Radical Nurse Talk

This episode of Radical Nurse Talk features Dr. Aric Rankin sharing his nearly 20 years of experience working in Indigenous health care across remote and urban settings. The conversation explores building trust and therapeutic relationships with Indigenous patients through humility, cultural respect, and ongoing learning. Dr. Rankin highlights the influence of place and history on care delivery and stresses the importance of supporting Indigenous self-determination and health equity. This episode

In this thought-provoking episode, Dr. Elise Tarbi invites us to move beyond traditional models of clinical communication and explore the deeper, more human side of nursing. Rather than focusing solely on information delivery, Dr. Tarbi emphasizes the relational and existential aspects of serious illness conversations — the kind of dialogue that helps patients and families feel truly seen and heard.A board-certified Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner with advanced expertise in

For generations, people have been judged, shamed, and blamed for their weight-by families, friends, healthcare practitioners, and society at large. These messages become so deeply internalized that many of us don’t even recognize when we’re turning that judgment inward. Why do so many patients describe themselves as “bad” for what they eat? How did food choices become a moral issue?In this episode of Radical Nurse Talk, Nurse Practitioner Heather Watson, an expert in obesity medicine, invites us to

Birgit Umaigba is a registered nurse and PhD student at Queen's University's School of Nursing. She is also a thought leader, speaker, health equity advocate, nurse educator, and consultant. At the heart of her work is a commitment to integrating an equity-focused perspective into nursing, particularly in addressing the needs of Black, Indigenous, and racialized communities.Patricia Strachan, host of Radical Nurse Talk, first learned of Birgit’s advocacy through an article in The Canadian Nurse in

In this heartfelt episode, Mahoganie Hines delves into the critical role of nurses in advocating for patient-centred care at the end of life. With passion and expertise, Mahoganie highlights how nurses serve as the steady presence—the calm in the storm—when patients are facing decline and when families are overwhelmed by difficult decisions. She passionately argues that advocacy is not just a role, but a cornerstone of nursing care during this sensitive time.As a clinical nurse specialist on the

How can a Chief Nursing Officer influence conversations about serious illness?In this episode, Patricia Strachan explores this question with Dr. Leigh Chapman, a dedicated nurse and leader who is advocating at the highest levels across Canada to improve working conditions for nurses—helping them not only stay in the profession but thrive. And when nurses thrive, patients benefit too. Leigh Chapman was appointed Canada’s Chief Nursing Officer in 2022, a positive outcome from the challenges posed by

How can nurses be involved in decisions that patients make about innovative heart valve interventions for which they may be eligible? In this episode Dr. Sandra Lauck thoughtfully describes her work and that of others in supporting nurses to have opportunities and language that open spaces for patients to question, understand and consider possible therapies. In this way she offers radical possibilities for all nurses to transform patient experience, not only in cardiac care, but in any practice