Calling All Nurses

Betty Tate, Martha Russell, and RaeAnn Hartman

As newly retired nurses, we continue our passion for helping the public understand the scope, challenges, and rewards of contemporary nursing practice, using the lived experiences of point of care nurses. In Season 1 we spoke with nurses making change with challenges of social concern, such as Indigenous health, the toxic drug poisoning crisis, planetary health, public health and the pandemic, and challenges in acute care. In Season 2, we are speaking with nurses in positions of influence provincially, in B.C., nationally, in Canada, and internationally as well. Have a listen!  In Season 3, we highlight initiatives that speak to the strength of collaboration, particularly across nursing practice, research, and education. Nurses empowering each other and communities to create change. Season 3 is now available! 

  1. 06/04/2025

    Calling All Nurses - S3, Episode 6: Bernie Pauly - Making Systems Change through Collaborative Research with Marginalized People

    Send us a text Listen as Dr. Bernie Pauly describes her research projects over time, making change with people on the margins. She discusses how she got there, what motivates her and how the teams she worked with made it happen.  Dr. Bernie Pauly is a Professor in the School of Nursing, a Scientist with the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research and a University of Victoria Community Engaged Scholar. Her research focuses on the promotion of health equity at the intersection of substance use and homelessness in collaboration with communities impacted by health inequities. Her research has informed provincial, regional, and national harm reduction policies in nursing, housing and healthcare including National Operational Guidance for Managed Alcohol Programs. She is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Nursing and Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and an international collaborator with Salvation Army Centre for Addictions Services and Research at the University of Stirling (Scotland) and the Australian MAP Protocol Steering Committee. For her work and contributions, she has received numerous awards including the Canadian Public Health Association Ron Draper Health Promotion Award, Nurse and Nurse Practitioner Association of BC: Excellence in Advancing Nursing Knowledge and Research Award, a BC Reconciliation Award and BC Community Achievement Award and Phillip Owen Award for Excellence in Policy Research. Instagram: @calling.all.nurses Comments and feedback can be sent to our email: callingallnurses.podcast@gmail.com

    34 min
  2. 05/28/2025

    Calling All Nurses - S3, Episode 5: Alysha Jones, Keara Allen, and Shona Lalonde: Creating Education about Environmental Racism for Nurses through Collaboration

    Send us a text An Introduction to Environmental Racism for Nurses is an online heart, arts, and land-based continuing education course for nurses. This course is designed to empower nurses across Canada with essential knowledge on the critical issues of environmental racism and environmental justice. Listen as our guests describe how they translated their collaboration, evidence, and advocacy to action. Alysha T. Jones (she/her) is a second-generation white settler nurse educator and community health nurse, grateful to live on the lands of the T’Sou-ke and Sc’ianew Nations, and to teach and practice on the lands of the W̱SÁNEĆ and lək̓ʷəŋən Nations. She has a background in ecopsychology and teaches in undergraduate nursing studies at Camosun College, as well as an online course on environmental justice and planetary health at the University of Northern BC. Alysha co-chairs the Environmental Justice and Reconciliation Committee of the Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment.  Keara Allen, M.A., received her Masters in Globalization at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, were her research - grounded in anti-racist and anti-colonial principles - investigated the intersections between environmental racism, climate change inequities, and health in Indigenous and historical Black communities in Canada. As an environmental and climate justice researcher, consultant, and advocate, Keara dedicates her work towards advancing equity for historically marginalized groups, and promoting healthier communities and ecosystems. Shona Lalonde RN, BScN, MN (she/her) obtained a Masters degree in Nursing from the University of Victoria, British Columbia, focusing on the structural factors determining the health of equity-denied populations. She held a nursing faculty position for 15 years at Camosun College, and has a strong background in course and curriculum development. Shona has extensive experience in health promotion, community, and population health. Her nursing practice has focused primarily on promoting the health of equity-denied populations in both rural and inner-city settings. Her areas of current engagement are nursing education and planetary health, social justice, and advocacy.  Links from the podcast: https://cane-aiie.ca/environmental-racism-course/  Instagram: @calling.all.nurses Comments and feedback can be sent to our email: callingallnurses.podcast@gmail.com

    49 min
  3. 05/21/2025

    Calling All Nurses - S3, Episode 4 - Evelyn Voyager, Paul Willie and Joanna Fraser: Deconstructing Systemic Racism through Collaboration in the Learning Our Way Project

    Send us a text The Learning Our Way project aims to address systemic racism and promote health equity for Indigenous peoples through field schools led by Indigenous Knowledge Holders. This three-year project, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), is a partnership between, Wuikinuxv, Kwakiutl, Ka:’yu:’k’t’h’/Che:k:tles7et’h’, Dzawada̱ a̱ʼenux̱ x̱w communities and North Island College.   Evelyn and Joanna are nurse researchers for the Learning Our Way project and Paul Willie acted as a Project Advisor. Evelyn and Paul are both of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nation, of the Dzawada̱ a̱ʼenux̱ x̱w  tribe and both acted as Indigenous Knowledge Keepers for the project. Evelyn is an Elder in Residence at North Island College and Joanna has spent most of her career working with and advocating for health equity for Indigenous people.  This podcast includes only the voices of Evelyn and Joanna because Paul passed away on April 20, 2025, before we had a chance to record his perspectives. Paul was a treasured Noxsola (wise one), generously sharing his cultural knowledge, life lessons and philosophical insights, particularly in his contributions to the Learning Our Way project. Since the first field school was offered in 2007 Paul has helped all of those involved to understand, challenge and change our colonial mindsets.  His teachings include reminding us that “there are two laws we all must live by:  to look after the environment and to look after each other. There are two tasks this requires: to let go of fear and to practice unconditional love” ( Paul Willie 2022).   Paul generously shared his traditional knowledge stating: “We have chosen to experience our physicality in these times, to evolve by our experience, the evolution of our spiritual beingness. We must always come from a learning mindset. We are spiritual beings having a physical experience. He explained that the “importance of programs like Learning Our Way is that when we learn about others, we learn about ourselves,” (Paul Willie, 2023).  Joanna expresses her deep gratitude for having had the opportunity to learn from Paul and how his teachings have helped her to live a deeper, more meaningful life, not only as a nurse and educator but humbly as a person. G̱̱ilakas'la, Paul (Joanna Fraser, May 2025). During his funeral service at T'saxis Gukwdzi, Paul's decades of work towards improving the healthcare system for Indigenous peoples was proudly emphasized along with his contributions to field schools, Learning Our Way and his consultation work with North Island College. Even though his voice is not included in this podcast his work and spirit are all through it.   Instagram: @calling.all.nurses Comments and feedback can be sent to our email: callingallnurses.podcast@gmail.com

    36 min
  4. 05/07/2025

    Calling All Nurses - S3, Episode 2 - Kent Soltys and Lenora Marcellus: Supporting Early Career Nurses through Collaboration

    Send us a text Welcome to Episode 2 of Season 3! Listen as Kent and Lenora discuss the current landscape of clinical nursing and how frustration with the  impossible situations new nurses were expected to navigate, turned into research. Channeling the frustration of new nurses leaving the profession,  Kent and Lenora describe how their collaboration and subsequent engagement with co-leading a research project, is addressing these impossible situations with understanding and tangible actions.   Kent Soltys is a dedicated healthcare leader, clinical nurse educator, and advocate for innovation in nursing education and leadership. With over a decade of frontline experience in emergency, acute, and rural healthcare, he has cultivated a passion for advancing nursing practice through education, mentorship, and research. Living and working on Vancouver Island, Kent has helped develop practical, hands-on education tools, including simulation-based learning experiences that support nurses in building confidence and clinical skills. His expertise in nursing leadership, goal-setting, and professional development has led to national recognition, including published works in the Canadian Journal of Nursing and speaking engagements at conferences such as the Canada West Leaders Conference. He also presented his co-led “Re-Charge the Charge Nurse” research initiative at the Health Quality BC Quality Forum and was recently honored to write the foreword for Carol Faria, RN’s book Crisis to Clarity. In recognition of his contributions to nursing and healthcare, he received the 2024 Outstanding Alumni Award from Mount Royal University. Beyond his professional life, Kent is a devoted husband and father of young children and finds his greatest joy in the outdoors. Whether fishing, hiking, or exploring the natural beauty of Vancouver Island, he lives for the adventure and serenity that nature provides. Lenora is a Professor and Director in the School of Nursing at the University of Victoria. She has practiced as a Registered Nurse in a range of maternal-infant and educational settings and roles for over 40 years. Her research interests include perinatal substance use, neonatal opioid withdrawal, and supporting quality nursing education. Lenora’s passions include supporting new families to have a strong start together and ensuring students have great learning experiences and a positive transition to professional nursing practice. On the other side of the curtain: why what we say when we think nobody can hear matters: https://www.canadian-nurse.com/blogs/cn-content/2025/01/20/on-the-other-side-of-the-curtain MICRO changes for macro results: altering nursing goal-setting to maximize leadership potential: https://www.canadian-nurse.com/blogs/cn-content/2024/01/15/micro-goal-setting Instagram: @calling.all.nurses Comments and feedback can be sent to our email: callingallnurses.podcast@gmail.com

    41 min
  5. 04/30/2025

    Calling All Nurses - S3, Episode 1 - Celise Hack: Creating Health in Collaboration with Rural Saskatchewan Communities

    Send us a text Welcome to Season 3 of Calling All Nurses! We are excited to present episodes this season that draw a picture of collaboration between nursing practice, nursing education, nursing research, and communities to improve the health and wellbeing of both populations and the lives of nurses.  Listen as our first guest, Celise Hack, shares how collaboration with communities in her region of rural nursing practice worked to increase access to health care information, supports, and services. The Community Well, a volunteer group in Foam Lake, Saskatchewan came together with the goal of addressing post-pandemic health concerns and impact at a grass roots level, particularly with older adults. Linking older adults to programs and services to bridge gaps while evaluating current regional infrastructure was a goal to help older adults age in place, decreasing social isolation, and improving general health and well-being. Celise Hack is a wife, a proud mom of two young hockey-loving boys, and a registered nurse with 12 years of experience across internal medicine, long-term care, home care, and primary care. Passionate about building healthier communities, Celise founded The Community Well, a nonprofit organization she leads alongside an amazing team of volunteers to support wellness initiatives in her area. Instagram: @calling.all.nurses Comments and feedback can be sent to our email: callingallnurses.podcast@gmail.com

    28 min

About

As newly retired nurses, we continue our passion for helping the public understand the scope, challenges, and rewards of contemporary nursing practice, using the lived experiences of point of care nurses. In Season 1 we spoke with nurses making change with challenges of social concern, such as Indigenous health, the toxic drug poisoning crisis, planetary health, public health and the pandemic, and challenges in acute care. In Season 2, we are speaking with nurses in positions of influence provincially, in B.C., nationally, in Canada, and internationally as well. Have a listen!  In Season 3, we highlight initiatives that speak to the strength of collaboration, particularly across nursing practice, research, and education. Nurses empowering each other and communities to create change. Season 3 is now available!