee is a whirlwind force who seems to never lose her spark as she is growing a business to help others learn from the hard work that she has already put in. She is passionate about helping others and is a wealth of knowledge in so many areas. She has her own podcast called “The Kidney Connection” where she shares her nursing expertise in all things renal health and beyond. Eboni covers many different topics in her show and there is something for everyone to learn. Eboni is al...

Turning Anger Into Motivation with Tammy Jacobs

Tammy has worked in many nursing roles in her 25 years as a nurse. After a change in leadership which, as she found, was unsupportive of more seasoned nurses, she knew she had to find a more fulfilling role. She also felt pushed to obtain her BSN, but wasn’t interested. She says, “The degree behind our licensure doesn’t matter; our caring spirit and professionalism do.” Then came a day in the OR when she had a run-in with members of her OR team and, when called into the office, was...

Nurses Continuing to Learn With Shane Slone

Shane Slone started as an excited new nurse, wanting to learn everything that he could. He was an RN working in the ICU doing 12 hour shifts. It seemed that he would work, go home exhausted, eat and sleep, just to wake up and do it all over again. After several years working in a stressful ICU work environment, he was ready to leave nursing altogether, but he took a step back and realized that he still had a lot to give to this amazing profession. Shane has a lot of insight into th...