The Gritty Nurse

How do we reclaim the narrative of modern nursing across generations?
In this episode of The Gritty Nurse Podcast, host Amie Archibald-Varley sits down with extraordinary nurses, advocates, and authors Tilda Shalof and Lisa Mochrie to discuss their powerful new book, The Handover: A Nurse's Last Shift.
Separated by a 40-year career gap, Tilda Shalof and Lisa Mochrie share their inspiring personal journeys through nursing to show that despite a lifetime of different experiences, we have far more in common than what divides us. At its heart, this episode is about the vital importance of nurses sharing their own stories—because when we write our own narratives, we reclaim our power.
Together, they deliver a masterclass in perseverance, nurse mentorship, and finding your voice. They dive deep into why authentic storytelling is the ultimate tool for bridging generational divides, healing the healer, and driving systemic advocacy in healthcare.
What We Discuss in This Episode:
Why Nurses Must Share Their Stories: The critical importance of taking back our narrative, sharing our lived experiences, and refusing to let others define what it means to be a nurse.

Bridging the 40-Year Gap: How a veteran nurse and a newer generation nurse found common ground, proving that the core of the nursing experience transcends time.

The Power of Storytelling: Why sharing our raw, unfiltered experiences is crucial to changing the public perception of the nursing profession.

Navigating Systemic Challenges: Honest strategies for tackling burnout, staffing shortages, and institutional hurdles in healthcare today.

The Importance of Mentorship: How experienced chapters can uplift the next generation, and how new nurses can find the guidance they deserve.

The Handover Book: The inspiration behind their book and how it serves as a love letter—and a wake-up call—to the nursing world.

Career Longevity: Practical advice for protecting your mental health and thriving at every stage of your nursing career.

Meet the Guests:
Tilda Shalof was a staff nurse in the Medical-Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Toronto General Hospital for thirty years. She is the best-selling author of several memoirs, including A Nurse's Story, and was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal in 2025 for her profound contributions to nursing education.

Lisa Mochrie is a Registered Nurse, Team Lead, and Nursing Educator based in Burlington, Ontario.Recognized for her compassionate clinical practice and dedication to mentoring, she was honored by her students with the Most Valuable Professor Award in 2025.

Where to Find the Guests & Buy the Book:
Grab your copy of The Handover: A Nurse's Last Shift: Available now through University of Toronto Press or your favorite local bookstore!

Connect with Tilda Shalof: IG- @nurse.tilda

Connect with Lisa Mochrie: IG- @lisa_mochrie

Connect with The Gritty Nurse:
Website: www.grittynurse.com

Instagram: @GrittyNursePod

Twitter/X: @GrittyNurse

Facebook: The Gritty Nurse With Amie Archibald Varley
Support the Show: If you loved this episode, please leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts—it helps other nurses find our community!

Content note: this episode discusses workplace violence, suicidal ideation and psychological harm in a clinical/workplace setting.
This week, almost seven years to the day since I walked out of a role where I once hid under my desk to escape a leader who ran her unit on fear, that same leader was walked out of hers.
This isn't a celebration episode. I don't take pleasure in anyone losing their income or their identity. But I can't stay quiet about what it means that it took seven years — seven years of turnover, burnout, and silence — for accountability to catch up.
In this solo episode, I break down five things we need to talk about: how healthcare culture protects powerful people who lead through fear, why "getting results" is not the same as good leadership, what real accountability structures should look like, and why we need to stop rewarding leaders who manage through intimidation instead of trust.
This one is personal. If you've ever made yourself small to survive a shift, this episode is for you.

With a growing mental health crisis and a system bogged down by waitlists and rigid silos, a powerful paradigm shift is happening across Canada: the rise of nurse-led psychotherapy. In this educational episode, we sit down with Sheena Howard (BScN, MA, RYT, RN), award-winning Nurse Psychotherapist and the founder of Acceptance Psychotherapy.
We dive deep into why Registered Nurses are uniquely positioned to transform mental healthcare. Grounded in a holistic nursing blueprint, nurse psychotherapists don't just treat symptoms in isolation; they integrate biological, psychological, and social factors—bridging the gap between the physical nervous system, medication management, and emotional trauma.
However, paving this independent path comes with major friction. Sheena pulls back the curtain on the institutional gatekeeping, regulatory ambiguities, and insurance barriers that independent nurse providers face daily. More importantly, she shares evidence-backed strategies on how to overcome these hurdles: by shifting focus from restrictive corporate insurance policies to strict provincial legislation, building multi-disciplinary alliances, and creating inclusive, trauma-informed clinical spaces. This conversation is a masterclass in healthcare advocacy and systemic disruption for any clinician ready to expand their scope and build a practice on their own terms.
Key Topics & Timestamps
00:00 – Introduction to Nurse Psychotherapy in Canada

02:12 – Moving Beyond the Bedside: Sheena's Professional Journey

04:45 – The Holistic Edge: Merging Nursing Knowledge with Psychotherapy

06:48 – What the Data Says: Evidence-Based Outcomes of Nurse-Led Mental Health Care

09:07 – Overcoming Institutional Bias: Founding the Acceptance Clinic

11:59 – The Educational Pipeline & Advanced Clinical Competencies for RNs

14:54 – Dismantling Systemic Barriers, Sexism, and Gatekeeping in the Field

15:07 – Strategy Session: Navigating Insurance Red Tape & Regulatory Hurdles

20:15 – Intersectional Clinical Care: Harm Reduction & 2SLGBTQIA+ Affirmation

25:46 – Advocacy in Action: Changing Legislation to Expand Public Mental Health Access

About Our Guest: Sheena Howard
Sheena Howard is an award-winning Nurse Psychotherapist, healthcare entrepreneur, and the founder of Acceptance Nurse Psychotherapy, a leading nurse-owned mental health practice. Registered with the College of Nurses of Ontario, Sheena holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Master of Arts. Over her 20+ year clinical career, she has dedicated herself to providing trauma-informed, intersectional, and harm-reduction-focused psychotherapy. Honoured with the provincial Nurse Innovation Award from the Registered Nurses' Foundation of Ontario in 2023, Sheena is a fierce advocate for nurse autonomy, health equity, and diverse mental health access.
Connect with Sheena:
Website: Acceptance Clinic

Email: sheena@acceptanceclinic.ca

Instagram: @AcceptanceNursePsychotherapy

Community Advocacy: Join the Nurse Psychotherapists of Ontario network.

Resources & Frameworks Mentioned:
Clinical Practice: Acceptance Clinic Official Page

Professional Standards & Policy: Canadian Nurses Association (CNA)

Regulatory Context: College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO)

Legislative Foundations: Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA)

Equity Initiatives: CNA Reconciliation Framework 

Clinical Practice: Acceptance Clinic Official Page

Regulatory & Practice Guidance: CNO: Psychotherapy and the Controlled Act Component

 Listen on Apple Podcasts – : The Gritty Nurse Podcast on Apple Apple Podcasts 
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* Watch on YouTube –  https://www.youtube.com/@thegrittynursepodcast
Stay Connected:
Website: grittynurse.com
Instagram: @grittynursepod
TikTok: @thegrittynursepodcast
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064212216482
X (Twitter): @GrittyNurse
Collaborations & Inquiries: For sponsorship opportunities or to book Amie for speaking engagements, visit: grittynurse.com/contact
Thank you to Hospital News for being a collaborative partner with the Gritty Nurse!
www.hospitalnews.com

How do we move from a healthcare system that only reacts to illness, to one that actively empowers patients?
In this episode of The Gritty Nurse Podcast, host Amie Archibald-Varley sits down with Mike Serbinis, the visionary CEO and founder of League, a leading digital health platform transforming the consumer healthcare experience. A seasoned tech innovator and entrepreneur, Mike has a storied history of disrupting industries—from working alongside Elon Musk on early jet propulsion designs to co-founding Kobo, which challenged the global e-reading market. Now, he's turning his sights toward fixing our fragmented healthcare system.
Amie and Mike dive deep into how cutting-edge technology, personalization, and AI can bridge the massive gaps in current healthcare delivery, alleviate provider burnout, and truly put the power back into the hands of patients and frontline workers.
What We Discuss in This Episode:
The Journey to Disruption: How Mike transitioned from mainstream tech innovation to tackling the complex world of healthcare.

AI & Digital Platforms: The real-world applications of technology in streamlining care, improving patient outcomes, and modernizing the clinical experience.

Empowering the Individual: Shifting the paradigm toward proactive, patient-centered care and navigating the barriers to systemic change.

The Future of Care: What a fully integrated, tech-enabled healthcare ecosystem actually looks like for patients and providers on the ground.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Healthcare Transformation
02:25 Personal Journey into Healthcare Innovation
05:28 The Need for a Consumer-Centered Healthcare System
07:56 Aha Moments: Personal Experiences Driving Change
10:38 Shifting Power Dynamics in Healthcare
13:37 Leveraging Technology to Improve Healthcare Access
15:56 Case Study: Hello Pregnancy Initiative
18:53 AI in Healthcare: Balancing Innovation and Care
22:34 Empowering Clinicians Through Technology
27:31 Building Trust in Healthcare Innovation
31:42 The Digital Front Door to Healthcare
35:13 Preventative Care and the Infinite Care Team
39:45 Hope for the Future of Healthcare
Connect with Mike & League:
LinkedIn: Michael Serbinis

Website: League.com

X (Twitter): @mserbinis

 
Listen on Apple Podcasts – : The Gritty Nurse Podcast on Apple Apple Podcasts 
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-gritty-nurse/id1493290782
* Watch on YouTube –  https://www.youtube.com/@thegrittynursepodcast
Stay Connected:
Website: grittynurse.com
Instagram: @grittynursepod
TikTok: @thegrittynursepodcast
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064212216482
X (Twitter): @GrittyNurse
Collaborations & Inquiries: For sponsorship opportunities or to book Amie for speaking engagements, visit: grittynurse.com/contact
Thank you to Hospital News for being a collaborative partner with the Gritty Nurse!
www.hospitalnews.com

What happens when a nurse picks up a pen and refuses to stay quiet? She becomes Tilda Shalof — ICU nurse, bestselling author, patient advocate, and one of Canada's most powerful voices for the nursing profession.
In this episode of The Gritty Nurse Podcast, host Amie Archibald-Varley sits down with Tilda Shalof, RN, BScN, CNCC(C), a veteran nurse from Toronto General Hospital's Medical-Surgical ICU and the author of six books — including the acclaimed A Nurse's Story, The Making of a Nurse, Camp Nurse, Opening My Heart, Lives in the Balance, and Bringing It Home. Her work has been translated into French, Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese, reaching nurses and patients across the globe.
Tilda has spent decades doing what nurses do best — caring for the critically ill, advocating for patients, and working in the most demanding environments in healthcare. But she's also done something radical: she wrote it all down and made the world pay attention.
In this conversation, Amie and Tilda dig into:
Why nursing stories matter more now than ever — and how storytelling is a form of advocacy
What Tilda learned about the healthcare system when she became a patient herself after open-heart surgery
The moral courage it takes to be a nurse — and why the profession is "the opposite of despair"
How nurses can combat burnout by finding community, voice, and purpose through their stories
The hidden world of home care, ICU nursing, and everything in between
What it means to be a nurse-first, author-second — and why that distinction matters
Whether you're a nurse on the front lines, a nursing student wondering if you have what it takes, or a healthcare advocate who believes the system needs to change — this episode will remind you why nurses' voices are essential, urgent, and worth amplifying.
📚 Find Tilda Shalof:
🌐 Website: www.nursetilda.com
📷 Instagram: @nurse.tilda
📧 Contact: tilda@nursetilda.com
* Listen on Apple Podcasts – : The Gritty Nurse Podcast on Apple Apple Podcasts 
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-gritty-nurse/id1493290782
* Watch on YouTube –  https://www.youtube.com/@thegrittynursepodcast
Stay Connected:
Website: grittynurse.com
Instagram: @grittynursepod
TikTok: @thegrittynursepodcast
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064212216482
X (Twitter): @GrittyNurse
Collaborations & Inquiries: For sponsorship opportunities or to book Amie for speaking engagements, visit: grittynurse.com/contact
Thank you to Hospital News for being a collaborative partner with the Gritty Nurse!
www.hospitalnews.com