Season 1 Finale - Reflections and Favorites

In this special wrap-up episode of the Beyond Nurse Residency Podcast, host Nicole Weathers, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, sits down with the Iowa Online Nurse Residency Program (IONRP) team to reflect on their favorite moments from Season 1. Join Jessica Ociepka, MSN, RN-BC, Program Coordinator; Amanda Bruscher, MSN, RN, Program Coordinator; and Jill Gillespie, BA, Marketing Coordinator, as they share their insights and highlights from the past year.

As we work on our year-end planning, this episode provides a unique opportunity to hear from the team behind the scenes. Discover which episodes resonated most with them and why, and gain valuable takeaways from their experiences. Whether you’re a nurse leader, educator, or healthcare professional, this episode offers a thoughtful conclusion to our inaugural season and sets the stage for what’s to come.

GUESTS: Amanda Bruscher, MSN, RN, is a Program Coordinator for the IONRP. Her journey in healthcare began as a CNA and LPN before she earned her BSN from Northwestern College in Orange City, IA, in 2018. Recently, she completed her MSN with a focus on Clinical Nurse Leader from the University of Iowa in May 2024. Amanda’s diverse nursing background includes med-surg, postpartum, cardiac care, oncology/infusion, and education in large and rural healthcare settings.

Amanda’s passion for nursing education is evident in her work with new nurses and her role in teaching CNA classes at a local community college. A fun fact about Amanda is that she participated in the IONRP program as a resident within a year of earning her RN, finding it invaluable during the early stages of her career. She is dedicated to supporting new nurses as they transition into their roles, leveraging her extensive experience in various nursing specialties.

Jessica Ociepka, MSN, RN-BC, is a Program Coordinator for the IONRP. Originally from Southern Maine, Jess earned her BSN from the University of Maine in 2006 and completed her MSN focusing on Nursing Education from Southern New Hampshire University in 2019. She began her nursing career in a large teaching hospital on a busy cardiology unit in Southern Maine. In 2014, Jess moved to Colorado, where she worked as a clinical nurse educator in a rural hospital while continuing to provide bedside care.

Jess currently staffs med/surg and ICU units in a PRN capacity and teaches the nurse aide program and clinical for nursing students at a local community college. Her dedication to nursing education and patient care is evident in her commitment to both roles. She is passionate about welcoming new nurses to the profession. Jess brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm to the team, making her an invaluable asset to the program.

Jill Gillespie, BA, is the Marketing Coordinator for the IONRP team. She holds a BA in Communications from the University of Iowa (2000) and an AA in Graphic Design from The Art Institutes International Minnesota (2003). With 17 years of experience in graphic design and marketing, Jill began her career in the newspaper industry before she transitioned to working for her family’s manufacturing company.

Since joining IONRP, Jill has revitalized the program’s branding, introducing a fresh new look and logo. She continuously updates and enhances the website, social media platforms, and course materials, ensuring they remain current and engaging. 

To learn more about our nurse residency program and other offerings, please visit our website: https://nursing.uiowa.edu/ionrp

Transcript

00:00:02 Nicole Weathers

Welcome to the final episode of this year's Beyond Nurse Residency Podcast. Today, we're doing something really special. As we close out 2024, I'm joined by my incredible team from the Iowa Online Nurse Residency Program to reflect on our journey this year. We'll be sharing our favorite episodes, discussing key takeaways, and looking ahead to what's in store for season 2 in 2025. It's been an amazing year of growth, learning and connection and we can't wait to dive into this conversation with all of you. So sit back, relax, and join us as we celebrate the highlights of this year. Let's get started.

00:00:40 Nicole Weathers

So I have with me first today Jill Gillespie, so I wanted to start with Jill because first of all, she has been with me the longest. But also Jill is not a nurse. She is not a healthcare clinician. She is our amazing marketing coordinator. So first, Jill, I have to ask.

00:00:58 Nicole Weathers

What did you really think when I came to you and said I think I want to start a podcast and I'm going to need somebody to edit it?

00:01:07 Jill Gillespie

Well, thanks for having me, Nicole. I was excited. I love jumping into things. I'm not sure of how to do and figuring them out so.

00:01:19 Jill Gillespie

I enjoy puzzles, so you know that's what it is. Just figuring it out one piece at a time, right?

00:01:26 Nicole Weathers

I love that.

00:01:26 Nicole Weathers

Yeah, I love that. So why don't you start off by telling our listeners just a little bit about yourself and then we'll jump into the questions that I have for you.

00:01:34 Jill Gillespie

OK, well, I'm Jill Gillespie. I'm a graduate of the University of Iowa. I had a Bachelors of Arts in communications, and then I went on to get a graphic design degree.

00:01:46 Jill Gillespie

Up in Minnesota, so I have a background in marketing and graphic design.

00:01:50 Jill Gillespie

and I have been with the College of Nursing for five years now with the Iowa Online Nurse Residency Program.

00:01:59 Nicole Weathers

Well, and we have been so lucky to have you and I think a lot of our growth the last five years I think is attributed to the work that you've done. So thank you so much for all that you do for the program and do for this podcast because it's been really fun diving into this new sort of area of marketing and communication.

00:02:19 Nicole Weathers

And I I know we couldn't have done it without you.

00:02:22 Jill Gillespie

Ohh, thank you. It's been fun.

00:02:24 Nicole Weathers

All right. So of course the big question as we sort of reflect back on 2024 and starting this podcast, I just have to know, even though you're not a nurse and you're not in healthcare, what was your favorite episode this year?

00:02:38 Jill Gillespie

OK, so my favorite episode was episode 4 with our guest Patrick Jeffs.

00:02:45 Jill Gillespie

About clinician wellbeing and I thought it was such a good episode because it really was things that you could take away even if you aren't a nurse or in the healthcare field.

00:02:59 Nicole Weathers

What were some of the sort of, I guess, key takeaways then from that episode that really spoke to you?

00:03:05 Jill Gillespie

Well, there were quite a few, but I loved when he talked about micro moments. So the idea of wellbeing can be overwhelming. You think it's just exercise and eating right? And how do we fit another thing into our schedule? But he took it so simple and small.

00:03:25 Jill Gillespie

And it was just these micro moments.

Learning times. So for example, you're a nurse, you're going into the room to see a patient and you touch the door handle. And that was like your trigger to say I need to take a deep breath or I just need to be present. I need to reset and I need to take a breath and then just working those little micro moments throughout.

00:03:49 Jill Gillespie

OK, so I thought that was very powerful because I find myself doing that working from home, setting alarms to stand, to move, to use my standing desk and not sit for hours at a time. So I really enjoyed that.

00:04:04 Nicole Weathers

I was just going to comment on that. So I mean I I agree, I think you know a lot of times when we're talking about wellbeing with people or even our new nurses, they're like, yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before. I need to eat. Right. I need to exercise. I need to get my.

00:04:16 Nicole Weathers

Sleep. But I think what he calls attention to is that it's so much. I mean, yes, those things are important. You know, he talked about that, that those are huge things that we can do every day. But it's really about more than that. And I know we haven't introduced Amanda or Jess yet to the episode. But what it, what did you guys think about that? Did you did that sort of resonate with you or how are you seeing that?

00:04:36 Nicole Weathers

Sort of play out with the new grads as we talk about this topic.

00:04:40 Amanda Bruscher

Yeah, I think that resonated with both Jess and I. And I know that we've been sharing that example specifically with residents in our live discussions. Oftentimes they say, well, I don't have 15 minutes or 30 minutes to take a break and check in on myself, especially on the busy days at work. So when we help them to incorporate those little things like touching the door.

00:05:01 Amanda Bruscher

Handle before you go into the patient room. How are you feeling and kind of doing that short little check in I think is really helpful for them too.

00:05:08 Jess Ociepka

And I think it's not so much about only at work. We tell the residents. These are things that you can also be doing at home. So before you walk in to your house, taking touching that door handle and taking a breath, I love that episode with Doctor Patrick Jeffs too. I like that, he said, taking the long way home. And I tried to mention that to residents too, and they need.

00:05:29 Jess Ociepka

Maybe just a little break from the chaos that's on their unit. Instead of dropping a lab specimen off at the lab and hurrying right back to get back to patient care instead of taking that longer route to get back to your unit, I think both of those really resonated with me in that episode.

00:05:48 Nicole Weathers

Well, and that's something that I remember when I first met Patrick, we talked about. So obviously I work from home. You all work from home, taking the long way home from work when you work from home is really hard to do. So I mean, I remember like the first time we talked together, it was I was already asking him like, well, what does that mean?

00:06:09 Nicole Weathers

For me, because I don't have, I don't have a very long ways to go. And so he he mentioned at that point, you know thinking about.

00:06:17 Nicole Weathers

The doorways, like when you walk through a doorway, just kind of maybe you're not touching a door handle or whatever, that that could also be a trigger. So I think that was a a really important I think point that he shared and obviously very applicable to anyone whether they're working in a hospital, whether they're working.

00:06:36 Nicole Weathers

From home or anywhere in between.

00:06:39 Nicole Weathers

Any other like surprising insights or lessons learned from that episode, Jill, that you'd like to share?

00:06:46 Jill Gillespie

Well, I loved all of the great tips for like an individual, but then he kind of delved into the systematic way of integrating resiliency in healthcare. So really looking at it as we're all in this together, where maybe 10, 15, 20 years ago it

00:07:05 Jill Gillespie

was like, that's your problem. That's your mental health. Go fix it on your own in isolation. Where now it's like, no, we all have to understand each other and be there to help each other. And so how can we really bring this into healthcare? So I really liked how he just talked about.

00:07:27 Jill Gillespie

Processes and looking how things work in the system and really looking at meetings and what everyone has on their plate.

00:07:37 Jill Gillespie

And talking about the 60 seconds of silence before the meeting, which is something I know you guys do with the nurse residents, but I have never experienced that and we did it a couple of times in our zoom meetings for our Monday meeting and.

00:07:53 Jill Gillespie

I had had a crazy morning, but things hadn't gone the way they were supposed to, and we just turned our cameras off, muted it, and we took 60 seconds and I just did some deep breathing and I turned my camera back on and I felt like a different person. So I thought that was so powerful just to let everyone.

00:08:13 Jill Gillespie

Start from zero. Forget everything that had happened building up to that moment, and then in just talking about how it gives people more empathy. It makes you more focused. Just these little mindful things you can do. So I like how he just he likes to go into these healthcare systems and see all those different.

00:08:34 Jill Gillespie

Points that we don't even think about.

00:08:37 Nicole Weathers

And I think as a leader, you know, thinking about how can we build this into some of our day-to-day business. So meetings is a great example and I agree like I really enjoyed when we did that. And you know, you kind of forget that you did it for a while and then you fell off. So maybe as a team, we need to think about taking that.

00:08:57 Nicole Weathers

Bringing that back because.

00:08:59 Nicole Weathers

I know we meet every Monday morning and Monday is just in general can be hectic. So I I think I see all the heads nodding. I know our listeners can't see our heads nodding, but it's like yeah, maybe that's something we can bring back even to our team to help sort of continue to build our capacity for resilience.

00:09:18 Jill Gillespie

In this one.

00:09:19 Jill Gillespie

Nice thing about zoom.

00:09:21 Jill Gillespie

I feel like it's more appropriate in a zoom situation. I don't know if I'd be as comfortable sitting in a room closing my eyes.

00:09:29 Jill Gillespie

With a bunch.

00:09:29 Jill Gillespie

Of people, but for some reason you can just like turn everything off and really get into a place of focus. I think it's essential for people that are on zoom.

00:09:40 Nicole Weathers

Well, and a lot of times when you're going back-to-back to back-to-back to back, you know zooms or when you have days like that, like how valuable.

00:09:47 Nicole Weathers

That even 60 seconds.

00:09:50 Jill Gillespie

I think another good point he made was the more you work on wellbeing and resiliency, the less you need it, which I think is really interesting and I think a perfect example is I love to meditate. I try and meditate every morning. Obviously that doesn't happen, but I've heard people say meditating.

00:10:10 Jill Gillespie

You won't notice in the moment as much, but you'll notice the effects of it and I notice I don't freak out as much. I don't get as anxious. I handle my children better.

00:10:21 Jill Gillespie

There, it's just naturally makes you be at a calmer level, and then you're like, wow, that really is working because my reaction was way different or that didn't bother me as much. So I like that he said that it's a muscle that you have to work like in a gym. But as you get stronger.

00:10:42 Jill Gillespie

Your you know your muscle gets better.

00:10:45 Nicole Weathers

Well, I think I noticed that. You know, when we have those crazy busy days or I work really long hours because I just don't feel like I have time to take a break. And then when you go to bed, your brain sort of begins to process your day, right. And you're just sitting there and all the thoughts are going through and then you can't fall asleep in it. And I notice it every time that I have a day like that.

00:11:05 Nicole Weathers

That that is exactly what happens. And so really like.

00:11:10 Nicole Weathers

Like you said, making sort of that point to use these strategies when you don't think you need them or you don't have time is really when you need.

00:11:21 Nicole Weathers

Them the most.

00:11:22 Amanda Bruscher

And I think something to remember too that we share with residents a lot is that some strategies might work really well for you. So like meditation works well for Jill. But I know personally, meditation isn't always my thing. So I think when it comes to wellbeing, it's really important to find those little practices that you find effective.

00:11:42 Nicole Weathers

Well, and you don't have to do all of them, right? Because I think at one point it was like, oh, I need to be doing this and this and this. And then it became this checklist that I felt like I had to, like, check off and do all the things because I like to complete my list. You know, a nurse, you got to check off all the all the tasks. But, you know, that's.

00:11:58 Nicole Weathers

Really.

00:11:59 Nicole Weathers

Also not how you should treat it, all right.

00:12:02 Nicole Weathers

Well, I I.

00:12:03 Nicole Weathers

Thought that episode 4 was really, really special. Obviously, lots of great takeaways from Dr. Patrick Jeffs. I think he's definitely one that we could have additional conversations with.

00:12:16 Nicole Weathers

Down the road.

00:12:17 Nicole Weathers

So all right, let's go next to Amanda. So Amanda is fairly new to the program still coming up on year 2 here in December. So, Amanda, why don't you start off, tell us a little bit about you sort of your history here with the program and then we'll hear more about your favorite episode.

00:12:36 Amanda Bruscher

Yeah. So as Nicole.

00:12:37 Amanda Bruscher

And my name is Amanda Brusher. I have been a nurse for about 8 years now, so I've been in many different roles in that time and actually, but when I was about a year into my nursing career, I was actually a resident in the IONRP program. So I go way back with the program. I know when I.

00:12:56 Amanda Bruscher

I get being a year into my nursing practice. I was a little hesitant, wondering if I really needed it, but even being a year into my nursing practice, I got so many great takeaways and I was working at a rural facility. So I think the resources that the program provides just really helped me in that transition after that.

00:13:16 Amanda Bruscher

So I've worked in the rural hospital setting. I've worked in oncology and then I have been in this role, as Nicole said, for almost 2 years already, this role is completely different from anything I've ever done, so it's definitely been a transition and lots of learning, but.

00:13:33 Amanda Bruscher

I think I've grown so much as a nurse leader, educator. This it just offers so many unique opportunities and I've really just loved being able to work with the new nurses or new grads and then also our wonderful team as well so.

00:13:49 Nicole Weathers

Excellent. Well, Amanda, it's been great. Great to have you on the team. I know you really enjoy sort of that connection time with the new graduates and I think you know, with your history of having been through the program.

00:14:04 Nicole Weathers

And maybe even being a little closer in age to some of those new grads that we have coming out, I think that's just really valuable. So I really appreciate all that you bring to this program as well. So as we sort of think back on on the Beyond Nurse Residency podcast for the last year, what was, what do you think your favorite episode was?

00:14:24 Amanda Bruscher

Yeah. So I had to go back and look at them. I enjoyed all of them, but I think the one that stuck out to me the most this year was the Nurse Leadership podcast with Rose Sherman.

00:14:34 Amanda Bruscher

And I think that's because it related really closely with my capstone project for I just graduated with my masters from the University of Iowa and I really focused on the importance of nurse leaders, specifically those nurse managers that are working closely with new residents, new graduate nurses, specifically in a nurse residency program. And really what is their role.

00:14:57 Amanda Bruscher

When it comes to supporting those new grads.

00:15:00 Amanda Bruscher

Because every once in a while we hear it's difficult, I mean managers and leaders, they're busy. They have so many responsibilities. It can be hard to maybe know how to go about supporting those new grads. The little things that they can do. So I think with Rose’s episode, she really touched on those key things and I know she was a great resource when I was working on my capstone.

00:15:22 Nicole Weathers

I was so excited to sit down with Rose Sherman. You know, I've followed her work for a long time. I got to be a part of a educational series where she talked about her two books. I read her two books. I think I was like, you need to buy these. Amanda, this is right up your alley. She has so much expertise.

00:15:42 Nicole Weathers

And I think that was one of our really popular episodes for our listeners as well, because, I mean, she acknowledges that that leadership role is tough, but that you still do have a role. And I think sometimes when we're pulled in, all these different directions, this is an easy thing to just.

00:16:00 Nicole Weathers

I think the residency program is going to take care of. So what were some of the bigger I guess takeaways or lessons learned from what Rose shared?

00:16:13 Amanda Bruscher

So I think just overall, I think Rose, she shared so many key strategies that leaders can use and I love to how some of them might take a little bit more time, but some of them might take less time. So I think she talked about encouraging that growth mindset which I know we do in our program and I think is.

00:16:29 Amanda Bruscher

Huge. I know a lot of new grads will say, well, I feel like I know nothing or I'm learning so much I don't even remember what I'm learning. And I think that power of yet we talked a lot about and I know as Rose talked about it in that episode too. And just reminding those new guys that you don't know this yet, but continuing that growth mindset, making those opportunities.

00:16:50 Amanda Bruscher

I think too, for the new grads to maybe practice those skills they're uncomfortable with asking questions.

00:16:57 Amanda Bruscher

I know when I was working on my Capstone 2, one of the key strategies was keeping an open door too. So I think just making yourself visible to the new grad, so maybe it isn't checking in on them every single shift, but just showing that you're visible you're there if you need them, allowing them to come to you and just having that.

00:17:17 Amanda Bruscher

Comfortable relationship and that communication too can make such a difference.

00:17:21 Amanda Bruscher

And and I think too, she also talked a lot about identifying strengths, which again we also deal with the residents in the program. And I know personally when I kind of took the strength survey too, it was a good thing. I think sometimes it's hard for us to maybe identify our own personal strengths. We talk a lot about, we're hard on ourselves, that negativity is.

00:17:42 Amanda Bruscher

Sometimes easier on ourselves than others. So.

00:17:47 Amanda Bruscher

I think taking that strength survey and helping those new grads to identify those strengths in themselves and then also helping them apply those strengths as they transition to practice.

00:17:58 Nicole Weathers

I mean, we and again, I guess this is another great example. All of those things you mentioned don't just apply to new grads, right? Like we can use those strategies. And I think we do use those strategies even in our own team or at least I hope we do. I mean, I think we talk a lot about you know, what are your strengths and how do we help you use your strengths at work.

00:18:20 Nicole Weathers

Because that's where you're going to be most, I think, satisfied versus always trying to work on improving weaknesses or or those opportunities. And I think growth mindset, I think Jill's a great example of this, like I don't know how to do a podcast. I've never done it before, but I'm willing to give it a shot and learn and.

00:18:40 Nicole Weathers

Figure that out.

00:18:41 Jess Ociepka

I liked how Rose talked and highlighted the fact that it really does take a.

00:18:45 Jess Ociepka

Village to onboard.

00:18:47 Jess Ociepka

A new grad and I think that's not just, again, not just specific to a new grad, I think that's any new individual coming into to an organization and it should just be this welcoming and I don't.

00:18:59 Jess Ociepka

Dare I say?

00:19:00 Jess Ociepka

Like loving culture that we're welcoming the the the new folks into.

00:19:06 Nicole Weathers

And everybody plays a role in developing that new person, right? I think everybody has a unique job that they do within the organization.

00:19:14 Nicole Weathers

Sure. Like the immediate supervisor could be responsible for, you know, certain things. But I. But I also think team members bring their own unique contributions and have their own unique way of connecting and making that individual feel kind of included in the culture and the organization. And so we just can't put all of our.

00:19:34 Nicole Weathers

Our responsibility on just one individual or one key program or or or right it kind of goes on.

00:19:42 Amanda Bruscher

I like to, I think the strategies and even in Rose's books, the things that she share, yes, the manager and nurse leader should be doing those things. But just like you're all saying too, I think the preceptor or.

00:19:54 Amanda Bruscher

The educator, whoever is checking in with the resident, can implement those strategies as well.

00:19:59 Nicole Weathers

Anything else on the the Nurse leader episode that you wanted to share?

00:20:05 Amanda Bruscher

One of the key.

00:20:06 Amanda Bruscher

Takeaways too, that I had was when she talked about being a nurse leader coach, so kind of coaching them along, I think.

00:20:15 Amanda Bruscher

There's kind of a, so I've certainly worked with leaders that maybe have that coach aspect a little bit better than others. So that was another key take away that I had.

00:20:25 Nicole Weathers

For sure. Well, I think as a leader, it gives leaders permission to not maybe have to have all the answers, right. So a lot of times when you think about.

00:20:36 Nicole Weathers

A leader that's in charge of a new hire. That it's about me telling you exactly what you need to do and and having all the answers. Whereas when we take more of a coaching perspective, it's about how do we help you kind of continue to fine tune your skills to to figure out some of these things.

00:20:57 Nicole Weathers

Uh.

00:20:58 Nicole Weathers

For yourself, kind of going back to that growth mindset aspect and you know really just focused on developing you to be the nurse that that we that you aspire to be. And yes, I want to keep you here and in this unit or in this organization.

00:21:18 Nicole Weathers

But you know, we want to look at sort of the broader needs of the individual. All right, Jess!

00:21:25 Nicole Weathers

Last but not least, why don't you? We haven't yet introduced you either, so why don't you introduce yourself and lead us into your favorite episode?

00:21:37 Jess Ociepka

Sure. So I'm Jess and I'm one of the program coordinators for the IONRP program. I grew up in southern Maine and I got my BSN from the University of Maine, quite a number of years ago in 2006. And then in 2019, I completed my masters with a focus on nursing.

00:21:56 Jess Ociepka

Education.

00:21:58 Jess Ociepka

And then for those of you that are doing the math, that's 18 years that I've been a nurse and I still love it every single day. There's challenges and successes, and I think it's a wonderful profession for the first several years of my nursing career, I worked in a larger teaching hospital in southern Maine. I then moved to Colorado, and I started working.

00:22:18 Jess Ociepka

A 56 bed Community Hospital in the mountains.

00:22:21 Jess Ociepka

Where I was a clinical nurse educator for several years and part of that role included teaching a preceptor program, onboarding new hires, and actually working with the transitional practice program. So a fun fact is that was an online site coordinator for the program before joining the IONRP team in 2022.

00:22:43 Jess Ociepka

I still staff clinically at that Community Hospital, so I get to support new grads around the country in, in my community still. And I also teach the nurse aid training program at our local Community College. I think my favorite episode this past year I enjoyed.

00:23:03 Jess Ociepka

All of them, just like Amanda mentioned for a lot of different reasons. But if I had to pick a favorite, I think episode 3, the role of the preceptor was probably my.

00:23:14 Jess Ociepka

Favorite and I think, Nicole, you started the episode with the line. First impressions aren't just important, they are everything. And to me, that's like the biggest take away of that entire episode. And I think something that we really should keep in mind.

00:23:31 Jess Ociepka

I'd be really curious to find a nurse who doesn't remember their preceptor, both as a new graduate and maybe as an experienced nurse, changing roles or being trained to to the charge nurse role or house supervisor or however your career has sort of progressed because that person.

00:23:51 Jess Ociepka

Is is so much?

00:23:53 Nicole Weathers

Well, I think I mean, I mean it it is it's it's your first impression when you finally get through you know all the HR, all the hospital wide or organization wide sort of information it's it's then this is sort of your home. This is where your landing right.

00:24:11 Nicole Weathers

And.

00:24:12

That.

00:24:13 Nicole Weathers

First impression can totally make or break.

00:24:16 Nicole Weathers

Your perception of the organization.

00:24:20 Jess Ociepka

Yeah. And just like Rose Sherman mentioned, it really does take a village. So yes, you meet with HR and then you do all of your onboarding and your interview, that entire process, but then coming to the unit, it is a completely different.

00:24:35 Jess Ociepka

It's it's. It's another first impression and I think it's so important to keep that in our mind.

00:24:40 Nicole Weathers

Because this is where they're going to stay, right? So yes, the the HR piece, right?

00:24:45 Nicole Weathers

Is is also a big important piece, but you know this is where I'm going to be coming to work day in and day out and having good relationships with those people, especially the preceptor, and being treated.

00:24:59 Nicole Weathers

You know kindly and fairly and included and and feeling like I'm a part of the team, which are all those kind of first impressions that preceptors are are really responsible for.

00:25:11 Nicole Weathers

I just. I don't. I think sometimes we underestimate the impact of that, that person in that role and we're really quick to just put anybody any, any warm bodies in that position and we just if if we can take some time to really make sure we are choosing wisely.

00:25:31 Jess Ociepka

Yeah, I agree. I think it's such a powerful role and sometimes not always given the credit it deserves. So I think choosing wisely.

00:25:41 Jess Ociepka

And and a warm body is not always the best body.

00:25:45 Nicole Weathers

Any other thoughts or takeaways?

00:25:49 Jess Ociepka

I think Allison also talked about the importance of knowing your resources, knowing who you can talk to, who you can ask questions of. And that's also partially why this became my favorite. We don't know everything I've been this for a long time, and I still ask a lot of questions. I still need to utilize resources such as policies and procedures, and then I think, I mean, I really try to reiterate this with our new grad.

00:26:11 Jess Ociepka

In the program so.

00:26:13 Jess Ociepka

I I think that is just a huge take away. Allison also talked about best practices for establishing a preceptor program. So if your organization or facility doesn't have anything in place; she talked about ways to mitigate preceptor burnout, which is a really real phenomenon occurring, I think all of it so great.

00:26:33 Amanda Bruscher

I think the preceptor, I really love that episode too, Jess, and I think it kind of tied in closely with the episode that I picked too. With that leadership. And I remember Rose even talking about, we should know about the nurse grad and preceptor relationship. Do they kind of mesh well, do we think this is going to be a good relationship? Are they going to?

00:26:54 Amanda Bruscher

Communicate well and I think as a leader, you're kind of.

00:26:58 Amanda Bruscher

Kind of a key role in figuring out that relationship, and you should know too. Be checking in with the not only the new grad is it the preceptor and the new grad? Is it going well? But also checking out the preceptor too and getting that feedback I think is important.

00:27:12 Jill Gillespie

I think one really cool thing that I just noticed is how they all do all the episodes, do connect and there's threads that are weaved through all of them that are similar and I really found it neat that Rose talked about coaching. I know Alison talked a lot about coaching and then I just thought.

00:27:33 Jill Gillespie

Back to the NPD week episode.

00:27:38 Jill Gillespie

When we talked to the VA, Misty Brooks, and with her having such a solid residency program, they are looking at these new grads and they're recognizing leadership in some of them and seeing which grads could go on to be.

00:27:58 Jill Gillespie

Successful preceptors.

00:27:59 Jill Gillespie

So they're almost getting to pre screen these new grads and say, wow, that this was my best resident. I could see her being a preceptor. She's already gone on to the clinical ladder where she is going to be a preceptor. So I just thought that was neat, that that nurse residency can lead to.

00:28:19 Jill Gillespie

Creating really good preceptors too, and Amanda, you were kind of that way in your residency.

00:28:26 Nicole Weathers

I was going to say I think that's a lot of of of the idea of this leader coaching, right? Is that part of that is recognizing what these strengths are and helping them figure out how they can

00:28:35 Nicole Weathers

then continue to use this and benefit themselves, help them grow as an individual, but also help the organization grow. And so we talked about that in preceptor. Rose talked about that our some of our spotlights talked about that. And I think in the residency program, one of our sort of key topics is.

00:28:55 Nicole Weathers

Getting them thinking about what's next because.

00:28:58 Nicole Weathers

You know, back to that growth mindset, back to the power of yet like, we're never really, truly done learning. We're lifelong learners. This is a part of us as a nursing profession and the program speaks to that and a lot of the, I think, beyond nurse residency guests sort of spoke to that as.

00:29:18 Nicole Weathers

Well.

00:29:19 Jess Ociepka

I also think it's important to recognize not all nurses want to be preceptors or are would be a good preceptor. That doesn't make them a bad nurse, and I think helping leaders recognize that aspect of it is important too.

00:29:37 Nicole Weathers

And it it's a, it is a specific role with a specific set of competencies. And just because you know how.

00:29:44 Nicole Weathers

To do something doesn't mean you can teach other people how to do that same thing, right? And so, you know, as we sort of begin thinking about 2025 and some of the guests or topics we would like to cover, I think diving into that a little bit more would be

00:30:04 Nicole Weathers

beneficial for our listeners, you know, what is what is that role? What are those competencies and how do we begin to sort of recognize and grow those in our preceptors? So that kind of leads in though nicely to our next question, which is about.

00:30:24 Nicole Weathers

Season 2 so I you know, we're at the end of 2024. I can't believe we've already done 12 episodes or this is our 12th episode. I can't believe how well received. I think the podcast was, I mean, Jill and I continue to sort of watch the numbers grow for the number of downloads.

00:30:46 Nicole Weathers

And it's really been amazing. I don't know, Jill. I was surprised. I was like, even if we.

00:30:50 Nicole Weathers

Have two listeners, I think I.

00:30:51 Nicole Weathers

Will be happy, but it's been so much.

00:30:54 Nicole Weathers

More than that.

00:30:55 Jill Gillespie

Yeah, we're like 15 downloads away from 500 downloads.

00:31:00 Jill Gillespie

So that's like a big milestone.

00:31:03 Nicole Weathers

Yeah, I think that's going to be huge. What a great milestone. And I think, you know, talking to people at conferences, people have told me how much they appreciated the podcast that they look forward to the episodes. I actually had one person say I I print off every transcript transcript and I highlight and I write notes and I do all of those things.

00:31:24 Nicole Weathers

So while we felt like this was a great way to.

00:31:28 Nicole Weathers

Sort of educate and connect with users of our program. It goes far beyond that and there's a lot of people who have nothing to do with our program that are benefiting from this information, which I just think is amazing. But as we sort of finish out the end of the year, I always am planning for what's next.

00:31:48 Nicole Weathers

And so I would love to hear your guys's thoughts on maybe what should be in maybe the pipeline for 2025. Are there any specific guests or topics that you think we should maybe think about exploring?

00:32:04 Jill Gillespie

Just looking back, I really enjoyed listening to like the NPD Week episode where we talked to our facility site coordinators and then our anniversary, our 10th anniversary episode, how it all began and where we're going. So just off the top of my head, I think it'd be interesting to talk to a past resident.

00:32:26 Jill Gillespie

And talk to them about what it the experience was like and what they're doing just to kind of follow them on that path.

00:32:33 Nicole Weathers

Yeah, I think that would be really interesting to do and I think it would be really interesting for our listeners to kind of.

00:32:39 Nicole Weathers

Get.

00:32:40 Nicole Weathers

An inside look at, you know, not only obviously about our program and and the benefits, but from a new grads perspective.

00:32:49 Nicole Weathers

Where? Where did they see maybe the gaps between education and practice? And where are they feeling like they need additional support?

00:32:59 Nicole Weathers

Sure. How does this program sort of do that for them and help close those gaps that you know? Most importantly, I think just kind of doing a little bit of a needs assessment, if you will, for the world to sort of hear from that, that new grad, which is who we are focused on. So I love that idea.

00:33:18 Jess Ociepka

That's right, along the lines of sort of what I was thinking too, just continuing the discussion on outcome measures and that return on investment.

00:33:27 Jess Ociepka

Because so often we see educational programs cut in times of financial hardships, so just how can we help our organizations demonstrate the importance of these programs? Not only, of course, for the nurse residency program, but also for the organization for patients.

00:33:45 Nicole Weathers

You know, that was one of our latest episodes was on like ROI and building the building the case. And that was something, you know, I specifically.

00:33:53 Nicole Weathers

Sort of. Asked Kathleen Opperman about was, you know, when we're faced with these sort of budget cuts and decisions because we know education is always always sort of the first one to go. How do we continue to make the case and and her?

00:34:11 Nicole Weathers

You know, suggestions or recommendations? We're all about, you know, collecting, you know, that information. So yes, it it is about retention, but it's also about so much more than that too. So thinking about the professional experiences and how the organization is benefiting from.

00:34:29 Nicole Weathers

These things, looking at how that individual nurse is continuing to grow and develop and sort of learning how to tell that story to those decision makers. And so yeah, I mean I think that was one we just hit. I think the very beginning of the the basic information around this topic.

00:34:49 Nicole Weathers

But something we can most definitely dive even more into. You know another person I would love to have a ongoing conversation with and we didn't mention her earlier, but Heidi Gilroy's episode on Trauma informed professional development.

00:35:05 Nicole Weathers

I think Jill, correct me if I'm wrong, but outside of like the 10th anniversary episode, she's been our most listened to podcast episode. Is that correct?

00:35:15 Jill Gillespie

Absolutely.

00:35:16 Nicole Weathers

And so her sort of fresh take on this idea of trauma informed care and trauma informed care being applied in the the NPD setting. I think it is just such sort of a new concept for people, but an important concept and it plays into this.

00:35:16 Jill Gillespie

Yep.

00:35:36 Nicole Weathers

This topic of wellbeing and resiliency it plays into the leader coaching that we've talked about and I and it most definitely even plays into the the preceptor content and so kind of going back to Jill's comment about how all these episodes sort of thread together.

00:35:55 Nicole Weathers

I think this is a great example of of what that looks like and how those things all sort of, you know, come together to move us beyond nurse residency, move us beyond just what's happening in this program curriculum. But to all these other factors that sort of come into play.

00:36:13 Jill Gillespie

That was our most downloaded episode, actually. It's our #1, and that's episode 2.

00:36:20 Jess Ociepka

She's so passionate about that topic. I loved listening to her talk about it. It was great.

00:36:25 Amanda Bruscher

Yeah, I actually have that written down as one of my takeaways from the last year too, because I couldn't decide because they're all so good and I love…I had never really heard of trauma informed care. So I think even for me as a nurse, I I never really heard of the topic. So I think it was really informative.

00:36:42 Amanda Bruscher

And I like to, when she talked about the not only like physical Safety at Work, but that professional Safety at Work. And there's so many different aspects to it and that's great.

00:36:52 Jess Ociepka

So another idea for 2025 I thought of is.

00:36:57 Jess Ociepka

We sort of touched upon it a little bit and the idea of accreditation, but maybe talking to an organization that has gone through that entire process and having them give a little bit more information about all of it. I know we touched upon it and really accreditation as a gold standard and we want all our organizations to achieve it. So how can we?

00:37:18 Jess Ociepka

Help encourage and support them to get that gold standard.

00:37:23 Jess Ociepka

I think that could be interesting.

00:37:25 Nicole Weathers

Yeah, I think it would definitely be interesting. I mean, we heard from Sheri Cosme, who is the director of PTAP accreditation.

00:37:32 Nicole Weathers

So hearing her perspective, but I love that idea of talking to somebody who's actually went through the process. And what was that like? And you know, what did they learn about nurse residency? Because I think that's one thing I hear a lot from people is I learned so much about residency and sort of where our gaps are and how we.

00:37:52 Nicole Weathers

Improve by going through the process so you know. I would love to to get a take from somebody who has done that and also you know from various accrediting organizations. So PTAP is just one accrediting body. There are some others out there that some of our organizations are.

00:38:12 Nicole Weathers

Exploring. So I think that's a great idea. Any other.

00:38:16 Nicole Weathers

Thoughts on where we maybe should go in 2025 as we start putting together

00:38:22 Nicole Weathers

our list of guests.

00:38:24 Amanda Bruscher

I know one other topic that I had written down is kind of the idea of innovation. I think it's becoming kind of a hot topic in healthcare and nursing, but really what is it? How do we use it? So I think maybe having an expert that maybe they're using it in their facility or maybe they just are researching the idea of innovation. And I think too.

00:38:44 Amanda Bruscher

How can the leaders use this in their nurse residency program, and how can we educate those new grads too, on the idea of innovation? Because I do think it's going to continue to.

00:38:54 Amanda Bruscher

Grow. So I think that would be an interesting maybe person to have on the podcast.

00:38:59 Nicole Weathers

I love that innovation, you know, is definitely something that I am am very interested in. You know, thinking about how we can use innovation as a team to continue to grow and expand our program. But I I love that idea too of infusing it into the nurse residency program so that our new grads are sort of.

00:39:19 Nicole Weathers

Getting this from the get go because much like Jess, I've been doing this for 18 plus years and.

00:39:25 Nicole Weathers

And innovation is something that's just newly being talked about in year18, right? So imagine if you had some of that information year 1, what do you think? I mean, maybe your career wouldn't look any differently, but maybe it would you know, so that that's another great idea.

00:39:43 Jess Ociepka

I think another important topic that's sort of.

00:39:46 Jess Ociepka

Front of mind with where our staff clinically and I think just everything in.

00:39:52 Jess Ociepka

The world is health.

00:39:53 Jess Ociepka

Equity and social determinants of health.

00:39:56 Jess Ociepka

So I think it would be really interesting to hear from an expert on how we can integrate that a little bit more into our nurse residency program, maybe into our patient care, into the NPD realm.

00:40:07 Jess Ociepka

Both of those topics would be interesting.

00:40:09 Jess Ociepka

Social determinants of health looks a little bit different depending on where we are. Some of us are in very rural facility organizations and facilities and some of us not so much. So that would be interesting.

00:40:21 Nicole Weathers

Yeah. And I would add to that and Rose actually is is another one that brought this up in her episode, but this how do even the social determinants of health impact?

00:40:33 Nicole Weathers

New nurses and new employees in an organization and what is the organization's role in, you know, supporting some of those areas? So I think she referred to it as social determinants of work health. So work doesn't necessarily cause them, but it it plays a role, right?

00:40:52 Nicole Weathers

So I think in her example she gave the example of how, you know, new nurses coming in the organization has them meet with a financial advisor because they know how important financial stability is in their ability to show up and do their work and for.

00:41:08 Nicole Weathers

A lot of new nurses. This is their first real life paycheck that they're getting right. If they're a traditional college student, they're 22 years old. They're getting this money. They're setting up 401K's. They're doing all of these things. And from an employer standpoint, what is our role in helping them in these areas?

00:41:29 Nicole Weathers

And so I think looking at it both from a patient perspective and how we can help our nurses take care of our patients, but also how can we help our organizations.

00:41:37 Nicole Weathers

Take care of their employees. All right, well, this has been a really fun episode to kind of think back whether we mentioned, I think the guest or not, I have to say every single episode I've done has been hugely beneficial. I mean, off the top of my head and somebody that we, we failed to mention.

00:41:57 Nicole Weathers

Kathy Casey.

00:41:58 Nicole Weathers

Was our very first episode talking about new grad readiness? We had Katie Knox talking about simulation and bringing simulation into nurse residency programs. I think actually, other than those two, we've pretty much hit on every single episode that we have recorded here this year. So good things, I think.

00:42:19 Nicole Weathers

Coming from every every single episode. And so if you're new here, if this is the first episode that you're listening to, I highly recommend, you know, maybe bingeing some of those episodes on a long car ride and and starting all the way back at episode one.

00:42:36 Nicole Weathers

I thought this was a really fun way to kick off our year end review that we are in the midst of working on right now and begin making plans for 2025. So I'm really excited to kind of see where things go, not only with this podcast but with the program and so grateful for all of you and all the

00:42:56 Nicole Weathers

value that you bring to what we do, and I really look forward to the new year!

00:43:14 Nicole Weathers

Wait before you go, I want to make sure you know all about our suite of resources you can use to support your new graduate nurses. This includes our Academy, a coaching program designed for organizations as they prepare for the implementation, and ongoing sustainability of a nurse residency program.

00:43:33 Nicole Weathers

Work one-on-one with residency program experts to make sure your organization is residency ready. Our clinician wellbeing course is an asynchronous online course that aims to enhance the wellbeing and resiliency of healthcare professionals, equipping them with the necessary psychological capital to navigate challenges inside and outside of work.

00:43:53 Nicole Weathers

Supporting nurses is another asynchronous online course for preceptors, mentors, and coaches to learn the skills they need to support any new hire.

00:44:02 Nicole Weathers

Both of these offerings can be used as a stand alone professional development opportunity or to augment any nurse residency program. And we can't forget about the program that started it all. The Online Nurse Residency Program. This includes a comprehensive curriculum designed to support new graduate nurses, applying all the knowledge they learned in school

00:44:23 Nicole Weathers

to their practice. We focus on professional skills, personal wellbeing competencies, and new graduate nurses even get the opportunity to create real change in their own organization.

00:44:34 Nicole Weathers

Offered completely online and in a blended format, this program is highly adaptable to all clinical practice settings. You can learn more about all of these programs and more of what we offer, using the links in the show notes below.