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Today’s episode is Nicole Cromwell 2.0—and trust me, a lot has happened in the last three years.

What started as a creative outlet has grown into something much bigger. In fact, Nicole’s life as an artist might just be giving her full-time nursing career a run for its money.

Since we last talked in episode 46, she hasn’t just been creating beautiful art—she’s been building pathways for others to reconnect with their own creativity. Her Brave Beginner Art course has expanded, and she’s added Creative Thinking in Nursing, both offering continuing education units. I’ve taken her Brave Beginner course myself, and I can tell you—it’s not just about art. It’s about rediscovering a part of yourself you may have forgotten was there.

And Nicole hasn’t lost sight of the bedside. As a former ICU nurse, she’s created two powerful resources—The ICU Diary and The Hospital Wellness Journal—designed to support patients and families as they navigate some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives.

You’ve heard me say it before—I deeply admire nurses who lift up other nurses. Nicole has experienced firsthand the impact of creativity: less stress, less anxiety, more joy, and a deeper connection to emotion. And now, she’s on a mission to make sure other healthcare professionals can experience that too.

If that’s not altruism, I don’t know what is.

Enjoy Nicole Cromwell 2.0. For Nicole's bio, visit my website (link below).

Be sure to get 25% of Nicole's courses by using coupon code: CONVERSING NURSE

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If you're my age and can remember over 50 years ago, you might recall those lazy Saturday mornings spent watching Schoolhouse Rock. There was a clever cartoon skit called, “I’m Just A Bill” where we’d learn how a bill becomes law. This three-minute video was responsible for teaching an entire generation of kids about Civics.
Enter Gilanie De Castro, also known as Citizen Nurse on social media, who through her bite-sized lessons titled Civics 101 for Healthcare highlights topics such as how nurses can shape government, how a bill becomes law, how to find your congressperson, and how to use your vote as your voice.
Gilanie shared with us how nurses can get involved at the grassroots level of current movements affecting nurses such as the Nursing is STEM movement and the Commission for Nurse Reimbursement.
Gilanie's strong passion for advocacy was born out of the moral distress she felt during the pandemic when she realized that the agencies she thought had nurses’ backs, did not. Nurses often complain they are not asked for valuable input on health policy decisions. Gilanie’s message? Don’t wait to be asked for your input, take the initiative and give it!
In the five-minute snippet: she’s got a new lease on life. For Gilanie's bio, please visit my website (link below).
Citizen Nurse Instagram
CitizenNurse YouTube
Nurse Gilanie TikTok

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Website: https://theconversingnursepodcast.com
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I've partnered with RNegade.pro! You can earn CE's just by listening to my podcast episodes! Check out my CE library here: https://rnegade.thinkific.com/collections/conversing-nurse-podcast

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Today, we’re talking about something that most nurses have felt — but few organizations are willing to name honestly.

Burnout.

But what if burnout isn’t about resilience?
What if it isn’t about self-care?
What if it’s actually an ethical issue?

My guest today is Aimee Ellis, nurse executive and author of Flatline Ethics. Aimee argues that when nurses are chronically overwhelmed, morally distressed, and unsupported, that’s not a staffing inconvenience.

That’s an ethical breakdown.

Recently debuting as a Top 10 New Release in Health Policy on Amazon, the book argues that nurse burnout is not a personal weakness — it’s a leadership failure.

If you’ve ever felt moral distress, invisible, or asked to carry the weight of a broken system — this conversation is for you.

In the five-minute snippet: Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, Aimee is comin’ for you.

For Aimee's bio, visit my website (link below).

TAE Associates and Co.

Contact The Conversing Nurse podcast
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Website: https://theconversingnursepodcast.com
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Check out my guests' book recommendations! https://bookshop.org/shop/theconversingnursepodcast

I've partnered with RNegade.pro! You can earn CE's just by listening to my podcast episodes! Check out my CE library here: https://rnegade.thinkific.com/collections/conversing-nurse-podcast

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I've often said on this podcast that many nurses choose this profession for reasons that aren't noble or lofty. Alisha Sandidge-Renteria changed that for me. As a teenager, she witnessed the economic disparity in healthcare after seeing her mother, who was fighting cancer, be forced to choose a cheaper, experimental, and less effective regimen which ultimately ended her life. Since then, Alisha has embodied the words of Gandhi, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." And as a nurse practitioner, she can do just that. Of course, we talked about the particulars of the job, the schooling, the patient population, work settings, diagnosing, and, you know, me, we also discussed professional organizations and board certification. There was some heavy lifting as well. We talked about broken systems and broken people. But through it all, there was one common thread evident in our discussion: connection, with our patients, our communities, each other, and ourselves. In the five-minute snippet, I see a commune in her future. For Alisha's bio, visit my website (link below).
The American Association of Nurse Practitioners
California Association for Nurse Practitioners
American Association of Critical Care Nurses
New California Rule AB-890
The Daily Dad

Contact The Conversing Nurse podcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconversingnursepodcast/
Website: https://theconversingnursepodcast.com
Your review is so important to this Indie podcaster! You can leave one here! https://theconversingnursepodcast.com/leave-me-a-review
Would you like to be a guest on my podcast? Pitch me! https://theconversingnursepodcast.com/intake-form
Check out my guests' book recommendations! https://bookshop.org/shop/theconversingnursepodcast

I've partnered with RNegade.pro! You can earn CE's just by listening to my podcast episodes! Check out my CE library here: https://rnegade.thinkific.com/collections/conversing-nurse-podcast

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If nursing is consistently ranked as the most trusted profession in America…
Why do so many nurses feel unheard inside their own workplaces?

That question has been on my mind.

On this podcast:

We talk about burnout.
We talk about staffing.
We talk about leadership.

But underneath all of it is something deeper — culture.

And culture is hard to change.

Not because nurses don’t care.
Not because leaders don’t try.

But because culture isn’t just policy.

It’s identity.

There are many layers to uncover here, so let’s get into it.

Notes on Nursing: What it is and What it is Not, by Florence Nightingale

Contact The Conversing Nurse podcast
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Website: https://theconversingnursepodcast.com
Your review is so important to this Indie podcaster! You can leave one here! https://theconversingnursepodcast.com/leave-me-a-review
Would you like to be a guest on my podcast? Pitch me! https://theconversingnursepodcast.com/intake-form
Check out my guests' book recommendations! https://bookshop.org/shop/theconversingnursepodcast

I've partnered with RNegade.pro! You can earn CE's just by listening to my podcast episodes! Check out my CE library here: https://rnegade.thinkific.com/collections/conversing-nurse-podcast

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Enjoy this short! Sit back and laugh with me and my girl, Jessica, as we have a bit of fun in the closet!

Jessica's Instagram https://www.instagram.com/dream.2.b.free/
ICYMI: Conversing with a Flight Nurse: Jennifer Caposella: https://www.buzzsprout.com/Conversing with a Flight Nurse: Jennifer Caposella

Contact The Conversing Nurse podcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconversingnursepodcast/
Website: https://theconversingnursepodcast.com
Your review is so important to this Indie podcaster! You can leave one here! https://theconversingnursepodcast.com/leave-me-a-review
Would you like to be a guest on my podcast? Pitch me! https://theconversingnursepodcast.com/intake-form
Check out my guests' book recommendations! https://bookshop.org/shop/theconversingnursepodcast

I've partnered with RNegade.pro! You can earn CE's just by listening to my podcast episodes! Check out my CE library here: https://rnegade.thinkific.com/collections/conversing-nurse-podcast

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Heather Vails, MSN Ed. RNC-NIC, is definitely in my badass nurse category. She has lived with the rare genetic disorder Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, or EDS, for decades. She has not only lived, she’s thrived. After a long career as a NICU nurse, she recently left the bedside, a place she loved dearly to venture into teaching our new generation of nurses as a Professor of Pediatrics. Listen as she educates us about this rare condition and how she has not let EDS slow her down.
https://www.ehlers-danlos.org
https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/
For Heather's bio visit my website (link below)

Contact The Conversing Nurse podcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconversingnursepodcast/
Website: https://theconversingnursepodcast.com
Your review is so important to this Indie podcaster! You can leave one here! https://theconversingnursepodcast.com/leave-me-a-review
Would you like to be a guest on my podcast? Pitch me! https://theconversingnursepodcast.com/intake-form
Check out my guests' book recommendations! https://bookshop.org/shop/theconversingnursepodcast

I've partnered with RNegade.pro! You can earn CE's just by listening to my podcast episodes! Check out my CE library here: https://rnegade.thinkific.com/collections/conversing-nurse-podcast

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Today’s guest has one of those careers that doesn’t follow a straight line—and that’s exactly what makes it powerful.

Julie Smith’s professional path looks a bit like a zig-zag, but every turn adds depth. She began in communications, pivoted into emergency nursing, focused on safety net populations and disaster relief, moved into education, and now serves as a clinical product leader at InterSystems. There, she helps guide development of HealthShare, one of the world’s most advanced interoperability platforms, supporting massive health systems and government-sponsored organizations around the globe.

Julie is a nurse at heart, a health IT leader by trade, and a fierce advocate for health equity and clinician-centered technology. What I loved most about our conversations is when Julie explained why nurses must have a seat at the interoperability table—and how trust, not just technology, is the real end goal.

In the five-minute snippet: You didn’t just say the Q word, did you? For Julie's bio, visit my website (link below).

Hear Julie on the Hit Like a Girl podcast!

Contact The Conversing Nurse podcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconversingnursepodcast/
Website: https://theconversingnursepodcast.com
Your review is so important to this Indie podcaster! You can leave one here! https://theconversingnursepodcast.com/leave-me-a-review
Would you like to be a guest on my podcast? Pitch me! https://theconversingnursepodcast.com/intake-form
Check out my guests' book recommendations! https://bookshop.org/shop/theconversingnursepodcast

I've partnered with RNegade.pro! You can earn CE's just by listening to my podcast episodes! Check out my CE library here: https://rnegade.thinkific.com/collections/conversing-nurse-podcast

Thanks for listening!