PODCAST · health
First Best Nurse
by Advocate Health Nursing
A podcast for and about nurses, brought to you by Advocate Health Nursing
Episodes
-
Executive Fellowship as a Catalyst: Expanding the Leadership Lens
DNP student and Advocate Health nursing director Stacy Marcocci joins Dr. Stephanie McDonald for a reflection on the value of executive fellowships. Stacy recently completed her DNP fellowship with Stephanie, so these two have a lot to discuss!
-
Advocate Nurses on the Hill
Hear from some of our Advocate Health Nurses who participated in Advocacy Day in DC this year! Dr. Carmen Shaw facilitates this conversation with Jessica Yates, Heath Earley, Yushunda Whitehurst and Beverly Queen.
-
Divisional Chief Nurses = Force Multipliers
How do we drive strategy and achieve goals in such a large, complex health system? At Advocate Health, it's simple math. Meet our force multipliers: Our divisional chief nurses Tami, Annmarie and Dre.
-
May is Mental Health Awareness Month
Dr. Carmen Shaw and Dr. Stephanie McDonald welcomed behavioral health nurses to the show for a rich conversation around behavioral health nursing and why this matters to you. As it turns out, every nurse is a behavioral health nurse.
-
A New Look at Second Victim Trauma
Host Stephanie McDonald welcomes Dr. Luci New, a seasonednurse and educator, to discuss the critical topics of second victim phenomenon, workplace violence, bullying, and the power of peer support in healthcare. Dr. New shared her journey from the OR to academia, her research on peer support...
-
Bold Thinking, Human Care
Meet Tracy Breece, RN and VP of Innovation, AI and Emerging Technology at Advocate Health. She is pure inspiration and motivation. In this episode, Carmen and Stephanie dig into who she is, how she got here, and what she is focused on. It is a great episode for all. We would also like to thank…
more -
Here's the Sit-uation
A first impression is usually formed within the first 7 secondsof an interaction (Harvard Study of Communication); it takes as little as 56 seconds to make a meaningful connection (Christina Dempsey, the former Chief Nursing Officer of Press Ganey); providers usually interrupt a patient…
more -
Grabbing the Bully by the Horns
This engaging episode features a conversation with Renee Thompson, Founder of the Healthy Workforce Institute.
-
Prize Winning Poster Presentation
Amy Peterson and Leeann Smith won the blue ribbon at the 2025 ANCC Magnet and Pathways Conference for the work they presented - hear all about it here!
-
Making an Impact in Maternal Health
Dr. Patricia Spada shares her DNP project aimed at improving maternal health through structured communication
-
NCNA Convention 2025 - AI conversation
Carmen and Stephanie presented at the 2025 NCNA convention on the topic of podcasting, and took the opportunity to record a conversation with the audience about AI. You get to listen in and hear from some wise nurses in North Carolina!
-
Holistic Nursing Practices - Episode 4: Energy Therapies
Our series concludes with Cathy Carson sharing about energy medicine, and specifically, things that you could do for self or others.
-
Holistic Nursing Practices - episode 3: Touch Therapy
Touch therapy? What is that? Cathy Carson brings another episode showcasing touch therapy - what it is, how you can do it and what is the benefit.
-
Conversations from the 2025 ANCC Magnet and Pathways Conference
Carmen and Stephanie chat with conference attendees about their experience.
-
Holistic Nursing Series - episode 2: Mindful Practices
Cathy Carson joins us again to discuss mindful practices.
-
Holistic Nursing Series - episode 1: Aromatherapy
Dive into holistic nursing with a 4-part series featuring certified holistic nurse, Cathy Carson.
-
Ask the CNO: Wake Forest School of Medicine Doctor of Nursing Practice Edition
In this episode, students from the Wake Forest School of Medicine Doctor or Nursing program asked leadership questions, and Giancarlo Lyle-Edrosolo, RN answered.
-
I-PASS Go: Level Up Your Handover Game
Are You Doing Bedside Reports Right? Hear from Victoria Cabasares, nurse manager at Atrium Health Peach, as she describes how she implemented I-PASS in her emergency department.
-
Learn about the Universal Acceptor Program
Join Stephanie in a conversation with a team from Atrium Health's Capacity Command Center. They highlight a position being trialed - the Universal Acceptor Nurse. This role is helping gain efficiencies while allowing nurses to work at top of license.
-
Would you call this a joint venture?
In this short burst, Stephanie interviews fellow podcaster, Steven Cuzmenco, about his podcast, Researched RN.
-
Time for a Gut Check"
Dr. Meredith McSwain disseminates her important work on use of GutCheckNEC with SBAR. Her project aimed to empower nurses with the ability to detect signs of NEC early and communicate their concerns effectively to clinicians.
-
Diving into The Pearl | Where excellence lives and excellence is learned
The Pearl is Advocate Health's new innovation district. Learn more about the Pearl and the vision for innovation in Advocate Health and for Charlotte in this episode.
-
Healing Politics with Dr. Kimberly Gordon
August is Civic Health month, and in that spirit, we bring you a lively conversation with Dr. Kimberly Gordon, co-founder of Healing Politics. This organization is built with an aim to arm nurses with tools to increase their civic engagement, from simply voting to running for office. We know you...
-
Hot Topic Alert: Sepsis
In this short episode, you meet Meredith Wallace, RN, sepsis coordinator as she discusses the importance of timely, appropriate sepsis care.
-
A Reviewer's Eye: Inside the Nurse Peer Review Mindset
When something doesn't go as expected in our nursing care, how do we know if the standard of care was followed? Was generally acceptable practice used? This episode takes a deep dive into a nursing event peer review process in place at Atrium Health, part of Advocate Health.
-
Live from the Advocate Health Nursing Summit - It's the First Best Nurse Podcast
Recorded live at the Advocate Health Nursing Summit during nurses week, this episode features guidance and conversation around the use of social media.
-
Pursuing Your Passion: An Interview with Eden Lee, RN
Eden Lee, RN lives in 2 worlds as a nurse and an actress. Listen to this insightful conversation about how she balances both dreams.
-
Family presence in resuscitation
Jaclyn Duncan, RN shares details of a research study on preparing nurses to support family presence in resuscitation.
-
Code Lavender
This short bonus episode features our Code Lavender program. Specifically, a grant-funded expansion of code lavender to ambulatory spaces. The conversation features Patara Parham, Deanca Crouch, and Zach Fulbright.
-
Leaning into the Future: How Nursing will Thrive featuring Dr. Betty Jo Rocchio
This is a conversation with Dr. Betty Jo Rocchio, Advocate Health's enterprise Chief Nursing Officer. This conversation talks about the now, near, and far of nursing.
-
Activity Box – An Improvement Project for Long Stay ED Patients
Dr. Whitney Bradshaw and Dr. Fran Charlton share an improvement project done in the ED, aimed at improving the quality of life and care for patients who stay in EDs for long periods. This was Dr. Bradshaw's DNP project.
-
What Matters the Most: Next Generation Leader
In this burst, Dr. Carmen Shaw shares insights from her published article,ADifferent Mindset fora Different Culture: Sustaining the Next-Generation Workforce
-
Doll Therapy
In this burst you can hear about Navicent Medical Center's experience with doll therapy, along with an entreprenurse who aspires to make doll therapy broadly available .
-
Clinical Nurses Specialists Leading Toward One Advocate Health
In this episode, we hear from four of Advocate Health's ultimate advocates - the CNS team.
-
We are ONE!
Day 2 at the ANCC Magnet and Pathway Conference delivered some great conversations! We hope you enjoy!
-
We did it again! Interviews from the ANCC Magnet and Pathways Conference 2024
Carmen and Stephanie attended the annual ANCC conference - along with 13,000 other nurses. This is part one of the interviews done while on site, and it's filled with great energy and insights!
-
First Best Nurse Burst - CNS teaser
We are trying something new - offering some shorter bursts of information in between our longer episodes. Carmen and I hope you like this format! In our first burst, here from MaryAnn Moon as she talks a little about what a CNS role is, as a teaser to an upcoming longer episode. Let us know what...
-
Reflect, Celebrate, and Keep Growing: Just a Few of our Thoughts about 2024
Carmen and Stephanie talk about some of the lessons learned this year in our previous episodes, and some of our plans for future episodes.
-
Ladies and Gentlemen...The Presidents
At Advocate Health, each of our large care regions has a President of Nursing position. In this episode, you'll hear from our presidents about their role in professional governance and leadership.
-
Male Voices in Nursing Leadership
This episode features the 3 male chief nurses of Advocate Health in a candid dialogue about men in nursing and leadership.
-
Advocate's Advocates
This episode feature some of our nurses who have used their talents and stories to secure a platform in which they can advocate. It demonstrates the power of nursing's voice.
-
The Gravitational Power of Well-Being
During mental health awareness month, it is important that we take time for our own well-being. Hear from some of the experts at Advocate Health about what we are doing organizationally.
-
“Becoming a nurse saves you” - Reflections from new nurses.
This episode features thoughts and reflections from 3 Advocate Health newly graduated RNs: Samantha Lavoie, Venitta Craig, and Jherica Kirkland, who noted "becoming a nurse saves you".
-
Dr. Janice Walker - Welcome to Atrium Health
In this episode, Carmen and Stephanie interview the new CNE for Atrium Health. Dr. Janice Walker shares about her extensive nursing career and accomplishments.
-
We hear you - Workplace violence mitigation
This episode features some Advocate Health leaders in workplace violence mitigaton - Dr. Jason Stopyra and Jennifer Ziccardi-Colson.
-
The "Easy Button" for publication.
Hear how nurses at Advocate Health partnered with Doody to make publication a reality.
-
The Conversation Continues - Day 2
Carmen and Stephanie continue the conversation at the ANCC Magnet and Pathways to Excellence Conference 2023 with more brief interviews of nurses across Advocate Health.
-
Live from Chicago Part 1
Part one of Live from Chicago - Carmen and Stephanie interview Advocate Health nurses in attendance at the 2023 ANCC Magnet and Pathways Conference. This is a very energetic series of mini-interviews. We hope you enjoy them!
-
The National Landscape of Nursing with Patricia Mook
Our guest, Patricia Mook, SVP of nursing operations and professional development for Advocate Health, discusses what is happening across the nation with nursing. She also brings forth the importance of leadership and advocacy. This is a can't miss episode!
-
FOR ALL: Leadership Perspectives on DEI & Health Equity
Another great dialogue with nursing leaders, featuring Peggy Harris, Jakkie Opollo, and Brandi Newman.
We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.
No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.
No topics indexed yet for this podcast.
Loading reviews...
Loading similar podcasts...
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does First Best Nurse have?
First Best Nurse currently has 89 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is First Best Nurse about?
A podcast for and about nurses, brought to you by Advocate Health Nursing
How often does First Best Nurse release new episodes?
First Best Nurse has 89 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to First Best Nurse?
You can listen to First Best Nurse on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts First Best Nurse?
First Best Nurse is created and hosted by Advocate Health Nursing.
URL copied to clipboard!