Why Cutting Nursing From “Professional Degrees” Risks Patient Care

Headlines say “policy change,” but the real story is what happens at the bedside when nursing is cut out of “professional degree” status. We dig into how limiting loan access for graduate nursing threatens the workforce pipeline, from advanced practice roles in rural clinics to educators who train the next generation. When funding disappears, access shrinks, burnout accelerates, and patients wait longer for the care they deserve.

From there, we turn to a gut-punch: a laboring mother delayed at triage. Minutes matter in labor and delivery, and slow intake mixed with dismissive listening puts families at risk. We talk candidly about maternal health disparities faced by Black women—higher mortality, undertreated postpartum depression, and the harm of not being believed. The fix starts with fast-track triage, standardized escalation, bias-aware practice, and strong aftercare that screens and supports beyond discharge.

We also tackle a perennial debate: should nurses wake sleeping patients for pain meds? The answer lives in nursing judgment. Staying ahead of pain often shortens recovery and length of stay, but sedation risk is real. We share a practical framework for safe dosing, clear protocols, and the difference between sleep and concerning lethargy. Finally, we call out a policy that requires three CNAs for a Hoyer lift—safer on paper, unworkable on short-staffed floors. Real safety means staffing that matches policy, reliable equipment, and a culture that protects backs and careers.

If you care about stronger staffing, safer births, and humane pain control, you’re in the right place. Listen, share with a colleague who needs this conversation, and drop your stories or solutions in the comments. Subscribe and leave a review to help more clinicians find the show.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Check-In
• 0:20 Hot Topics In Healthcare
• 0:36 Nursing Excluded From Professional Degree Rules
• 3:13 Funding Cuts And Workforce Impact
• 5:40 Respect For Nurses Post‑COVID
• 9:20 Delayed Care In Labor Case
• 13:10 Maternal Health Disparities For Black Women
• 17:20 Should Nurses Medicate Sleeping Patients?

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Welcome in, welcome in with your Rakonda RN. I got a lot on my mind, but I'm not here to waste your time. Let's get into it, man. So, first off, how's your week been? How are things going? Let me know how you are in your journey. Let me know how you are physically, mentally, and spiritually in the comments below. I always like to hear about how my people are doing. So, right off the bat, man, it's been a lot going on this week in the news. Um, it a lot of hot topics, a lot of things going on in the healthcare space. So, we're gonna talk about a few of those topics today. So, let's let's get into it, man. So, let's talk about one thing I heard was excluding nursing from professional degree classification. So, I don't know if any of you have heard any of that whatsoever, but this is what we're gonna talk about, man. Let's read this statement from the American Nurses Association. Okay, so it looks like here um excluding nursing from professional degree classification jeopardizes efforts to strengthen and expand the U.S. nursing workforce. Uh, Silver Springs MD, November 10th, 2025. The American Nurse Association is concerned by the Department of Education's exclusion from nursing, the definition of professional degree programs under forthcoming federal loan eligibility rules. This will severely restrict access to critical funding for graduate nursing education, undermining efforts to grow and sustain the nursing workforce. Nurses make up the largest segment of the healthcare workforce and the backbone of our nation's health system, says Jennifer Menis Kennedy, president of the American Nurses Association. At a time when healthcare in our country faces a historic nursing shortage, and that's gonna trigger some people, and rising demands, limiting nurses' access to funding and graduate education threatens the very foundation of patient care. In many communities across the country, particularly in rural and undeserved areas, advanced practice registered nurses ensure access to essential high-quality care that would otherwise be unavailable. We urge the Department of Education to recognize nursing as the essential profession it is and ensure access to loan programs that would make advanced nursing education possible. A encourages the department to engage with nursing stakeholders and revise the professional degree definition to explicitly include nursing education pathways, ensuring robust support for nursing education is essential to the future safe quality care delivery. Quite a bit there, man. Quite a bit, quite a bit. So we're we're talking about um get get out of there. So we're talking about basically affecting nurses moving forward and their ability to get loans to graduate programs. Now, to me, this should be a common sense thing. Um but really I'm gonna be transparent with you guys, I'll be very, very honest with what's going on in this administration. I'm really not surprised. Um, because there just seems to be a lack in this regard, there seems to be a lack of knowledge and competency regarding healthcare in general. So you guys know me, I'm no political major whatsoever, but I do talk about things that regards to healthcare. And so really this isn't surprising. Um, however, I really hope that they rethink this. Um I know this isn't final, but it's something to seriously keep an eye on for sure. Nurses, you mean you saw the statement, you saw the quote, or you heard the quote. You know, nurses make up the largest percentage of those healthcare workers, and they are essential. Um, it was just a few years back where nurses were patted on the back and celebrated and like, we love you guys. We're so glad that you're here, and we support you during COVID. And to now it's we we can't even look at you as a professional degree classification. That's wild to me. Um, we can debate all day about an actual shortage, but the fact of the matter is, nurses are leaving the profession in droves, and that's only going to continue to increase. And guess what, Department of Education? If you want to push nurses even further, go ahead and take away their ability to take to take out loans. Um, that that is definitely gonna push nurses out of the profession. Let me tell you. So, terrible, absolutely terrible. I hope they reconsider this. I hope they look at this differently because that is absolutely terrible. It does nothing for our society. Um, so Department of Education, let's do better. Let's uh let's not let's uh scrap the idea and never think about it ever again, um, as long as this country exists. Um because we have to have nurses. We have to. And Department of Education, if you're not paying attention, um nurses are getting the hell out of this field. They're getting the hell out. So let's try to keep them in healthcare any way possible. Please and thank you. So please let me know your comments on that below. So the second thing I wanted to talk about today, look, man, all my mothers out there. If you're a mother, I mean, how would you feel if you showed up to the emergency department, you got your OB picked out, you know what hospital you're going to, and then you show up, and then you get somebody that's triaging you and they're slow playing. Or they're not, you know what I'm saying? They there's no pep in their step. Um, they're in no hurry. All right. You know, they got the the horses attached to the wagon, but they ain't slap the horse telling you to come on, we'll giddy up. That may be too country for some of y'all. So basically, how would you feel if you got into a situation where they're not trying to get you back to get your baby delivered? So this is what happened, man. So let's let's let's talk about this. Um, like sometimes, man, I some of the things that I see and hear are are pretty crazy, to be completely honest with you. Um, but at the same time, I mean, I sometimes I don't I don't even have the words to be honest with you. I don't have the words. Let's see, man. Let's see, let's see, let's see. I got y'all, man. I got y'all. Bear with me. All right. Let's check this video out. Some of y'all may not be able to hear it, so let's see. Let's see. All right. Um things, um sometimes, man, you just don't really have much words to say. But unfortunately, this is a podcast, so if you're listening or watching, you you obviously you're not gonna watch this, listen to this in complete silence. But it's heartbreaking. It's heartbreaking to see that um for any mother whatsoever. Um because you you never want to see that. My understanding is you know, it's a simple call, they get them right back. Um it's not that difficult of a process. So it sounds like the woman had to wait 30 minutes just to get called back to triage, and then she had to go through this slow process of dealing with the triage nurse or triage personnel, whoever. She didn't and the worst part, I mean, one of the worst parts was she didn't even listen. She told her, you know what I'm saying, when her due date was, and she wasn't listening whatsoever. So that's terrible. You know what I'm saying? Um, I hate to show that, but that is what's happening. That's what happened this past week. And the hospital definitely needs to do better, man. That needs to do better, man. So I do want to bring up some facts. I want to bring up some facts to you guys, just real quick, man. Because we'll, you know, with this podcast, we're we're honest, we're gonna keep it real. And um me being a black man, you know, I I represent the the black community. So, you know what I'm saying? Um, I love all people, but I do got to speak on certain things. The numbers, man. Almost 40% of black mothers experience material maternal mental health conditions. Almost half experience mental health compared to their white counterparts, black women are twice as likely to experience maternal mental health conditions, but half as likely to receive treatment. Black women experience maternal mortality rates three to four times the rate of her Caucasian counterparts. Black women are one of the most undertreated groups with depression in the U.S. Over 50% of postpartum depression cases in women in color go unreported. So um there's other content creators who have spoken out uh over the years about this. Um I'm just doing my part to just report what I see. And um this is just to bring awareness. It's awareness, not a pity party, it's awareness. Um for people to just do their part, for people to do the right thing. You know what I'm saying? Sometimes people's voices, especially when it comes to postpartum, I mean, please recognize those signs and symptoms and please get that reported so they can get the help that they they need and deserve. This goes for all women. You know, all people people of color, white, black, hispanic, it doesn't matter. So all my um labor delivery nurses let's do better. All labor and delivery personnel, let's do better. You know what I'm saying? Let's all do better because we don't we we want, I mean, the birthing process in terms of carrying a child to term is a miracle within its own self. And we want to make sure the child and the mother are being properly taken care of. You know, long process, but we want it to be rewarding in the end, and they they need to be seen all the way through. The the care doesn't just stop at birth, the care continues on even after the birth, and that aftercare is so important and essential to the mother and child to ensure that that child has a chance, to ensure that that mother has exactly what she needs to take care of that child. So if you are in those positions where you can make a difference within that process, or if you feel as though you're doing the right thing, continue to do the right thing, but also speak out against the things that you know are wrong. So that's what I got to say about that. All right, next topic. Do nurses give meds to patients who are asleep? Um this came from this was inspired by another content creator that I saw. A lot of comments chimed in. So I know I got people who are medical and non-medical personnel who listen to this podcast. And for me, the answer is very simple. I used to have an immature way of looking at it early in my career. My initial thought process was we don't need their pain medicine, their sleep. They're asleep. I don't need to wake them up. I've dealt with patients that set an alarm. They're gonna be faithful, they're gonna wake up on time, they're not gonna miss a beat, they're going to make sure that their pain medicine is gonna be given eight o'clock sharp, nine o'clock sharp, whatever, just so they can make sure that they get their pain medicine. And so for me, now that I'm older, I know some of them have taught me over the years they like to get ahead of their pain. And until I understood that, I just had an immature way of looking at it. I was just like, man, you're asleep, you really don't need it. But if it's prescribed to you, man, who am I? You know, it's it's it's different if you're asleep versus lethargic. You know what I'm saying? If you are lethargic, um, and let's say that you you I mean, your nurse, you know, you're a nurse, you do your assessment, and you deem this patient is not fit for pain medicine, that's totally different. That's totally different. You know what I'm saying? Um you have to use nursing judgment, but we're just talking about somebody who's just asleep. I don't see no reason why you can't give them their pain meds. I don't know why this is a topic of debate every year. I see videos or hear about it every year. People talk about it, this debate about pain meds or whatever. I'm talking about people who have chronic pain, not acute pain, but chronic pain. Even if it is acute pain, depending on what the situation is, you know, if they had recently had surgery or whatever, I mean, still, it's pain medicine. Give the pain medicine. Who cares? Especially if they're, you know, med surge or I don't know, some of you or whatever. They're post-surgery patients, whatever, just give them the pain medicine so they can go home. The longer you delay their pain, the longer you're gonna keep them in a hospital. And that's not good for the patient or you. So who are you to st to stop giving them their pain meds or withhold their pain meds? So maybe I'm in the wrong. I I don't know, but I I'm not that person that's just gonna hold pain medicine just for the sake of holding pain medicine. Maybe your captain save a buck for the hospital or or whatever, but I'm not doing that. Or maybe you're just you're just so morally up here that maybe you just feel as though that you could just hold the pain medicine, but that's not me. That's not me. But y'all let me know in the comments what you think on that. All right, so look, man, all my CNAs out there, or even my nurses out there, you know what it means when it comes to using a Hoyer lift. Now, I'm gonna ask a question, and I'm curious to get the response. How many of you actually use the proper number of individuals for lifts? So if let's say your facility says two, do you actually get two people every time? Is there even two people in the building? Let's start there. Is there even two people in the building to properly use lift? Because in some facilities they say it's a no-lift facility. And but yet there's not enough people within the building to ensure the proper safety of those lifts. Hmm. That's the other part that people don't talk about. So there was another fellow CNA who talked got on here and talked about how she saw a facility implement a policy of three CNAs to a lawyer lift. Three CNAs to a hoyer lift. Now, I must say, on the surface, nah, it's not even on the surface. I gotta say, that's pretty insane. Where are you gonna three find three CNAs? I mean, I don't care. The department floors, long-term care facilities, where are you gonna find three CNAs? That's that's that's the one thing. But I can almost assure you this came from some type of deficiency or some type of plan of action, something of that sort, where somebody who probably is not nursing, probably doesn't have much nursing experience, is probably just you know not thinking it through. They probably put that in as some type of form of correction. But us who are practical, we know that is literally insane. We know that it is definitely hard to find CNAs within a building period. So good luck. Good luck finding three CNAs to one hoyer lift. I mean, most of the time, let's keep let's be honest here. Most of the time, CNAs are just one person using the hoyer lift, or there's CNAs who won't use a lift at all because it takes longer for them to actually get the lift and use it on the patient, and they rather just get them up themselves. Now, my CNAs, my my LPNs, my nurses, my whatever, um protect yourself. You got one back. You got one back, let me tell you. And you screw up that back, you're screwed forever. So protect that back. But I do understand when you say, you know, this takes too long, or you know, it's gonna drag me down or whatever. I completely understand. But I really want you to watch this stuff. I really want you to protect your back because you got one back, all right? You know what I'm saying? Now a lot of you like to do things with your back, so protect your back. Do with that information as you will. So, I mean, let's do a quick recap, man. So we talked about, you know, nursing being uh excluded from a professional degree classification, possibly by the Department of Education. Uh, the American Nurses Association is fighting that. So we'll see how that goes. Um, because we our nurses, we need them to still get their loans. They need that. Um we talked about the video that um this black woman who was in labor and she was delayed care, and we brought up statistics and data from women of color and what they deal with compared to their Caucasian counterparts. We talked about do nurses give meds to patients who are asleep and my perspective on that. We also talked about one facility, three CNAs to one hoyer lift. That's what we talked about in today's podcast. So if you like these topics or you have suggestions on other topics, please let me know in the comments section below. I'd love to hear your thoughts. I love to hear your opinions. Um, but thank you for tuning in with your robot condor in. Like I said, man, I'm not here to waste your time. So thank you guys for tuning in. Much love. Have a blessed rest of the week, and I am out.