Bedpan Banter

Епизоде

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  Anxiety Medications Breakdown using Memory Tricks w/ Nurse Mike 31.08.2026 7мин

  Most nursing pharmacology mistakes happen when a question quietly hints at sedation, and you miss what that means for airway and breathing. We slow anxiety medications down into a simple, test-ready framework built around patient safety, ABCs (airway, breathing, circulation), and the patterns that show up again and again on the NCLEX and in nursing school exams. We walk through the “three big players” you must recognize on sight: benzodiazepines, barbiturates, and buspirone. You’ll hea...
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  You Will Never Mix Up DKA And HHS Again with Nurse Mike 17.08.2026 13мин

  DKA vs HHS can feel like a blur when you’re studying, but the body tells a clear story if you know what to listen for. I’m Nurse Mike, and I’m breaking these two diabetic emergencies into a simple framework you can use under pressure on exams and in real clinical care: speed of onset, what’s happening at the cellular level, and the few “can’t miss” signs and labs that separate them. We start with the core pathophysiology. DKA is a no-insulin problem that pushes the body into fat burning, ket...
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  Stop Guessing And Start Nailing ABG Questions w/ Nurse Mike 27.07.2026 8мин

  ABGs have a way of making smart nursing students freeze, not because they’re impossible, but because they’re often taught like a memorization game. We’re flipping that. Once you see arterial blood gases as relationships between pH, PaCO2, and HCO3, the confusion drops fast and the questions start to feel predictable. We walk through the exact ranges you need for nursing school and the NCLEX, then lock in the rule that keeps everything straight: CO2 is respiratory and bicarbonate (HCO3) is me...
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  Your Hospital Won’t Protect You: How Nursing Unions Protect Nurses and Patients w/ NNU 13.07.2026 39мин

  Your first nursing job can feel like a test you never studied for: short staffing, missed breaks, supply shortages, and that sinking sense that if something goes wrong, your license is on the line. We sit down with Kristine and Monica, RNs and union representatives with National Nurses United, to spell out what a nurse union actually is and why it matters for real bedside nursing, not just politics or headlines. We dig into the problems that push nurses to organize, including unsafe patient ...
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  Nurse Erica EXPOSES Healthcare Worker Rights | Unions, Strikes & Ending Workplace Violence 29.06.2026 28мин

  Getting hit, threatened, or harassed shouldn’t be a rite of passage in healthcare, yet too many nurses are told to accept violence as “part of the job.” Nurse Erica joins us to draw a clear line: this is a workplace safety crisis, and nurses have more rights and options than most people realize. We dig into what the data says about how often violence happens, why it’s under-reported, and why filing a police report still matters as documentation and accountability, even when prosecution feels ...
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  How To Communicate With Deaf & Hard of Hearing Patients w/ Nurse Mikaela 15.06.2026 17мин

  Someone tells you “just speak louder,” and suddenly you realize they don’t understand the problem at all. That’s the heart of our conversation with Nurse Mikaela, a registered nurse who is deaf, as we dig into what real communication looks like at the bedside and why clarity, not volume, is often the difference between trust and confusion. We get practical fast: how to stop guessing and start asking patients their preferred communication method, how closed-loop communication prevents mistake...
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  You Can Rebuild Confidence After Failing The NCLEX with Murse Kash 02.06.2026 37мин

  Three failed NCLEX attempts can mess with your confidence, your timeline, and your identity. We’re joined by Nurse Kash, a New York City pediatric cardiology nurse and creator, to tell the real story of what it felt like to fail three times, lose momentum, and still find a way back to the career he knew he was meant for. If you’re searching for NCLEX help, an NCLEX retake plan, or simply proof you’re not alone, this conversation is for you. We get specific about the two things most people se...
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  The Problem No One Teaches Nurses: Scheduling (ft. EightTenTwelve) 18.05.2026 24мин

  You can learn every drug and every protocol and still feel unprepared for the hardest part of nursing: being human under pressure. Nurse Mike sits down with Haley and Marcelle, two sisters whose childhoods were shaped by congenital heart disease, major surgeries, and the nurses who guided their family through the scariest moments. Now they’re on the other side of the bedside as pediatric perioperative nurses and founders, and they bring a rare perspective on what dignity, advocacy, and real s...
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  Addison vs. Cushing: The One Lab That Changes Everything with Nurse Mike 04.05.2026 12мин

  A single lab value can flip your entire answer choice, especially when the adrenal glands are involved. We pick up with part two of our Addison’s disease and Cushing syndrome breakdown and focus on what actually helps under pressure: pattern recognition, memory tricks, and the nursing priorities that show up on NCLEX-style questions and real clinical scenarios. First, we walk through Addison’s disease (adrenal insufficiency) by tying low cortisol and low aldosterone to what you’ll see in fro...
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  The Real Difference Between Addison's & Cushing's with Memory Tricks 22.04.2026 8мин

  Addison’s disease vs Cushing syndrome can feel like a maze of arrows, hormones, and “wait, which one is high?” moments. We cut through the noise by building the whole story from the ground up: what the adrenal glands do, which adrenal cortex hormones actually matter for exams and clinical reasoning, and how one simple feedback loop explains most of the lab patterns you’ll see. We walk through aldosterone (the salt hormone) and cortisol (the stress hormone) in plain language, then map the HPA...
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  What Nursing School Doesn’t Prepare You For with Nurse Brenden 08.04.2026 21мин

  Nursing school can teach you the steps, but it can’t recreate the moment someone asks you to “boost the patient” and you realize you’ve never done it on a real person. We sit down with Brenden and talk about graduating in the COVID era of online nursing school, the confidence gap that shows up on day one, and how a solid preceptor can make the difference between drowning and growing. Then we get into med-surg nursing, the specialty people love to hate and secretly need. We unpack why med-sur...
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  Nurse Mike from SimpleNursing Breaking Down the 2026 NCLEX Changes 01.04.2026 8мин

  Two NCLEX answers can look “right” on the surface, but only one protects the patient first. That’s the real skill behind prioritization, and it’s exactly what I’m breaking down here on Bedpan Banter with a clear, test-ready approach built around the updated Next Gen NCLEX mindset. FREE NCLEX Practice Test here: https://simplenursing.com/nclex-practice-questions-review/ We start with what changed and why the exam now rewards clinical judgment over memorization. I walk you through the NCLEX Cl...
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  The Nurse that Spoke Up: A Path to Patient Advocacy 16.03.2026 19мин

  A nurse walks into a med room and hears laughter about a “placebo” given to a symptomatic patient. What happens next is a real-time test of ethics: speak up and risk backlash, or stay silent and let a lie stand between a patient and their care. We bring you the full story from a new grad, Nyanaguer, who chose the chain of command, stayed anonymous, and watched a unit obsess over “who told” instead of what was done to the patient. It’s a candid look at power dynamics, moral courage, and why pa...
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  Beauty that Survives a Double Shift with Diaspi Beauty 04.03.2026 20мин

  What happens when a level-one trauma night shift meets a clean beauty lab? We sit down with clinical scientist and founder Diana Santiago to trace a remarkable path from calibrating analyzers to crafting high‑pigment, vegan, cruelty‑free lip color built for nurses, techs, and anyone chasing endurance over a double shift. This is a story about performance under pressure—on the unit and on your lips—and why affordable, ethical makeup can make a real difference in the chaos of care. Diana share...
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  Nurse’s Guide to Neuro & Stroke Patients with Dr. Uddin, Neurologist 18.02.2026 32мин

  You can feel the stakes the moment a patient starts to change. With inpatient neurologist Dr. Uddin at the table, we go straight to the front lines of neurocare—where strokes dominate, seizures confuse, and nursing judgment buys back brain. This conversation is a field guide for bedside pros who want to move faster, document sharper, and advocate louder when seconds matter. We break down the reality of inpatient neurology and why nurses often make the decisive difference. You’ll hear exactly...
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  Built for Ports, PICCs, and People | The Port Studio 04.02.2026 30мин

  A cold infusion room, a tangled sleeve, a zipper that sets off a scanner—tiny moments can turn a hard day into a brutal one. Our guests, twin founders of Port Studio Brinlee & Mariela, set out to change that after a stage 4 diagnosis at 21 made chemo, scans, and clinic visits a new reality. What they couldn’t find, they built: a chemo-ready crewneck with 100% cotton fabric and plastic zippers on both arms and chest for easy, sterile access to ports, PIC lines, blood pressure cuffs, and la...
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  Seeing Abilities Before Disabilities with Sarah & Emily 21.01.2026 32мин

  Start with a laugh, stay for the truth. We sit down with Sarah, a psych nurse, and her sister Emily to explore what real inclusion in healthcare looks like when you move past labels and meet the person in front of you. Their story arcs from a pandemic-era TikTok experiment to a community of millions who come for the pranks and lunchbox notes, then stay for the hard-earned wisdom on dignity & communication. Sarah opens up about struggling through clinicals until psych finally felt like ho...
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  NCLEX 101: Test-Taking Strategies That Actually Work 07.01.2026 44мин

  Your NCLEX doesn’t demand perfect memory. It asks one core question: can you keep patients safe when the stakes are high and the clock is running? We break test stress into simple moves that lower anxiety, sharpen judgment, and turn tricky stems into clear decisions you can trust. Professor Alison joins us to unpack the thinking behind safe answers: how to name what the question really wants (the right thing, the wrong thing, or the first thing), how to prioritize beyond ABCs by weighing acu...
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  How A Miami CVICU Nurse Builds Confidence & Preps For CRNA School with Sam Del Toro 31.12.2025 34мин

  Ever wonder what it feels like to hold a patient’s life in your hands while learning a new device, managing six drips, and calming a terrified family—in two languages? We invited Sam Del Toro, a Miami CVICU nurse heading to CRNA school, to take us inside the reality of high‑acuity cardiac care and the leadership it demands at the bedside. Sam opens up about choosing nursing over medical school, leveraging a tough science background to become a competitive CRNA applicant, and landing an ICU r...
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  Turning Students Into Nurses: What Support Really Looks Like at West Coast University 17.12.2025 25мин

  Want a real look at how nurses are shaped—fast—and still come out safe, confident, and patient-centered? Nurse Mike sits down with Professor Katrina Lino from West Coast University to unpack the inner workings of an accelerated BSN: five-hour lectures that actually land, student-centric support that extends past graduation, and a teaching philosophy that treats pathophysiology as the root of every smart clinical decision. We walk through how to keep a room engaged, when to pause for brains t...