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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey everyone.
Welcome back to The AmbitiousNurse.
So today I'm recording thispodcast live on November the
fourth.
It is Voting Day across theNation of the United States, and
I'm dropping everything torecord this episode right now
because.
This can't wait.
Really wish I would've thoughtabout recording this episode
(00:21):
before today, but it hit me thismorning.
So I decided to go ahead andjust put my thoughts out here.
If you haven't voted yet,consider this your reminder.
If you're on the fence aboutwhether your vote matters, then
this is your wake up call, andif you're making excuses about
why you can't get to the pollstoday.
(00:44):
Then I need you to hear thisbecause what I witnessed last
Thursday in the simulation labmade the connection between our
ballots and our bedsides, socrystal clear that it was
important for me to not staysilent today.
You know, I'm always encouragingyou to vote to.
(01:06):
Well, I may not, not say always.
I have, I have vocalized in someof my episodes, the importance
of voting.
I've done that and I will keepdoing that because I believe
that nurses have insight onhealthcare that no one else
(01:28):
really has.
We see things unfold.
That no one else can see.
It is important for us to usethat knowledge to make an impact
in healthcare through politics.
Last Thursday, I was runningsimulations with our pediatric
nurses, specialized scenarios,designed for nurses working in
(01:52):
pediatrics, real worldsituations they might encounter
on the floor, in this scenario,the baby is admitted with
hypoglycemia.
During the assessment, wediscovered the mother has been
adding water to the formula tomake it last longer.
This, scenario was written upmid June, July because this is
(02:14):
something that does occur.
It is something that does occur.
Although we've run this exactscenario several times last
Thursday during the debriefing,it hit different.
One of the pediatric nurses madea connection out loud that I had
been thinking about, but hearingher say it brought joy to my
(02:36):
heart because I love when nursesare able to make a connection.
To the outside world and howthat impacts them in their day
to day work.
She connected the dots betweenthis clinical scenario and what
is happening right nowpolitically with the WIC program
(02:57):
under snap.
If you don't know what snap is,snap is essentially, food
assistance for people who can'tafford it.
So SNAP stands for SupplementalNutrition Assistance Program and
WIC stands for Women InfantChildren.
(03:21):
But under that program, it'salso wic, where they provide
extra benefits for women whohave had babies.
That also includes subsidies tobe able to purchase formula.
So she said, that nurse saidwhat we were all thinking.
(03:41):
Because of where we arepolitically because of cuts and
changes to programs like wic,there are mothers in our
community who are going toresort to diluting formula.
They're gonna add water to makeit stretch for their babies to
have something to eat.
But the other thing we know asnurses is that when you download
(04:02):
the formula.
Those babies don't get the fullnutrients they need their blood
sugar drops, then they develophypoglycemia and end up in our
emergency departments, in ourpediatric units because the
mother was just trying to feedher child with what she had.
Yes, we do our part at thebedside and in the hospitals by,
(04:22):
connecting families withresources and make sure they
leave with the formula theyneed.
But that moment in thedebriefing drove home.
Something I need every nurse tounderstand.
This is what policy looks likeat the bedside.
You can't turn a blind eye toit.
(04:43):
This is why I say your votematters.
You see it every shift, thedirect line between what happens
in Washington.
What happens in your statecapital because in your state
capital, they control how youpractice with every nurse
practice act.
What happens in your citycouncil?
Because in your city they makedecisions on what that city
(05:05):
should look like, whatprotection for your communities
look like, and that is thenshifted to.
What does our homelesspopulation look like?
How many gunshot wounds are wegonna have within our cities?
Where people are coming in withtraumas, like all of that
(05:25):
connects, and who walks throughyour hospital doors and why?
Why they're there.
That is the connection.
So let me remind you,politicians know your vote
matters.
The question is, do you, here'ssome more evidence.
Number one, redistricting rightnow across this country, there
(05:47):
are fights happening overredistricting politicians,
literally redraw maps of votingdistricts.
I'm not here to point fingers atone party or another.
What I am here to tell you isthat if they are fighting hard
to control who votes and whosevote counts, that should tell
(06:07):
you everything you need to knowabout the power that you hold.
I've had a friend who was astate representative who.
Was impacted by redistrictingand because they shifted the
districts in a certain way, shewas no longer in favor in that
(06:30):
particular district.
They did that on purpose towhere she would no longer be in
favor and she lost her race.
She's a nurse.
A nurse that I know.
Wants the best for ourcommunities.
Not only just looking out forwhat goes on in healthcare, but
also how our community impactsthe work that we do on a daily
(06:53):
basis and how our communityimpacts our everyday lives.
They wouldn't be gerrymanderingdistricts if your vote didn't
matter.
They wouldn't be arguing overthese maps if nurses showing up
to the polls didn't scare them abit.
Evidence number two, why anursing vote carries weight is
the fact that public health isunder siege.
(07:15):
We have a CDC that's fragmented.
We have measles outbreaks.
Measles are disease that we havene nearly eliminated spreading.
Again, these aren't accidents.
They aren't just unfortunatecircumstances.
These are policy outcomes.
When we elect people who don'tbelieve in science, who cut
(07:36):
funding for public healthprograms, who dismantle the
infrastructure we've built tokeep communities safe, this is
what happens and we see it.
First, we are the onesresponding to the outbreaks.
We are the ones caring for thechildren who didn't have to get
sick.
And we can fall back on this.
(07:56):
Wording of, oh well it wasn'tworking for such and such.
It doesn't mean we need to tearit down and then build it all
back up again.
That hurts us more.
Do we need to evaluate it, lookat our processes and make
improvements over time?
Absolutely.
No one's arguing against that.
(08:17):
But you don't throw out the babywith the bath water.
The bottom line is politiciansknow nurses votes matter.
They know that when healthcareworkers organize, when we show
up, when we use our voices, wecan change outcomes.
The question is, do you know itand do you believe it?
(08:37):
If you've been sitting back andsaying, no, it doesn't work like
that, and you haven't eventried, then you won't know.
I'm of the belief that I have totake action.
If this is the process, I'mgonna go the route of the
process of whatever it is that Ineed to do to make a change
(08:59):
before I can say, oh, thatdoesn't work.
Because I've seen how theprocess does work, and I also
see how people manipulate it tomake the process work for them.
So then when you startmanipulating the process to make
it work for you, now I gottahelp you understand, oh, I see
(09:19):
you and I still hold the power,but I'm just gonna go about it
in a different way.
So here's your challenge.
What we cannot do is we cannotcomplain and not vote.
We cannot sit around at thenurse's station talking about
how broken the system is and weskip the polls and literally
(09:41):
broken the system.
Is as far as the healthcaresystem, how broken the system is
as far as how we run ourhospitals.
I don't blame our C-suite forhow we run our hospitals.
Do we sometimes need betterleaders?
Absolutely.
But they're working with whatthey have been dealt.
Let's understand that they areworking within the cards that
(10:06):
they have been dealtpolitically.
We cannot post on social mediaabout what's wrong with health
policy or what's wrong with ourhospitals and not hold our
politicians accountable.
We cannot call ourselves patientadvocates and then be silent at
the ballot box if we don't vote.
(10:27):
We don't educate ourrepresentatives about what's
really happening if we don'tvote, we don't hold them
accountable when their policiesharm our patients.
If we don't vote, we have givenup our most powerful tool for
advocacy.
We all call ourselves advocatesfor the patient, but your first
(10:51):
and main action needs to bevoting.
Yes, it's to speak up for thepatient at the bedside who might
not be getting what they need.
But sometimes that not gettingwhat they need is a ripple
effect of what has happenedpolitically.
So here's the paradox we need tosit with.
If we are advocates at thebedside, but silent at the
(11:14):
ballot box, who are we really?
Are we truly adv them healthy inthe first place?
Are we truly leading if we'renot using every tool we have,
including our vote to createconditions for better health
outcomes?
The answer is no.
Our advocacy cannot stop at thehospital doors.
(11:35):
It has to extend to the votingbooth.
To city council meetings, toletters to our representatives,
to showing up in every spacewhere decisions about health are
being made.
So here's what I need from youtoday.
Here's your call to action ifyou have already voted.
Thank you.
(11:55):
Thank you for understanding thatthis is a part of the work.
If you haven't voted yet, gotoday.
Right after this episode ends,make a plan.
Look up your polling location,figure out your schedule and get
there.
I don't care if it'sinconvenient.
I don't care if the line islong, our patients deserve for
us to show up for them in everyway, and this is one of them.
(12:18):
If you're sitting here makingexcuses about why you can't vote
or why it doesn't matter, thisis your reminder that nurses
don't get to sit this one out.
We don't have the luxury ofpolitical apathy, not when we
see consequences every singleday, not when babies are coming
(12:39):
in hypoglycemic because theirmothers can't afford for your
assignment today.
And yes, I'm giving you anassignment, it's to vote for.
Candidates who will support ourwork as nurses, who will support
healthcare as a whole, who willput our people first and who
will put our community first inmy voting today, I am voting
(13:03):
very locally.
I only had two things to vote ona mayor and two city council
members, but it makes adifference because I'm in a
small town that people want totap into.
They want to bust at the seams,but we also have to consider our
(13:24):
streets traffic.
How long is it gonna take me toget to work?
How much of this traffic isgoing to impact our schools?
What does growth look like in mycommunity?
Is it the appropriate amount ofgrowth?
What do we allow in our cities?
(13:44):
That's what I'm voting on.
Vote for candidates who believein public health.
Vote for candidates who willfund WIC and SNAP, and programs
that will keep families fed.
Vote for candidates whounderstand that healthcare is a
right and not a privilege.
And after you vote, hold themaccountable.
Call them, email them.
(14:05):
Show up to town halls.
Make sure they know that nursesare watching, even in primaries.
That we vote even in primaries,and that we're organized.
Your first assignment as apatient advocate is to vote.
That's not your secondassignment.
It's not something you do if youhave time.
(14:27):
It is your first assignmentbecause the patients will see
next month, next year, fiveyears from now, their outcomes
are being decided today.
The policies that will eithersupport or hurt them are being
shaped by who we elect today.
So let's show up.
Let's use our voices.
(14:47):
Let's remember that being anambitious nurse means being
politically engaged because ourpatients' lives depend on it.
Thank you for listening.
Now go vote.
Hey everyone.
Welcome back to The AmbitiousNurse.
So today I'm recording thispodcast live on November the
fourth.
It is Voting Day across theNation of the United States, and
I'm dropping everything torecord this episode right now
because.
This can't wait.
Really wish I would've thoughtabout recording this episode
(00:21):
before today, but it hit me thismorning.
So I decided to go ahead andjust put my thoughts out here.
If you haven't voted yet,consider this your reminder.
If you're on the fence aboutwhether your vote matters, then
this is your wake up call, andif you're making excuses about
why you can't get to the pollstoday.
(00:44):
Then I need you to hear thisbecause what I witnessed last
Thursday in the simulation labmade the connection between our
ballots and our bedsides, socrystal clear that it was
important for me to not staysilent today.
You know, I'm always encouragingyou to vote to.
(01:06):
Well, I may not, not say always.
I have, I have vocalized in someof my episodes, the importance
of voting.
I've done that and I will keepdoing that because I believe
that nurses have insight onhealthcare that no one else
(01:28):
really has.
We see things unfold.
That no one else can see.
It is important for us to usethat knowledge to make an impact
in healthcare through politics.
Last Thursday, I was runningsimulations with our pediatric
nurses, specialized scenarios,designed for nurses working in
(01:52):
pediatrics, real worldsituations they might encounter
on the floor, in this scenario,the baby is admitted with
hypoglycemia.
During the assessment, wediscovered the mother has been
adding water to the formula tomake it last longer.
This, scenario was written upmid June, July because this is
(02:14):
something that does occur.
It is something that does occur.
Although we've run this exactscenario several times last
Thursday during the debriefing,it hit different.
One of the pediatric nurses madea connection out loud that I had
been thinking about, but hearingher say it brought joy to my
(02:36):
heart because I love when nursesare able to make a connection.
To the outside world and howthat impacts them in their day
to day work.
She connected the dots betweenthis clinical scenario and what
is happening right nowpolitically with the WIC program
(02:57):
under snap.
If you don't know what snap is,snap is essentially, food
assistance for people who can'tafford it.
So SNAP stands for SupplementalNutrition Assistance Program and
WIC stands for Women InfantChildren.
(03:21):
But under that program, it'salso wic, where they provide
extra benefits for women whohave had babies.
That also includes subsidies tobe able to purchase formula.
So she said, that nurse saidwhat we were all thinking.
(03:41):
Because of where we arepolitically because of cuts and
changes to programs like wic,there are mothers in our
community who are going toresort to diluting formula.
They're gonna add water to makeit stretch for their babies to
have something to eat.
But the other thing we know asnurses is that when you download
(04:02):
the formula.
Those babies don't get the fullnutrients they need their blood
sugar drops, then they develophypoglycemia and end up in our
emergency departments, in ourpediatric units because the
mother was just trying to feedher child with what she had.
Yes, we do our part at thebedside and in the hospitals by,
(04:22):
connecting families withresources and make sure they
leave with the formula theyneed.
But that moment in thedebriefing drove home.
Something I need every nurse tounderstand.
This is what policy looks likeat the bedside.
You can't turn a blind eye toit.
(04:43):
This is why I say your votematters.
You see it every shift, thedirect line between what happens
in Washington.
What happens in your statecapital because in your state
capital, they control how youpractice with every nurse
practice act.
What happens in your citycouncil?
Because in your city they makedecisions on what that city
(05:05):
should look like, whatprotection for your communities
look like, and that is thenshifted to.
What does our homelesspopulation look like?
How many gunshot wounds are wegonna have within our cities?
Where people are coming in withtraumas, like all of that
(05:25):
connects, and who walks throughyour hospital doors and why?
Why they're there.
That is the connection.
So let me remind you,politicians know your vote
matters.
The question is, do you, here'ssome more evidence.
Number one, redistricting rightnow across this country, there
(05:47):
are fights happening overredistricting politicians,
literally redraw maps of votingdistricts.
I'm not here to point fingers atone party or another.
What I am here to tell you isthat if they are fighting hard
to control who votes and whosevote counts, that should tell
(06:07):
you everything you need to knowabout the power that you hold.
I've had a friend who was astate representative who.
Was impacted by redistrictingand because they shifted the
districts in a certain way, shewas no longer in favor in that
(06:30):
particular district.
They did that on purpose towhere she would no longer be in
favor and she lost her race.
She's a nurse.
A nurse that I know.
Wants the best for ourcommunities.
Not only just looking out forwhat goes on in healthcare, but
also how our community impactsthe work that we do on a daily
(06:53):
basis and how our communityimpacts our everyday lives.
They wouldn't be gerrymanderingdistricts if your vote didn't
matter.
They wouldn't be arguing overthese maps if nurses showing up
to the polls didn't scare them abit.
Evidence number two, why anursing vote carries weight is
the fact that public health isunder siege.
(07:15):
We have a CDC that's fragmented.
We have measles outbreaks.
Measles are disease that we havene nearly eliminated spreading.
Again, these aren't accidents.
They aren't just unfortunatecircumstances.
These are policy outcomes.
When we elect people who don'tbelieve in science, who cut
(07:36):
funding for public healthprograms, who dismantle the
infrastructure we've built tokeep communities safe, this is
what happens and we see it.
First, we are the onesresponding to the outbreaks.
We are the ones caring for thechildren who didn't have to get
sick.
And we can fall back on this.
(07:56):
Wording of, oh well it wasn'tworking for such and such.
It doesn't mean we need to tearit down and then build it all
back up again.
That hurts us more.
Do we need to evaluate it, lookat our processes and make
improvements over time?
Absolutely.
No one's arguing against that.
(08:17):
But you don't throw out the babywith the bath water.
The bottom line is politiciansknow nurses votes matter.
They know that when healthcareworkers organize, when we show
up, when we use our voices, wecan change outcomes.
The question is, do you know itand do you believe it?
(08:37):
If you've been sitting back andsaying, no, it doesn't work like
that, and you haven't eventried, then you won't know.
I'm of the belief that I have totake action.
If this is the process, I'mgonna go the route of the
process of whatever it is that Ineed to do to make a change
(08:59):
before I can say, oh, thatdoesn't work.
Because I've seen how theprocess does work, and I also
see how people manipulate it tomake the process work for them.
So then when you startmanipulating the process to make
it work for you, now I gottahelp you understand, oh, I see
(09:19):
you and I still hold the power,but I'm just gonna go about it
in a different way.
So here's your challenge.
What we cannot do is we cannotcomplain and not vote.
We cannot sit around at thenurse's station talking about
how broken the system is and weskip the polls and literally
(09:41):
broken the system.
Is as far as the healthcaresystem, how broken the system is
as far as how we run ourhospitals.
I don't blame our C-suite forhow we run our hospitals.
Do we sometimes need betterleaders?
Absolutely.
But they're working with whatthey have been dealt.
Let's understand that they areworking within the cards that
(10:06):
they have been dealtpolitically.
We cannot post on social mediaabout what's wrong with health
policy or what's wrong with ourhospitals and not hold our
politicians accountable.
We cannot call ourselves patientadvocates and then be silent at
the ballot box if we don't vote.
(10:27):
We don't educate ourrepresentatives about what's
really happening if we don'tvote, we don't hold them
accountable when their policiesharm our patients.
If we don't vote, we have givenup our most powerful tool for
advocacy.
We all call ourselves advocatesfor the patient, but your first
(10:51):
and main action needs to bevoting.
Yes, it's to speak up for thepatient at the bedside who might
not be getting what they need.
But sometimes that not gettingwhat they need is a ripple
effect of what has happenedpolitically.
So here's the paradox we need tosit with.
If we are advocates at thebedside, but silent at the
(11:14):
ballot box, who are we really?
Are we truly adv them healthy inthe first place?
Are we truly leading if we'renot using every tool we have,
including our vote to createconditions for better health
outcomes?
The answer is no.
Our advocacy cannot stop at thehospital doors.
(11:35):
It has to extend to the votingbooth.
To city council meetings, toletters to our representatives,
to showing up in every spacewhere decisions about health are
being made.
So here's what I need from youtoday.
Here's your call to action ifyou have already voted.
Thank you.
(11:55):
Thank you for understanding thatthis is a part of the work.
If you haven't voted yet, gotoday.
Right after this episode ends,make a plan.
Look up your polling location,figure out your schedule and get
there.
I don't care if it'sinconvenient.
I don't care if the line islong, our patients deserve for
us to show up for them in everyway, and this is one of them.
(12:18):
If you're sitting here makingexcuses about why you can't vote
or why it doesn't matter, thisis your reminder that nurses
don't get to sit this one out.
We don't have the luxury ofpolitical apathy, not when we
see consequences every singleday, not when babies are coming
(12:39):
in hypoglycemic because theirmothers can't afford for your
assignment today.
And yes, I'm giving you anassignment, it's to vote for.
Candidates who will support ourwork as nurses, who will support
healthcare as a whole, who willput our people first and who
will put our community first inmy voting today, I am voting
(13:03):
very locally.
I only had two things to vote ona mayor and two city council
members, but it makes adifference because I'm in a
small town that people want totap into.
They want to bust at the seams,but we also have to consider our
(13:24):
streets traffic.
How long is it gonna take me toget to work?
How much of this traffic isgoing to impact our schools?
What does growth look like in mycommunity?
Is it the appropriate amount ofgrowth?
What do we allow in our cities?
(13:44):
That's what I'm voting on.
Vote for candidates who believein public health.
Vote for candidates who willfund WIC and SNAP, and programs
that will keep families fed.
Vote for candidates whounderstand that healthcare is a
right and not a privilege.
And after you vote, hold themaccountable.
Call them, email them.
(14:05):
Show up to town halls.
Make sure they know that nursesare watching, even in primaries.
That we vote even in primaries,and that we're organized.
Your first assignment as apatient advocate is to vote.
That's not your secondassignment.
It's not something you do if youhave time.
(14:27):
It is your first assignmentbecause the patients will see
next month, next year, fiveyears from now, their outcomes
are being decided today.
The policies that will eithersupport or hurt them are being
shaped by who we elect today.
So let's show up.
Let's use our voices.
(14:47):
Let's remember that being anambitious nurse means being
politically engaged because ourpatients' lives depend on it.
Thank you for listening.
Now go vote.
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