Hosted by: Lucio Arguijo and Carley Baker
Created by: Joe DeNoon and Lauren Revoir
Welcome to Happy Hour: An Operation Happy Nurse Podcast, where we openly discuss mental health as practicing nurses, and the reality of what it means in healthcare today. Hosted by the lovely Carley and Lucio, Happy Hour investigates alternative stress relief practices and dives deep into why they work to reduce stress. Take a listen and tune in for new episodes every Tuesday!
TW: Eating Disorder For this episode of Mental Health Matters, we were so blessed to have Olumide Onajide on the podcast! As a mental health advocate with a passion for fitness, Olumide talks us through his personal journey to becoming an advocate, how fitness impacts his mental wellbeing, addresses the stigma that men have when speaking about mental health, and shares some of his own struggles and the support systems that helped him overcome them. He was such a joy to be around virtually, so we are so excited to have him in person for our Fitness for the Caregivers event launching November 19th in Washington DC, along with one of our amazing past guests, Riley Christian! For those caregivers in the DC area, you can stay tuned for further details on that exciting event! For more of Olu, check out his Instagram @kingolu30 and follow him as he continues his work as an amazing mental health advocate!
Happy Hour has another fantastic Mental Health Matters episode for you! This week, we are joined by the lovely Lindsey Shelton. Lindsey is an ICU travel nurse, mental health advocate, and digital creator. As a nurse, she created @ScrubHacks on Instagram to provide advice and tips for ICU and travel nurses and to create an open space to talk about mental health. Lindsey shares her journey to becoming a nurse, influencer, and a mental health advocate with Carley and Joe, and chats about all things nursing and traveling in a really fun, honest, and engaging conversation. There’s a little dog talk thrown in there as well, for fans of our four-legged friends! Thank you to Lindsey for joining us, check it out! Make to sure to follow @ScrubHacks for more of Lindsey, she’s a delight!
Content Warning: Suicide We have an absolutely incredible Mental Health Matters episode for you this week, as Carley and Joe are joined by Chris Thomas. Chris, his wife Martha, and son Solomon Thomas are the co-founders of The Defensive Line, an organization dedicated to preventing suicide by transforming the way we communicate & connect about mental health, with a particular programmatic focus on places that serve over 50% young people of color. Chris and his family have worked tirelessly to end the stigma surrounding talking about suicide, change the way we approach prevention, and transform our societal and institutional guardrails to be more effective and equitable. Chris is a passionate and persuasive advocate, and he speaks with Carley and Joe all about the origin story of The Defensive Line, his personal journey with mental health, and the role we can all play in the struggle. We were so blessed to have Chris, and you can look forward to seeing more of him as he is one of our honorees at our Operation Lemon-Aid gala this month, cohosted with the Lemons Foundation. For more of Chris and his work, check out https://thedefensiveline.org or follow the Defensive Line on the major social media platforms. In addition, you can watch Solomon Thomas Plays for his Sister to understand their work. ARE YOU IN CRISIS OR NEED TO TALK TO SOMEONE? TEXT “HOME” TO 741741, DIAL 988, OR CALL 1-800-273-8255 TO RECEIVE HELP 24/7.
Another fantastic Mental Health Matters is in store for you all this week! We have Morgan, also known as @MorganSanDiego on Instagram and TikTok, on the podcast! In addition to her social media profile, Morgan is a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, author, and traveler. Just an amazing person to bring on the pod! Carley and Lucio have a fantastic conversation with Morgan about all things nursing, and learn about her personal mental health journey along the way. We get an inside scoop on the decisions Morgan’s made in her professional life, some advice for those looking at healthcare and travel nursing as a career path, and some fun travel talk! We’re so grateful to Morgan for being our guest on this episode, check it out! You can follow Morgan through her profiles on TikTok and Instagram @MorganSanDiego or find even more at www.iambeyondmedicine.com
This week, on Mental Health Matters, Carley is joined by the lovely Layifa and Emily from @nurselifern! An amazing and very funny community, the @nurselifern page (Nurse Life Right Now) was founded by Layifa’s brother Ebi to provide a space for humor and camaraderie for nurses. Sometimes the best way to handle things is by laughing, and since Ebi’s tragic passing, Layifa and Emily have continued to keep the community going to provide a little bit of fun to an otherwise stressful and traumatic world. The two join us to discuss the importance of community and mental health in nursing, carrying on Ebi’s legacy in the nursing community, and how laughter is unique in its capacity to connect and heal. We are so grateful to have had them on the podcast, and you can look forward to hearing more from them in the future! Please check out @nurselifern for all the hilarious and relatable content you could ever ask for and more!
Tune in for an amazing Mental Health Matters this week, as we have the incredible Dian Griesel on the podcast! Dian, also known as @SilverDisobedience on Instagram, is a perception analyst, best-selling author, influencer, model, and founder of Dian Griesel International. She is also a practicing hypnotist and practices meditation in her daily routine. Carley and Lucio chat with Dian about her approach to mental health, get some tips and tricks (and skincare suggestions!) from her life’s journey, and just have a lovely conversation with this amazing woman. We were so lucky to have her, so we hope you enjoy this Mental Health Matters episode! You can follow Dian through @SilverDisobedience or find even more of the wisdom she has to offer on her website diangriesel.com!
TW/CW: Body Dysmorphia, Suicide. For this Mental Health Matters, we have the incredible Clayton Echard on the podcast. We have one of our most honest, raw, and real conversations we’ve ever had, and we are so grateful that Clayton went there with us. We talk about his early life struggles, his mental health journey, and how he wants to help others on similar journeys. There’s deep discussion on the impact of social media, comparing ourselves to others, what it’s like being a public face, and how we can tackle some of the obstacles that toxic masculinity presents that inhibit real growth. Clayton communicates so well about the issues that men face with the stigma of mental health; this is one of those conversations you don’t want to miss! Clayton is on Instagram @claytonechard and you can follow him as he continues his work as a mental health advocate! We all know nursing can be stressful. Finding your next travel nursing assignment shouldn’t be. That’s why we’re thrilled to be sponsored by Stability Healthcare, a travel nurse agency that’s all about trust and transparency. With their comprehensive search tool and instant online rates, they make finding your next job quick and simple so that you can confidently take the next step in your career. Check them out on Instagram @stabilityhealthcare or at www.stabilityhealthcare.com to learn more.
Happy Hour has another amazing Mental Health Matters lined up and ready to go for you! This week, Carley is joined by the inspirational Sam Roecker! Sam’s story is just incredible. She is a nurse and mental health advocate herself, but she’s also made herself known for her running prowess as well, by running marathons dressed in scrubs! It’s her way of raising support for nurses’ mental health. She most recently set a World Record (!!!) for fastest time in scrubs at the Boston Marathon. We chat about how she got her start in nursing, why she decided to start her current efforts, what running has done for her life, and some of her future plans as well! There’s a real and honest conversation with some surprises as well, so make sure you stay with us to the finish line! We are so grateful to have had Sam as our guest! You can follow Sam on Instagram @samroecker, where you can also find links to her fundraiser and cheer her on! We all know nursing can be stressful. Finding your next travel nursing assignment shouldn’t be. That’s why we’re thrilled to be sponsored by Stability Healthcare, a travel nurse agency that’s all about trust and transparency. With their comprehensive search tool and instant online rates, they make finding your next job quick and simple so that you can confidently take the next step in your career. Check them out on Instagram @stabilityhealthcare or at www.stabilityhealthcare.com to learn more.
An intensely special Mental Health Matters is here for you this week, as Carley and Lucio are joined by the incomparable Riley Christian! Beyond being a practicing attorney with his own law firm, Riley is an incredible mental health advocate, which you can hear for yourself on this episode! Riley shares the journey he’s taken with mental health in his life and how his experiences have shaped him as a person. We also get into how he manages himself in this stressful world and the lessons he’s learned to deal with life’s many challenges. It’s a really honest and deep conversation, and it shows what we can accomplish when we just talk openly about mental health! A massive thank you to Riley for being so present with us! For more of Riley, he is on Instagram @rileydchristian! We all know nursing can be stressful. Finding your next travel nursing assignment shouldn’t be. That’s why we’re thrilled to be sponsored by Stability Healthcare, a travel nurse agency that’s all about trust and transparency. With their comprehensive search tool and instant online rates, they make finding your next job quick and simple so that you can confidently take the next step in your career. Check them out on Instagram @stabilityhealthcare or at www.stabilityhealthcare.com to learn more.
This week, for Mental Health Matters, Carley and Lucio welcome the incredible Beth Brawley to the podcast! Beth is a licensed professional counselor who works with all types of OCD, including anxiety and body-focused disorders. She has also started her own business, Life Without Anxiety, LLC, to provide therapeutic treatment for anyone in need. As always, we start out by learning some of Beth’s back story with mental health, and then we get into a really interesting back-and-forth about anxiety. Beth and our hosts share how it has affected them and the people they care about, discuss how the public’s understanding of anxiety has changed in the last few years, and speak about some of the ways to treat or at least mitigate the worst aspects of anxiety. It’s among the deepest dives into the subject of anxiety we’ve ever had, and the result is a really special conversation you don’t want to miss! For those who want to hear more from Beth, please check her out on instagram @life_without_anxiety or at her website lifewithoutanxietystl.com! We all know nursing can be stressful. Finding your next travel nursing assignment shouldn’t be. That’s why we’re thrilled to be sponsored by Stability Healthcare, a travel nurse agency that’s all about trust and transparency. With their comprehensive search tool and instant online rates, they make finding your next job quick and simple so that you can confidently take the next step in your career. Check them out on Instagram @stabilityhealthcare or at www.stabilityhealthcare.com to learn more.
