Nursing Needs A Defibrillation: We Are The Shift, We Are The CHANGE with Dr. Danielle McCamey & Gloria Barrera
Release Date: 05/07/2026
The Handover: What a 40-Year Gap of Experience Can Teach the Nursing Profession
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7 Years Ago, I Hid Under My Desk--And Seven Years Later, Almost to The Day... She Was Walked Out.
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Content note: this episode discusses workplace violence, suicidal ideation and psychological harm in a clinical/workplace setting. This week, almost seven years to the day since I walked out of a role where I once hid under my desk to escape a leader who ran her unit on fear, that same leader was walked out of hers. This isn't a celebration episode. I don't take pleasure in anyone losing their income or their identity. But I can't stay quiet about what it means that it took seven years — seven years of turnover, burnout, and silence — for accountability to catch up. In this solo episode, I...
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Follow The Legislation, Fix The Insurance! Nurse Psychotherapy Supports Mental Health
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With a growing mental health crisis and a system bogged down by waitlists and rigid silos, a powerful paradigm shift is happening across Canada: the rise of nurse-led psychotherapy. In this educational episode, we sit down with Sheena Howard (BScN, MA, RYT, RN), award-winning Nurse Psychotherapist and the founder of Acceptance Psychotherapy. We dive deep into why Registered Nurses are uniquely positioned to transform mental healthcare. Grounded in a holistic nursing blueprint, nurse psychotherapists don't just treat symptoms in isolation; they integrate biological, psychological, and social...
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From KOBO to Digital Health: Disrupting the Status Quo In Healthcare with Mike Serbinis
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How do we move from a healthcare system that only reacts to illness, to one that actively empowers patients? In this episode of The Gritty Nurse Podcast, host Amie Archibald-Varley sits down with Mike Serbinis, the visionary CEO and founder of League, a leading digital health platform transforming the consumer healthcare experience. A seasoned tech innovator and entrepreneur, Mike has a storied history of disrupting industries—from working alongside Elon Musk on early jet propulsion designs to co-founding Kobo, which challenged the global e-reading market. Now, he’s turning his sights...
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From the ICU to the Page: Nurse Author Tilda Shalof on Why Nurses Must Tell Their Stories
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What happens when a nurse picks up a pen and refuses to stay quiet? She becomes Tilda Shalof — ICU nurse, bestselling author, patient advocate, and one of Canada's most powerful voices for the nursing profession. In this episode of The Gritty Nurse Podcast, host Amie Archibald-Varley sits down with Tilda Shalof, RN, BScN, CNCC(C), a veteran nurse from Toronto General Hospital's Medical-Surgical ICU and the author of six books — including the acclaimed A Nurse's Story, The Making of a Nurse, Camp Nurse, Opening My Heart, Lives in the Balance, and Bringing It Home. Her work has been...
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What Nurses Don't Know About the Law Could Cost Them Everything w/ Dr. Cambria Nwsou DNP, RN, LNC
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Do you actually know your rights as a nurse? What does it take to go from the operating room to the courtroom — and why should every nurse care? In this episode of The Gritty Nurse Podcast, host Amie Archibald-Varley sits down with the remarkable Dr. Cambria Nwosu, RN — a nurse whose career has taken her from high-stakes surgical suites to the frontlines of legal nursing consulting and healthcare policy advocacy. Cambria's story is a masterclass in what's possible when nurses refuse to stay in their lane. Amie and Cambria dig into the real, often unspoken truth that nurses...
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Women’s health needs a ton of work, and it is a hill we are willing to die on. In this powerful episode of The Gritty Nurse Podcast, host Amie Archibald-Varley sits down with Tina Bitangcol—widely known as Mama Nurse Tina—for an urgent, unfiltered conversation about the realities of women’s healthcare, maternal mortality, and systemic disparities. From navigating birth trauma and postpartum complications to addressing the critical gaps in Indigenous health and cultural competence, Amie and Tina shed light on the untold stories of the healthcare system. Together, they discuss how we can...
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Exposing The Barriers: Why Are Nurse Practitioners Not Practicing To Their Full Scope in Canada? Discussions with CEO of NPAO Dr. Michelle Acorn
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In this urgent episode, host Amie Archibald-Varley sits down with Dr. Michelle Acorn, CEO of the Nurse Practitioners' Association of Ontario (NPAO), to rip the band-aid off a system that refuses to evolve. Dr. Acorn pulls no punches: Nurse Practitioners are trained, capable, and ready — and they're being held back by outdated policy, inadequate funding, and a government content to watch the primary care crisis deepen rather than act. What you'll hear in this episode: The full scope of what Ontario's inaction actually means for patients on the ground Why NPs remain one of the most...
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The Obedient Nurse: How the "Good Nurse" Myth Quietly Paves the Way for Authoritarianism— and learning Hope Is a Discipline
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What does Florence Nightingale have to do with authoritarianism? More than nursing wants to admit. In this episode of The Gritty Nurse Podcast, host Amie Archibald-Varley and guest Meg tackles one of nursing's most uncomfortable questions: why can't nurses criticize Florence Nightingale? She is nursing's most sacred icon — but what if the "good nurse" myth she built has been grooming nurses to accept obedience, silence, and their own oppression for over a century? Beyond this, what happens when we cannot critize the leaders we put in places of power? This is a conversation about nursing,...
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Nursing Needs A Defibrillation: We Are The Shift, We Are The CHANGE with Dr. Danielle McCamey & Gloria Barrera
The Gritty Nurse
The healthcare system is flatlining, and it’s time for a professional resuscitation. This Nursing Week, join Dr. Danielle McCamey and Gloria E. Barrera for a heavy-hitting breakdown of the HESS framework—Humanity, Ethics, Social Justice, and Science—as the ultimate toolkit for systemic reform. From the grassroots power of Nurses Shift Change to the national Report for Duty call to action, we explore how to move beyond the bedside to fight for environmental justice, primary care, and safe working conditions. We are done paying the price for a profit-first system; it is time to stop...
info_outlineThe healthcare system is flatlining, and it’s time for a professional resuscitation.
This Nursing Week, join Dr. Danielle McCamey and Gloria E. Barrera for a heavy-hitting breakdown of the HESS framework—Humanity, Ethics, Social Justice, and Science—as the ultimate toolkit for systemic reform. From the grassroots power of Nurses Shift Change to the national Report for Duty call to action, we explore how to move beyond the bedside to fight for environmental justice, primary care, and safe working conditions. We are done paying the price for a profit-first system; it is time to stop working the shift and start being the change.
Inside This Episode:
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The HESS Framework: Why merging social justice with clinical science is the future of nursing.
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Nurses Shift Change: How grassroots movements are mobilizing the workforce to demand better working conditions.
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Political Power: Why nurses must engage in policy and advocacy to fix a broken healthcare system.
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The Retention Crisis: Addressing the unique challenges facing young nurses and how to prevent "ethical injuries" in the workplace.
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Collective Action: The roadmap for nurses to unite and demand better outcomes for both patients and practitioners.
Nurses are the backbone of healthcare, but systemic barriers often stifle their voices. This episode is a call to action for every nurse, student, and healthcare advocate to pivot from "coping" to "changing."
"It’s not just about surviving the shift; it’s about changing the shift."
Keywords: Nursing Week, Nursing Advocacy, HESS Framework, Healthcare Reform, Nurses Shift Change, Nursing Ethics, Social Justice in Nursing, Nurse Retention, Health Policy.
Don’t forget to like, share and subscribe and leave a review if you’re ready to see the nursing profession lead the charge in healthcare transformation!
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Nursing Advocacy and Community Building
02:25 The HESS Framework: Humanity, Ethics, Social Justice, and Science
05:14 Public Health and Nursing: Bridging the Gap
07:45 The Power of Collective Voice in Nursing
10:45 Mobilizing for Change: The Report for Duty Rally
13:48 Strategic Nursing Leadership and Systemic Change
23:03 Awakening the Nursing Profession
24:45 The Political Nature of Nursing
26:57 Understanding Nursing as a Political Force
33:08 Addressing Racism in Nursing
39:13 The Leaky Bucket: Retaining Nurses
42:15 Ethical Injuries in Nursing
More about Nurses Shift Change: https://nurseshiftchange.org
Gloria E. Barrera, MSN, RN, PEL-CSN, PLNC
Gloria E. Barrera (she/her/ella) is a public health and school nurse leader, recognized expert, and dedicated nursing faculty member with over 16 years of experience. She serves as Director of an RN to BSN Program and has been recognized nationally for her leadership, including being named Nurse Influencer of the Year by ANA-Illinois, and a 40 Under Forty in Public Health honoree by the de Beaumont Foundation. Gloria is the Co-Founder of Nurse Heroes for Zero and the Society of Latinx Nurses, a Fellow of the Center for Health Equity Education and Advocacy (CHEEA) and the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, and alumni of Healing Politics '25. She is dedicated to advancing health equity, climate justice, and the next generation of nurse leaders.
Danielle McCamey, DNP, APRN, ACNP-BC, FCCP
Danielle McCamey is a dedicated nurse leader, educator, and advocate for diversity in healthcare. With over 16 years of critical care experience and nearly a decade as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, she currently serves as the Chief Advanced Practice Provider of the Pre-anesthesia Testing Department and Senior Advanced Practice Provider in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit. She also chairs the MedStar Doctoral Nurses Collaborative and is a Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians. As the founder, CEO, and president of DNPs of Color, Inc., Dr. McCamey is committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in nursing through mentorship, leadership development, and community empowerment.
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