In this episode Liz and Jesse are joined by Melissa Branjerdporn. Melissa is a Social Worker by profession but, important to this episode, she is currently serving as Team Leader of Suicide Prevention and Therapies in Metro North Health. Melissa has studied a Master of Suicidology and weaves real work experience with the science to teach us more about how to support the prevention of suicide.

Melissa’s Five Things:

1. What is suicide?
2. What are the warning signs?
3. Asking about suicide doesn’t seed it in someone’s mind!
4. When people talk about suicide, take it seriously.
5. Suicide is not necessarily about people wanting to die.

In this special live-audience episode from the Metro North Health Innovation Showcase, Jesse is joined by Julie Oliver and Dr EJ Marsden, the nursing and medical professional leads for the Older Persons Emergency Network.

Unsurprisingly, this is all about older persons emergency care.

Julie and EJ's Five Things:

1. The why - Defining the problem in older persons emergency care
2. The what and where of care requirements - "presenting complaints", locations.
3. The who - the right skills and decisions about team composition
4. What does success look like?
5. The template for future - more care in homes & RACF, scaling?

In this episode Liz and Jesse are joined by Courtney Jarrett. Courtney is a Respiratory and Sleep Scientist in Thoracic Medicine at RBWH. Courtney joins us for another episode that has critical information for staff (especially shift workers) and patients…Sleep.

Courtney’s Five Things:

1. What IS sleep?
2. Why is sleep so important?
3. What are common sleep issues or disorders?
4. Things that impact sleep.
5. How to optimise sleep.

In this episode Liz and Jesse are joined by Jenn Hayes. Jenn is the supervisor for resuscitation and simulation at Rady Children’s Health Orange County. Jenn discusses her personal experience of cardiac arrest and how that collided with her drive to to improve resuscitation outcomes in children.

Jenn’s Five Things:

1. See the person and believe you could make a difference.
2. Without data, there is only opinion.
3. What metrics can we aim to improve?
4. How do you implement and systematise improvement?
5. Closing the loop with communicating the outcomes.

Liz and Jesse are joined by Dr Emily Watters. Emily is a GP with specialised practice focus on Perimenopause and Menopause. Emily is a powerhouse of evidence-based, person-centred care, and an amazing scientific communicator. This is not just for women. This presents a significant public health priority for research and translation to increase access to quality diagnosis and treatment. All treatment options discussed are for the purpose of education and informed self advocacy only. In Australia, check the Australian Menopause Society website for a growing directory of practitioners including Emily.

Emily’s Five Things

1. What are perimenopause and menopause?
2. Health consequences of menopause.
3. You’re never too young for perimenopause.
4. Discussing evidence and debunking myths about perimenopause and menopause.
5. Treatments in perimenopause and menopause.

In this episode Liz and Jesse are joined by Dr Cameron Mackay, Clinical Director of Plastics and Reconstructive Surgery. Cameron offered insights into the mindset, philosophy, practice and innovations in this unique specialty.

Cameron’s Five Things.

1. What is plastic surgery?
2. Restoring what is lost.
3. Healing of the whole person - biopsychosocial.
4. Lessons learned about resilience and self from trauma and surgery.
5. Reconstructing Queensland - equity of access in a very large state.

In this episode, Liz and Jesse are joined by Heather So, Occupational Therapist, PhD Candidate and author researching spirituality in healthcare. This episode gets right to the intersection of Heather's clinical and academic expertise and also how profound personal experiences draw on, and often reshape our own spirituality. Heather shares her own experience of the loss of their daughter, so please consider this when choosing when and where to listen.

Heather's Five Things:

1. Spirituality is awkward.
2. Spirituality is for everyone.
3. Health challenges often spark spiritual reflections.
4. Attending to spirituality is about listening not fixing.
5. Supporting patients/consumers spirituality takes a team.

This is a special edition of Five Things recorded in front of a live audience at the Metro North Health Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Showcase in November 2025. In this episode, Jesse flew solo as host and was joined by Kim Alexander a Professor of Cancer Nursing with Metro North and Queensland University of Technology. Kim's abstract for the showcase was related to her research work into nurses position in genomics and future individualised therapies. We used this as a case study to explore nurses role in innovation and adapting to unprecedented pace of change.

Please enjoy Kim's Five Things:

1. The importance of embracing innovation

2. Evidence-based evaluation

3. Stakeholder engagement

4. Contextual fit and value

5. Implementation and evaluation