What happens when a nurse becomes the patient and catches a medication error at her own bedside? Krista Parsons, a former surgical nurse and author from Grande Prairie, Alberta, joins Dr. David Spiro on HuMed to share what she saw from the other side of the curtain.

Krista became a nurse in her late twenties, raising five young children, after watching her father's long struggle with diabetes and dialysis. A few years into her career, a distracted driver rear-ended her on the way to a shift. Back surgery followed, and her surgeon told her she could no longer return to bedside nursing. Then, recovering on the very floor where she once worked, she watched a colleague about to hang the wrong antibiotic and had to take the syringe out of her hand. Krista talks about how fast patient trust can disappear, waiting years for a chronic pain clinic, an allergy her chart didn't catch, writing her book, When the Healer Breaks, and why patients mostly want to be seen and heard.

In this episode:
– Why she became a nurse: her father's illness
– A rear-end collision, back surgery, and "you can't go back to bedside nursing"
– When your job becomes your identity
– Hours waiting for pain medication after surgery
– Catching the wrong antibiotic: ceftriaxone instead of Ancef
– Why an apology wasn't enough
– Opioids, chronic pain and a two-year wait list
– "Waiting becomes its own form of suffering"
– Healthcare in Canada and the US
– Writing a book and building a community for people after life-altering illness
– Look at the patient, not the screen
– "That human touch"

Chapters
00:00 "You're not giving me that medication"
00:21 Meet Krista Parsons
03:11 Why she became a nurse
03:58 Nursing school with five small children
04:36 The car accident on the way to work
06:05 "I can't clear you to go back to work"
07:01 When nursing is your identity
09:45 "It was a really rough day"
11:12 A medical error, seen as a patient
12:19 The wrong room and no post-op equipment
14:10 Hours waiting for pain medication
15:37 "That is not the right antibiotic"
17:42 "How do I put morphine in a minibag?"
18:28 "As a patient, it is terrifying"
19:15 How quickly trust disappears
19:53 Disclosing errors, and an apology that fell short
21:49 Opioids and treating pain
24:47 Pushed toward narcotics, not answers
25:24 A two-year wait for a chronic pain clinic
26:31 "Waiting becomes its own form of suffering"
29:15 Chronic pain, waiting and addiction
29:45 The other side of the curtain
30:35 Why she wrote her book
31:44 Hashimoto's and thyroid cancer
33:13 Building a community to feel seen and heard
35:18 Advice to her younger self: advocate early
36:34 Advice for clinicians: look at the patient
37:54 Listening to families in the ER
40:16 Technology at the bedside
42:11 Communication is the essence of healthcare
43:49 When the chart missed her contrast allergy
45:58 "That human touch"
46:19 Closing

Krista's book, When the Healer Breaks: https://whenthehealerbreaks.com
The AND STILL… Movement: https://andstillmovement.com

This episode is education and storytelling, not individual medical advice.

HuMed unveils the human side of medicine, hosted by Dr. David Spiro, MD.

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About 30 years ago, pediatric emergency physician Dr. David Spiro examined a smiling, well-appearing child with a fever and a rash that looked like chickenpox, and sent the child home. Hours later, the family called: the child was ill and had purple spots on their body. In this special Saturday solo episode of HuMed, David tells the story of a case he felt he had missed, and what it taught him about shame, medical error and the human side of medicine.

It was meningococcemia, a fast-moving and potentially deadly bacterial infection. David met the family in the emergency department, where the child needed fluids, medicine to support blood pressure and a transfer to a larger children's hospital, and the child survived. Still, for weeks and months David replayed the case, felt shame and doubted himself. He explains why meningococcemia can look like an ordinary viral rash early on, Dr. Albert Wu's idea of the clinician as the "second victim" of medical error, why a colleague asking "Do you remember that kid?" still drops his stomach, and what happened when he finally saw the family again. Now a section chief in a pediatric emergency department, supporting a team of about 35 to 40 people, he shares the lesson he wants every young clinician to hear: talk about your cases, and build a community you can lean on.

In this episode:
– A fever, a rash, and a child who looked well
– Hours later: a phone call about purple spots
– Why meningococcemia is so hard to catch early
– Shame, self-doubt and replaying the case
– The "second victim" of medical error
– "Do you remember that kid?"
– Facing the family again
– Why every clinician needs a community

Chapters
00:00 "This case humbled me to my knees"
00:11 A special Saturday episode of HuMed
00:31 A child with a fever and a rash
01:19 Hours later: purple spots
01:53 Meningococcemia in the emergency department
02:47 Why it's so hard to diagnose early
03:28 Shame, replaying the case, doubting myself
03:54 The "second victim" of medical error
04:25 What he teaches as a section chief
05:26 "Do you remember that kid?"
06:01 Facing the family again
07:23 His message to young clinicians
08:10 Community, happiness and longevity
08:54 Closing reflections

This episode is for education and storytelling purposes, not individual medical advice. A fever with purple or red spots that don't fade when pressed needs emergency care right away.

HuMed unveils the human side of medicine, hosted by Dr. David Spiro, MD.

New episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube — please follow and leave a rating, it helps other listeners find the show.

At 14, Josh Belfer was working for a radio star: Philadelphia talk-radio host Michael Smerconish. Today he is a pediatric emergency medicine attending at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Penn, and he joins Dr. David Spiro on HuMed to tell how that mentorship shaped the physician he is today.

It started on a 45-minute bus ride to school in 2004, when his dad suggested he switch his Discman to AM talk radio. One visit to the studio led to news tips, then research for a book chapter, then a one-line email, "This is fantastic. Great work.", and years as an intern and researcher, including an elevator interview with Jose Canseco. Josh explains how the pace of live radio taught him to turn on a dime in the ER, and why he feels what his patients' families feel more now that he is a father himself. He and David also talk about surviving overnights, noticing when a colleague isn't OK, hot and cold debriefs after hard cases, and the mentors he watched lead through COVID during his chief residency year. It's a warm conversation about mentorship, resilience, and the human side of pediatric emergency medicine.

In this episode:
– A Discman, AM radio, and a 14-year-old's first studio visit
– The one-line email that launched years as a researcher
– An elevator interview with Jose Canseco
– How live radio trains you to turn on a dime
– "I feel what my patients feel more now that I'm a father"
– "If it was your child, what would you do?"
– Overnights, sleep, and a two-physician household
– Who notices when a colleague isn't OK?
– Hot and cold debriefs, and letting residents step away
– Mentorship, grit, and working like you could get cut

Chapters
00:00 "The parents are hearing that noise"
00:16 Meet Dr. Josh Belfer
01:39 The story he chose to tell
02:39 2004: a freshman on a 45-minute bus ride
04:12 A Discman, his dad, and Philly talk radio
05:58 Election night and an invitation to the studio
06:49 First morning in a shoebox studio
08:47 Research for a book chapter at 14
09:41 "This is fantastic. Great work."
10:52 Reporting from the field
12:11 An elevator interview with Jose Canseco
14:56 Radio's pace, and the road to the ER
15:15 Breaking news at 6:45 a.m.
16:44 No script in the pediatric ER
18:09 Focus, hard work, and staying humble
20:21 Fatherhood and a career at CHOP
22:38 "I feel what my patients feel"
23:35 "Is this something to be worried about?"
24:45 Overnights, sleep, and emotional reserve
26:30 How he gets through overnights
29:13 Who notices when a colleague isn't OK?
30:47 "Weren't you just here yesterday?"
31:34 Starting over as a new attending
35:02 When residents see something hard
35:54 Hot and cold debriefs, explained
37:20 Letting a resident step away
39:18 The check-in, days later
40:24 The power of "Are you okay?"
41:16 Grit, resilience, and working like you could get cut
43:56 Mentors, then and now
45:05 Chief resident when COVID hit Long Island
46:31 Rapid fire: Sixers or Knicks?
47:35 HipPEMcrates and the PEM Podcast
49:20 Closing reflections

Josh earned his BA at the University of Pennsylvania and his MD at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, completed pediatric residency and a chief residency year at Cohen Children's Medical Center, and trained in pediatric emergency medicine at Columbia University. He created HipPEMcrates, a pediatric emergency medicine education blog (hippemcrates.com), and works behind the scenes on the PEM Podcast with his father, Dr. Robert Belfer.

HuMed unveils the human side of medicine, hosted by Dr. David Spiro, MD.

New episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube — please follow and leave a rating, it helps other listeners find the show.