OB Nurse Smart Talk: Where listening just might make you the smartest person in the room.

In honor of National Nurses Week 2026, we are not just celebrating nursing…we are honoring the ones who built it.  The ones who showed up before all the technology…before fetal monitors…before epidurals…before charting lived in a computer.  Back in time, every laboring mom depended on the presence, judgement, and courage of the nurse in the room.  Steady hands, sharp instincts, and hearts that carried families through their most vulnerable moments. On this episode we sit down with Kathie Bartolo, an 86-year-old OB nurse.  She is a 1961 graduate of Saint Francis Hospital School of Nursing, Peoria.  Her career spans generations of birth, decades of experience, and thousands of patients.   After everything she has seen, every life she has touched, one thing is clear.  Patients may forget the details, but they never forget how a nurse made them feel.  And maybe that is the legacy of nursing.   It is the human connection that carries people through the moments that matter most.  Kathie didn’t just witness the history in OB care…she helped shape it!  Stories like hers deserve to be heard.Send us Fan MailOB Nurse Smart Talk

The fourth trimester is the first 12 weeks after childbirth and is one of the most transformative and vulnerable periods.  While the baby is adjusting to life outside the uterus, the mom is navigating physical recovery, hormonal shifts, identity changes and emotional intensity all at once.  No one speaks about the Fourth Trimester as much as OSF St. Joseph Medical Center’s OB Nurse Navigator, Heidi Kim, who is certified in Perinatal Mental Health.  In this podcast we are joined by Heidi who helps mom’s, dad’s and birth partners navigate the emotional realities of the fourth trimester including post-loss.  She is on the front lines of what families are really going through and how to support them.  And she shares the steps that her healthcare colleagues would need to take in obtaining the Postpartum Support International Perinatal Mental Health Certification. Postpartum mental health care isn’t optional.  It’s essential for mom’s, babies, and everyone around them.  So, if you take anything from this podcast let it be this: Check on mom. Check on dad.  Because their mental health is part of the fourth trimester.For more information contact: [email protected] Postpartum Support International (PSI) Call or Text PSI Helpline: 1.800.944.4773Send us Fan MailOB Nurse Smart Talk

We sit down with the founder of Stronger Every Day – Soul Mind Body, LLC, a nurse practitioner owned practice dedicated to whole-person healing. Britney Durst, FNP, shares her journey from traditional healthcare into functional medicine and explains how addressing root causes, rather than just symptoms, can lead to lasting wellness.She explores what functional medicine looks like in real life and how caring for the soul, mind and body can transform patient outcomes. Britney shares the impact that the death of her brother Brandon from lymphoma, at the age of twenty-six, had on her and caused her to take a closer look and “dig” into what functional medicine can offer outside of traditional medicine.Whether you are a patient curious about functional medicine, a nurse practitioner considering entrepreneurship, or a healthcare professional interested in holistic, root-cause approaches, this episode offers insight, inspiration, and practical takeaways on creating a nurse owned practice that aligns with your values. Send us Fan MailOB Nurse Smart Talk

Before we begin, a gentle note for our listeners: this episode includes discussion of pregnancy loss and reproduction experiences. Please take care while listening.Labor and Delivery Nurse Cheyanne first heard the word “surrogacy” during a Parenting/Child Development class when she was a senior in high school.  She remembers telling her best friend about how she thought that “surrogacy would be a cool thing to do”.  Not long after her high school graduation she went on to carry an unplanned, uncomplicated pregnancy and deliver a healthy newborn son.  During her pregnancy, she became aware of a former high school teacher who experienced a term pregnancy loss.  Even as a teen mom she had the ability to understand that something important happened here where she was essentially “stepping into someone else’s shoes” to reflect on her teacher’s pregnancy loss and understand that not everyone who wants to carry a pregnancy is able to.  She thought that if she could carry her own pregnancy safely could she carry for someone who couldn’t.   She did not know it then but the contrast between her teacher’s loss and her own uncomplicated teen pregnancy experience would quietly shape her reproductive years ahead toward gestational surrogacy.This is Cheyanne’s story, of empathy that took root early, of care that became carrying, and what it means to grow a life for another family.Send us Fan MailOB Nurse Smart Talk

Think of Linkedin as a Facebook for careers, but focused on professional growth, networking and job opportunities.   Imagine when a Headhunter from Linkedin contacts you and asks you the question “would you ever think about moving to Abu Dhabi”.  That is exactly what happened to nurse Cassie Horack, who was at that time living and working in Illinois and had never traveled outside of the United States.  Join us as we hear about her “leap of faith” and 15-hour flight to the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi as their new Executive Director of Quality and Safety just 1 month before the Covid shutdown in the United Arab Emirates. Send us Fan MailOB Nurse Smart Talk

Nurses are the largest group of healthcare professionals in the United States.  They make up the largest segment of the healthcare workforce.  Julia Godby Murray, RN, Founder/Past President of the National Nurses Honor Guard, will share her journey with this all-volunteer organization.  She provides a closer look into how this unique nationwide organization can provide a meaningful tribute honoring the life and service of a departed nurse for their family at a funeral or memorial service.Nurses interested in joining an Honor Guard in their area or starting a chapter should send email to: [email protected] us Fan MailOB Nurse Smart Talk

From early childhood Rita "Pixie" Ledbetter knew she wanted to be a nurse.  This podcast will take a closer look beyond her academic steps to becoming a certified nurse midwife.  She speaks from experience as to why kindness, compassion and respect matter when providing both maternity and gyn care for women of all ages and backgrounds..Send us Fan MailOB Nurse Smart Talk

Have you ever wondered about Travel Nursing?  This podcast will take a closer look at one nurse's travel journey.Holly began her nursing career in 1998 working in Labor and Delivery at a large Central Illinois Hospital.  As a mother of four she was looking for nursing employment that would increase her income yet accommodate a flexible schedule for her family. She entered the world of Travel Nursing in 2015.  Her advice to nurses thinking about this is to "JUST DO IT"!Send us Fan MailOB Nurse Smart Talk