Jamie breaks down what the RISE Rule actually does, why the CIP code defense doesn't hold up, why "just get a private loan" is not the answer anyone thinks it is, and what this means for a nursing workforce that's already short 264,000 nurses — with 40% of current nurses planning to leave within five years. Plus: what you can do about it, and why your legislators need to hear from you yesterday.

Stay tuned after the Soapbox for our conversation with Dr. Victoria Soltis-Jarrett of UNC on what "professional" status really means for the nurses doing this work every day.

See more on our Substack.

War doesn't just happen "over there." In this bonus episode, Jamie and Melissa Anne apply the nursing lens to the Third Gulf War's homefront realities — from a spike in oil prices and the financial toxicity hitting American households, to the cortisol-soaked "Headline Stress Disorder" disrupting sleep, relationships, and mental health across the country.

We also offer a four-step Nursing Care Plan for surviving a nation on a war footing — because you can't put a bandage on collective anxiety, but you can titrate media intake, add fact based journalism, and [Jamie's go to] contact your Congressional representatives.

Get more info, show notes, and follow us on Substack: https://nursingthenation.substack.com/

Get more info, show notes, and follow us on Substack: https://nursingthenation.substack.com/

For more head to Nursingthenation.substack.com.

This podcast highlights various conversations that align with a shared mission of Nursing the Nation: from science and education to ethics, the arts, and social care, Humanism Now celebrates the one life we have and the responsibility we share to leave a better world for those who follow.

If you enjoy this conversation, you can find Humanism Now on all major podcast platforms and on social media at @HumanismNowPod — links are in the show notes. James also runs Humanise Live, a production team helping charities and purpose-driven organizations start podcasts with heart, so do reach out if you’ve ever wanted to share your mission through podcasting. James was wonderful to work with!

Here’s our conversation with Humanism Now. Remember to head to Nursingthenation.substack.com.

Looking ahead to Season Two, they preview deep dives into the MAHA strategy plan, a behind-the-scenes look at the business of health care with an industry insider, and a multifaceted series on the U.S. maternal health crisis. Expect even more evidence-based policy analysis, nursing-centered perspectives, and conversations that highlight just how political, expansive, and essential nursing truly is.

Season Two will continue the ethical obligation nurses have to advocate for safety, dignity, equity, and just health policy. Until then, Jamie will still be active on Substack reading, writing, and keeping the conversation going. Thanks to everyone who joined us this season for a nurse’s take on the nation.

For more head to Nursingthenation.substack.com.

For further information, visit Nursingthenation.substack.com

For more information, visit Nursingthenation.substack.com

Ultimately, Jamie and Melissa Anne emphasize that improving children’s health requires more than cutting prescriptions or regulating drug ads. It all comes back to social determinants of health like addressing housing, food access, insurance barriers, and other inequities. We also highlight what’s missing from MAHA’s plan: any mention of the leading causes of child death in the U.S., like firearms and motor vehicle accidents. This episode urges listeners to look beyond oversimplified solutions and engage in real, evidence-based dialogue about what children need to thrive.

Remember to take a look at our companion Substack notes on this updated episode. Nursingthenation.substack.com

Despite rising claims of faith-based exemptions, major religious authorities across the world, including the Vatican, leading Jewish organizations, Islamic juristic bodies, and the Dalai Lama, all support vaccination as a moral responsibility that protects life and community. So where is the resistance coming from?

Jamie goes deeper, sharing her own early-2000s brush with vaccine skepticism, the impact of misinformation, and what she learned as a CDC public health nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also look at how state laws shape vaccination rates and how nurses end up stuck in the middle of a highly politicized debate.

Most importantly: how do we talk about vaccines in ways that actually reach people? How do we respond to concerns without pushing families further away? And what happens when national leaders use their platforms to undermine trust in science?

Join the conversation on our Substack: Nursingthenation.substack.com

Make sure to head to Nursingthenation.substack.com for more information.

Whether you want to review the topic with our experienced nurse perspective or if you are new to us and want to catch up to speed- we hope you will find our REDUX MOCHA series informative.

Further information and resources can be found at Nursingthenation.substack.com

Visit our Substack at Nursingthenation.substack.com.

Visit our Substack at Nursingthenation.substack.com.

For more information and resources, check out Nursingthenation.substack.com

For more information, please visit Nursingthenation.substack.com

Head over to nursingthenation.substack.com for more info, resources, and more.

For more information, visit Nursingthenation.substack.com

Read more at Nursingthenation.substack.com.

Head over to our Substack (nursingthenation.substack.com) for detailed show notes and resources.

Visit our Nursingthenation.substack.com for more info and resources.

But we still want to hear from you- our email is nursing.nation.voice@gmail.com and visit us at Nursingthenation.substack.com.

See you all next week!

For more on this topic, visit our Substack at nursingthenation.substack.com.

Dr. Heidi Collins Fantasia is a nurse with her PhD and a professor and department chair in the Solomont School of Nursing, Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. She is a board-certified women’s health nurse practitioner with more than 30 years of experience providing women’s health care in public and private settings. Her research interests include the intersection of violence and reproductive health, including physical and sexual violence and human trafficking. She has numerous publications and presentations related to women’s health issues including sexual risk behaviors, sexually transmitted infections, and intimate partner violence. Dr. Fantasia is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and a Distinguished Practitioner and Fellow in the National Academies of Practice. Dr. Fantasia is also the editor for the journal "Nursing for Women’s Health" and the lead editor and author for "Protocols for Nurse Practitioners in Gynecologic Settings."

Make sure to check out Nursingthenation.substack.com and join the conversation!

Our listeners know that Melissa Anne and Jamie are passionate about ensuring that every person has the opportunity to live a healthy, fulfilling life and to reach their best possible self. But we also know the realities: nursing is demanding, both physically and emotionally. That’s why when a nurse goes above and beyond, such as championing social justice, advancing equity, and embodying the values of our profession, we want to lift them up and give them the recognition they deserve.

The inaugural Shout Out goes to Amanda Trebach. Amanda is an ICU nurse in California who recently was held for 36 hours by federal agents for engaging in the protected right to protest government actions and treatment of detained individuals without due process.

If you would like us to shout out a nurse holding up the ethical tenets of the profession, please let us know by contacting us at nursing.nation.voice@gmail.com or message us through nursingthenation.substack.com.

Head over to our Substack for detailed show notes and resources.

Full show notes, suggested reading, and resources available on Nursing the Nation's Substack.

Nursing the Nation a podcast where we dissect today's headlines through the uniquely insightful lens of the nurse. Join your hosts, Jamie & Melissa Anne, as they use their nursing expertise to navigate the complexities of national events, offering perspectives rooted in holism, advocacy, and nursing science. Beyond the medical jargon and political noise, they’ll explore the human element of current affairs, providing a grounded and compassionate understanding of the issues that impact us all. Because when it comes to understanding the pulse of our society, who better to ask than the most trusted profession?

We explore the 2024 HHS review of transgender youth care—heavily criticized by the AAP for excluding experts and endorsing discredited “exploratory therapy”—and reveal surprising ties between the report's cited sources and hate groups like Genspect. Jamie shares her clinical experiences supporting trans youth, including a powerful story of improved mental health following gender-affirming surgery and reduced antidepressant use.

We also tackle the MOCHA report’s broader attack on mental health care, including its embrace of Abigail Shrier’s Bad Therapy, which criticizes trauma-informed care and emotional literacy. Melissa Anne highlights the flawed logic behind the report’s anti-therapy stance and its romanticized ideas like RFK Jr.'s “healing camps.”

To close, we reflect on the report’s dangerous omissions, especially its complete silence on maternal, newborn, and infant feeding health. Melissa calls out the myth that America was ever truly “healthy.” If we want to raise a healthier generation, it won’t be through fear-mongering and misinformation, but through compassionate, evidence-informed care for all children and families.

Full show notes on our Substack.

Jamie and Melissa Anne acknowledge valid concerns (like the overuse of antibiotics) but argue that the report distorts data and omits essential context. For instance, the claim that ear tube surgery is harmful is based on a misinterpretation of a NEJM study, which actually showed comparable outcomes between surgical and antibiotic treatment, both with parental consent. Similarly, the report selectively uses psychiatric research to suggest medications are unsafe, ignoring evidence that supports their use—especially for fluoxetine, escitalopram, and methylphenidate.

The episode also debunks the idea that children born later in the school year are being recklessly overdiagnosed. Jamie notes that the research cited actually calls for improved educational and clinical responses, not fewer diagnoses or less treatment.

The hosts further critique the MOCHA report’s misuse of international studies and flawed logic. One example includes a 2017 study linking mental illness to single-parent homes, while overlooking stronger evidence from World Psychiatry (2024) emphasizing broader social determinants.

Ultimately, Jamie and Melissa Anne advocate for evidence-based, individualized pediatric care rooted in shared decision-making. They caution against oversimplified narratives and stress the importance of nuanced, transparent dialogue when public health messaging targets children. Originally intended as the series finale, this episode became a necessary deep dive to correct widespread misrepresentations in the MOCHA report.

Full show notes and suggested reading available on Nursing the Nation's Substack.

The hosts break down the MOCHA report’s critique of the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule, which calls for more clinical trials using true placebos, larger sample sizes, and longer follow-up periods. It also suggests the U.S. gives more vaccines than necessary, especially compared to European countries, echoing nostalgia-driven arguments like “it wasn’t like this when I was a kid.”

They highlight RFK Jr.’s controversial decision to fire all 17 members of the CDC’s ACIP and replace them with individuals lacking vaccine or infectious disease expertise—many with ties to anti-vaccine activism—as a deeply troubling move.

Jamie and Melissa Anne firmly assert that vaccines are safe, effective, and thoroughly tested, with ongoing surveillance through systems like VAERS and VSD. They acknowledge that public health communication missteps, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the dismissive labeling of concerned patients as “anti-vax” may have worsened vaccine hesitancy.

The episode ends with a strong rejection of the MAHA report’s insinuations that vaccines are linked to chronic illnesses like autism or autoimmune conditions—claims soundly disproven by decades of global research.

Full show notes and suggested reading can be found on our Substack.

We encourage you to listen to those episodes first if you haven’t already. Full show notes and suggested reading can be found on our Substack.

Jamie and Melissa Anne break down what the science really says about food chemicals and children’s health, explore why low-income families are often hit hardest, and push back on the report’s cherry-picked and often misleading research. From the politics of pesticide regulation to why you can’t gut research funding and still demand better evidence, we connect the dots between science, policy, and public health.

This discussion also challenges listeners to think bigger: about food equity, fossil fuels, and what it truly means to protect our children’s future.

Jamie and Melissa Anne discuss part one of the report on ultra-processed foods and kids health in the United States. From their nursing perspective, they explore how health policy and other factors may impact how this might be addressed moving forward while considering the problems from a humanistic perspective.

Episode 1 provides an introduction to Jamie and Melissa Anne, two experienced nurses and nursing PhD students, and a preview of the different topics they will cover. This is a show for everyone but does not dispense any medical or nursing advice.