Nursing Uncharted: New Nursing Podcast Launches
By Jennifer Larson, contributor
Looking for a new podcast from someone who understands your nursing lifestyle? One that can inspire and encourage you, share some laughs, and dole out valuable information? Then you won’t want to miss the new American Mobile podcast that just launched in June 2021: Nursing Uncharted.
You can listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or check out the video version on YouTube.
And here’s why you should listen: this nursing podcast is hosted by a nurse for other nurses. The issues covered are directly relevant to your professional and personal life, including some that are specific to travel nursing.
Former travel nurse Maggie Reichard, BSN, RN, CNRN, is the host of Nursing Uncharted. It is a role that seems to suit her. As she says with a big smile during her introduction to the first episode, “I am so pumped to be the host of this podcast.”
Reichard’s goal is to inspire, to educate and to spark conversations that will help you figure out the next step in your nursing career. She envisions the podcast as an opportunity to foster uncharted conversations and perhaps even come up with some solutions to the challenges that face the nursing profession.
Her warm, friendly voice will definitely draw you in, but her insightful comments and interviews will keep you coming back. “I hope it steers you to whatever suits you best,” Reichard says during the introductory episode.
Meet the podcast host…
Nursing Uncharted isn’t Reichard’s first foray into podcasting. She once hosted her own nursing program that she dubbed Pen Light, which wrapped up well before American Mobile approached her about the idea of developing a new nursing podcast.
Since she had several years under her belt as a traveling nurse with American Mobile and Onward Healthcare, AMN Healthcare companies, she already had a relationship with AMN and she liked the idea of collaborating. Having someone else who could help edit the podcast was also a draw, she admitted with a laugh.
When the idea first came up, Reichard had wrapped up the last of her 13 (!) travel nursing assignments and once again taken a permanent job—this time in the medical ICU at a Virginia hospital that is a Level 1 trauma center.
The time was right, and Reichard was full of ideas. Travel nursing taught her a lot about herself as a nurse, including how to develop better communication and coping skills. Why not create some conversations about what other nurses have learned and would like to share so others can benefit, too?
In fact, she feels this type of nursing podcast is badly needed. She describes many nurses as feeling exhausted and even burned out in the wake of COVID. Some of them may be looking to make some changes in their lives. For some, it might be finding better ways to care for themselves, but for others, it might include a job change.
“So the podcast is a good way, I think, to facilitate that shift, and hopefully that will help nursing in the long run, by helping to keep people in the profession,” she says.
What to expect when you listen
Every two weeks, a new episode of Nursing Uncharted will be released. Each one will range in length from about 40 to 60 minutes.
The topics will vary. Since Nursing Uncharted is part travel nursing podcast and part all-incarnations-of-nursing podcast, it will feature nurses who represent every possible nursing specialty.
For example, the second episode features Reichard’s friend Sam Reddington, BSN, RN, CCRN, a nurse who spent most of the last year caring for patients in a COVID ICU. Reichard and Reddington chat about a variety of topics, including the challenges of caring for vulnerable patients during the pandemic and the value of preceptorship to a nurse’s education.
In the third episode, Reichard interviews Boyce McClellan, CCRN, who made the jump from a permanent ICU job to travel nursing in the early days of the COVID pandemic. They chat about everything from his experience on assignment in Austin, Texas, to the most important things to ask for in a travel nursing contract.
In future episodes, Reichard plans to call upon fellow nurse travelers and others she met during her travels to share their insights and experiences.
As the podcast evolves, you’ll get to hear a variety of perspectives from fellow nurses, solid career advice, and some great travel nursing tips directly from Reichard, as well.
Here’s a taste: “Be confident in your nursing skills but figure out who to ask for help. And it’s never a bad idea to bring cookies or brownies to your new unit on your first day on the job,” she shared.
SUBSCRIBE to the Nursing Uncharted podcast, or
LEARN MORE about travel nursing with American Mobile.