The Q Word Podcast

Do you feel like you are making things up as you go along just to look like you know what you are doing?  Do you feel like you don't belong -- that someone made a mistake trusting you with the health and well-being of your patients?  This phenomenon is more widespread than you think -- and if you suffer from imposter syndrome, you are in good company.  Nyssa and Lisa talk about how to recognize this issue, what types of personalities most suffer from it, and how to deal with it in your practice.

Nyssa and Lisa talk about the intersection of experiences between the pre-hospital and ER. In this conversation - part one of the Q Word Podcast's first trilogy - Nyssa puts on her Air Flight helmet to discuss the choices she, and other flight teams, make in the air which differ from the way things are done in the hospital.

For many years, epinephrine has been used as treatment for cardiac arrest, but a new study - PARAMEDIC2 - released by the New England Journal of Medicine, challenges that notion.  Nyssa and Lisa discuss the protocols, findings, ethics, and implications of this study, in an effort to introduce nurses to the idea that some big changes in ACLS may be just around the corner.

Lisa and Nyssa tackle one of the biggest taboos in emergency medicine: laughter in the ER.  Why it happens, is it appropriate, and if it is, when is it appropriate?  

Nyssa and Lisa give you the real deal on how to build a robust resume, score an interview, and insider tips on breaking into the industry. 

Did you know that there is a right way and a wrong way to sanitize your work wear after your shift?  Nyssa and Lisa talk cootie cleaning in their first fast track (mini) episode -- a quick and dirty conversation about how to not bring the hospital home with you.

Nyssa and Lisa talk about customs and concepts that pervade the ER which should be re-examined.  Learn why "He/she is a good nurse, but...", "Everybody [or nobody] does it that way," and "No one will ever know" are little lies every nurse should watch out for in their practice.

More than you ever wanted to know about poop.  How Nyssa almost quit nursing when she first encountered it in the ER, and how she - and all nurses - get used to it after a while.

Nyssa and Lisa interview ER nurse Donna Brannen, one of Nyssa's mentors, who drops some seriously golden advice and the mic (literally).   She speaks frankly about third year residents, administration, ICU versus ER, night shift versus day shift, and why she wears mismatched shoes.  

Welcome to the Q Word Podcast, where Nyssa - and ER and flight nurse - and her friend Lisa - an occasional and perpetually potential ER patient - have conversations about the tips, tricks, and taboos of emergency nursing. Take a peek behind the hospital curtain at the issues and ideas nurses - and their patients - often think about, but seldom talk about.