The Happy Nurse

The Happy Nurse

Nurses are the backbone of the health system, always there to care for a stranger as if they were one of their own. Forsaking special moments with their own families to ensure that other families loved ones are being cared for. Compassion fatigue, stress, and burnout are on the rise in healthcare workers. Self care has never been so important. Elaina Mullery RN has over 20 years of clinical nursing experience as well as being trained in Mindfulness, Meditation, Hypnotherapy, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Having burnout a couple of times herself, she is passionate about promoting effective self care strategies to her Nursing colleagues.

Episodes

October 24, 2025 47 mins

When new nurses enter the profession, they’re told to “toughen up” — but what they really need is support, balance, and space to be human.

In this week’s episode of The Happy Nurse Podcast, I’m joined by nurse educator and coach Deanne Geddes, who shares her powerful insights on helping graduate nurses transition into practice with confidence and care.

We talk about burnout, identity, boundaries, and why thriving as a nurse...

Mark as Played

In this episode, Mark, founder of MACH Health, shares his extensive healthcare journey from Australia to Singapore, China, and the UK, and his transition from clinical nursing to creating innovative solutions aimed at reducing nurse burnout and promoting sustainable nurse wellbeing.

Mark discusses the current international nursing workforce crisis, the critical need for proactive and evidence based approaches to nurse health, and hi...

Mark as Played

In this episode of the Happy Nurse Podcast, Psychologist Shannon Swales joins me to discuss the realities of burnout, compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma and moral injury with a special focus on the unique risks faced by midlife women and nurses.

What We Cover in This Episode

  • How midlife transitions and caregiving roles amplify stress and burnout risk.

  • The difference between burnout, compassion fatigue, vic...
Mark as Played

In this deeply insightful conversation, Todd, a transformational coach, mentor, and advocate for authentic leadership, shares his unique journey from an Army medic and ICU nurse to corporate leader and transformational coach. Todd opens up about his personal brushes with mortality—surviving a brain tumor—and how it propelled him into a profound mindset shift that fuels his coaching practice today. He offers a powerful perspective o...

Mark as Played
August 11, 2025 41 mins

Unpacking My Journey with Michelle

Episode Summary: In this heartfelt episode, Elaina Mullery reconnects with her dear friend Michelle to discuss a deeply personal journey. After a significant absence from the podcast, Elaina opens up about the serious health challenge she faced over the past few years. This episode is a candid exploration of her path to recovery, emphasising the importance of self care and mindfulness.

Key Topi...

Mark as Played

Welcome back, seasoned listeners! In the latest episode of our podcast, Elaina Mullery kicks off the new season with the incredible Michelle Powell. If you've been following us, you're familiar with Michelle, a trauma coach specialising in trauma and mental health.


Michelle, the author of "The Mastery of Wellness,"
brings a wealth of expertise to the table, including equine therapies and
clinica...
Mark as Played
Being mindful of the present is not an easy thing to do. We either get caught in the rabbit hole of the past, or we get too anxious about the future.  

While recovering from COVID, I had deep reflections about what was going on in my inner world. The isolation worked in my favour as it gave me enough time to ponder on being mindful.   
For this episode, you will hear my insights about how mindfulness c...
Mark as Played
The pressure of everyday life can become unreasonable at times. The effect of this can have us operating from our fight or flight response. In this episode, we’ll unpack the impact of the nervous system on our well-being with Michelle Powell. Michelle is a world-renowned trauma and wellness expert, and a regular guest on The Happy Nurse Podcast. She shares her knowledge of how the nervous system influences thoughts, actions, and re...
Mark as Played
In this episode, I chat with Nichola about the importance of sharing our stories with others.   Nichola's nursing career spans over three decades and has a depth of knowledge and experience. She shares her wisdom about her career, reflective practice, and the importance of self-reflection.   It's time to share our stories about burnout, as this has the potential to assist others to recognise that they may be heading toward burnout ...
Mark as Played
There is a growing demand to create a space for psychological safety in the healthcare industry. It’s vital for producing a high-performance team.   Healthcare professionals focus on the psychological safety of their patients. They look after patients to the best of their abilities and ensure that they’re set up for success. However, this safe space is often not offered to themselves or their colleagues.  In this episode, I have an...
Mark as Played
There is a second pandemic currently occurring. Burnout in our healthcare staff. Many of us are beyond burnout and we are having to shift our focus from prevention, to burnout recovery.    The environment that is pre disposing us to burnout and compassion fatigue is creating “moral injury.”  Moral Injury is leading to nurses feeling undervalued, trapped, exhausted, unappreciated and lost in a very broken system.   In this episode, ...
Mark as Played
Welcome back to The Happy Nurse Podcast. It has been a busy 6 months break, but I’m excited to be recording and sharing knowledge with you once again. There’s no better way to begin the podcast than with a wonderful friend of mine, Michelle Powell. Michelle Is a Trauma and Wellness Expert, she holds many qualifications including, Hypnotherapist, Emotional Coach, NLP & Timeline Therapy Practitioner and so much more. In this episode,...
Mark as Played
We’ve finally hit episode 50! I’m beyond excited to celebrate this milestone and what better way to do so by having back on the show one of our regular guests, Michelle Powell.  We recorded an episode a couple of months ago around body image which was very well received. However, it was such a big topic that we were not really able to get to the bottom of what body image can encompass.  So today, we’re back to unpack concepts of th...
Mark as Played
We’ve all been deceived by the belief that success is about getting more.  As a result, we have developed an endless pursuit to have more and be more, only to find out that many of the things we chase don’t ring us happiness.  In fact sometimes, the exact opposite. Unfortunately for many, it leads to being stuck on the BS hamster wheel.   In this episode, I’m joined by Mark Bramwell, the author of the book, That’s Bullshit: Stop dr...
Mark as Played
It’s no surprise that Nurses and healthcare Practitioners are battling burnout and mental health issues now more than ever. Burnout in itself is becoming a pandemic.   This episode’s guest is Kenny Gibson, National Head of Safeguarding at NHS England. Kenny shares how we as nurses and healthcare practitioners can overcome burnout in a time of exhaustion. He shares what it takes to become a positive disruptor in today’s disruptive w...
Mark as Played
Anxiety is more prevalent in the nursing workforce than we realise. Unfortunately, It looks like it has increased due to the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic.    Nurses often work 10 to 12-hour shifts (sometimes longer with enforced overtime) which in itself can induce a lot of stress within our bodies. Moreover, many nurses face trauma on a regular basis and often feel undervalued. All of these factors contribute to our anxiety ...
Mark as Played
Burnout is a phenomenon that has been in the nursing space for years, and it continues to grow. Unfortunately, burnout isn't talked about openly and has become the elephant in the room for a long time. Having experienced burnout twice, it has been my mission to reduce burnout among nurses. I know for a fact the kind of workplace stresses we nurses face on a daily basis.  In this episode, I’m joined by Darrel Griffin. Darrel is the ...
Mark as Played
BODY IMAGE. At some point or another most of the population struggle with their body image in some capacity. I haven’t met someone to this day who doesn’t have any hang-ups with their body.  Personally, I have battled with my body image for a very long time.  In episode 39, I spoke with Michelle about trauma response and how this can show up in our bodies. I also shared where my body issues came from. I have been overwhelmed with s...
Mark as Played
In this episode, we get to chat with Zara Lord, an ICU Registered Nurse and the founder of uPaged. Zara is shaking up the casual Nursing workforce with her app, uPaged.  A new technology that is specific to the needs of different healthcare organisations and departments, as well as the individual Nurses experience and skill set.   Rostering is a dynamic process.  NUM’s often find themselves juggling and moving staff a bit like a ga...
Mark as Played
Are you afraid to suck at something?  Why do we put so much pressure and expectation on ourselves?  The truth is, you are not not alone. As individuals, especially as professionals, we like to feel that we are confident, that we know what we know, and that we can handle everything on our own. The problem is, we become afraid to get out of that bubble.  Children are great reminders that it’s okay to suck at something. They get back ...
Mark as Played

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