Bedpan Banter
Welcome to Bedpan Banter | The Human Side of Healthcare -- the podcast that feels like sitting at the nurses’ station swapping stories with your favorite coworkers. Hosted by the one and only Nurse Mike, this show goes beyond the textbooks and into the real, raw, and hilarious moments that make up nurse life.
Whether it’s unfiltered stories from the floor, emotional patient moments, or those laugh-until-you-cry shifts you’ll never forget... we’re talking about it all. Oh, and don’t worry, we’ll be sneaking in a few knowledge bombs you can actually use on the job.
If you're a nursing student, new grad, or seasoned pro who just needs to feel seen (and maybe laugh a little), you’re in the right place.
Episodes
32 episodes
NCLEX Electrolyte Imbalances Review with Nurse Mike
A tiny lab value can be the difference between a stable patient and a rapid crash, and that is exactly why electrolyte imbalances show up nonstop on nursing exams and the NCLEX. We walk through the Fab Five electrolytes in a way that actually s...
A Nurse-Friendly Guide To Reading EKG Strips Fast with Nurse Mike
Your patient says, “My chest feels fluttering,” and suddenly that monitor feels louder than your own thoughts. We’re taking the fear out of ECG interpretation by turning EKG strips into a simple, repeatable process you can use on exams and at t...
Anxiety Medications Breakdown using Memory Tricks w/ Nurse Mike
Most nursing pharmacology mistakes happen when a question quietly hints at sedation, and you miss what that means for airway and breathing. We slow anxiety medications down into a simple, test-ready framework built around patient safety, ABCs (...
You Will Never Mix Up DKA And HHS Again with Nurse Mike
DKA vs HHS can feel like a blur when you’re studying, but the body tells a clear story if you know what to listen for. I’m Nurse Mike, and I’m breaking these two diabetic emergencies into a simple framework you can use under pressure on exams a...
Stop Guessing And Start Nailing ABG Questions w/ Nurse Mike
ABGs have a way of making smart nursing students freeze, not because they’re impossible, but because they’re often taught like a memorization game. We’re flipping that. Once you see arterial blood gases as relationships between pH, PaCO2, and H...
Your Hospital Won’t Protect You: How Nursing Unions Protect Nurses and Patients w/ NNU
Your first nursing job can feel like a test you never studied for: short staffing, missed breaks, supply shortages, and that sinking sense that if something goes wrong, your license is on the line. We sit down with Kristine and Monica, RNs and ...
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Nurse Erica EXPOSES Healthcare Worker Rights | Unions, Strikes & Ending Workplace Violence
Getting hit, threatened, or harassed shouldn’t be a rite of passage in healthcare, yet too many nurses are told to accept violence as “part of the job.” Nurse Erica joins us to draw a clear line: this is a workplace safety crisis, and nurses ha...
How To Communicate With Deaf & Hard of Hearing Patients w/ Nurse Mikaela
Someone tells you “just speak louder,” and suddenly you realize they don’t understand the problem at all. That’s the heart of our conversation with Nurse Mikaela, a registered nurse who is deaf, as we dig into what real communication looks like...
You Can Rebuild Confidence After Failing The NCLEX with Murse Kash
Three failed NCLEX attempts can mess with your confidence, your timeline, and your identity. We’re joined by Nurse Kash, a New York City pediatric cardiology nurse and creator, to tell the real story of what it felt like to fail three times, lo...
The Problem No One Teaches Nurses: Scheduling (ft. EightTenTwelve)
You can learn every drug and every protocol and still feel unprepared for the hardest part of nursing: being human under pressure. Nurse Mike sits down with Haley and Marcelle, two sisters whose childhoods were shaped by congenital heart diseas...
Addison vs. Cushing: The One Lab That Changes Everything with Nurse Mike
A single lab value can flip your entire answer choice, especially when the adrenal glands are involved. We pick up with part two of our Addison’s disease and Cushing syndrome breakdown and focus on what actually helps under pressure: pattern re...
The Real Difference Between Addison's & Cushing's with Memory Tricks
Addison’s disease vs Cushing syndrome can feel like a maze of arrows, hormones, and “wait, which one is high?” moments. We cut through the noise by building the whole story from the ground up: what the adrenal glands do, which adrenal cortex ho...
What Nursing School Doesn’t Prepare You For with Nurse Brenden
Nursing school can teach you the steps, but it can’t recreate the moment someone asks you to “boost the patient” and you realize you’ve never done it on a real person. We sit down with Brenden and talk about graduating in the COVID era of onlin...
Nurse Mike from SimpleNursing Breaking Down the 2026 NCLEX Changes
Two NCLEX answers can look “right” on the surface, but only one protects the patient first. That’s the real skill behind prioritization, and it’s exactly what I’m breaking down here on Bedpan Banter with a clear, test-ready approach built aroun...
The Nurse that Spoke Up: A Path to Patient Advocacy
A nurse walks into a med room and hears laughter about a “placebo” given to a symptomatic patient. What happens next is a real-time test of ethics: speak up and risk backlash, or stay silent and let a lie stand between a patient and their care....
Beauty that Survives a Double Shift with Diaspi Beauty
What happens when a level-one trauma night shift meets a clean beauty lab? We sit down with clinical scientist and founder Diana Santiago to trace a remarkable path from calibrating analyzers to crafting high‑pigment, vegan, cruelty‑free lip co...
Nurse’s Guide to Neuro & Stroke Patients with Dr. Uddin, Neurologist
You can feel the stakes the moment a patient starts to change. With inpatient neurologist Dr. Uddin at the table, we go straight to the front lines of neurocare—where strokes dominate, seizures confuse, and nursing judgment buys back brain. Thi...
Built for Ports, PICCs, and People | The Port Studio
A cold infusion room, a tangled sleeve, a zipper that sets off a scanner—tiny moments can turn a hard day into a brutal one. Our guests, twin founders of Port Studio Brinlee & Mariela, set out to change that after a stage 4 diagnosis at 21 ...
Seeing Abilities Before Disabilities with Sarah & Emily
Start with a laugh, stay for the truth. We sit down with Sarah, a psych nurse, and her sister Emily to explore what real inclusion in healthcare looks like when you move past labels and meet the person in front of you. Their story arcs from a p...
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NCLEX 101: Test-Taking Strategies That Actually Work
Your NCLEX doesn’t demand perfect memory. It asks one core question: can you keep patients safe when the stakes are high and the clock is running? We break test stress into simple moves that lower anxiety, sharpen judgment, and turn tricky stem...
How A Miami CVICU Nurse Builds Confidence & Preps For CRNA School with Sam Del Toro
Ever wonder what it feels like to hold a patient’s life in your hands while learning a new device, managing six drips, and calming a terrified family—in two languages? We invited Sam Del Toro, a Miami CVICU nurse heading to CRNA school, to take...
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Turning Students Into Nurses: What Support Really Looks Like at West Coast University
Want a real look at how nurses are shaped—fast—and still come out safe, confident, and patient-centered? Nurse Mike sits down with Professor Katrina Lino from West Coast University to unpack the inner workings of an accelerated BSN: five-hour l...
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Staying Grounded Between Bedside & Brand Deals with Natalie Rae
A brick wall, a Jeep duck, and an engagement ring sets the episode scene—but the real story is how a new grad who started on a Covid unit turned humor into healing and built a platform without letting go of the bedside. We sit down with Natalie...
Surviving Nursing School Without Losing Your Social Life with Leanys Capote
Cardiac chaos, clinical goosebumps, and a calendar that plans even the commute—this conversation pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to thrive in nursing school. We sit down with a fourth-semester student who swapped a marketing majo...
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Climbing the Nursing Ladder: CNA → LPN → RN with Kesheen Curtis
Scrubs, scope, and second chances—this conversation with Kesheen is a candid look at how a nursing career really takes shape. We start with a hard detour: walking away from a BSN program that drained his momentum, then rebuilding confidence thr...
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