In this episode of Nursing the Nation, co-hosts Jamie Bourgeois and Melissa Anne DuBois share their personal journeys into nursing and why they launched a podcast at the intersection of nursing, policy, and current events. From psych nursing to perinatal care, they reveal how nursing is far more than bedside work; it’s advocacy, holistic care, and a political force shaping everyday life.

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Today we’re launching Shout Out Saturday, a segment dedicated to celebrating nurses who live out the ethical core of nursing. This is a space to spotlight a fellow nurse who is truly living out the Nursing Code of Ethics. These are the nurses who remind us that our work doesn’t end at the bedside because nursing is also about advocacy, equity, and making an impact on the communities we serve.

Our listeners know that Melissa Anne and Jamie are passionate about ensuring that every person has the opportunity to live a healthy, fulfilling life and to reach their best possible self. But we also know the realities: nursing is demanding, both physically and emotionally. That’s why when a nurse goes above and beyond, such as championing social justice, advancing equity, and embodying the values of our profession, we want to lift them up and give them the recognition they deserve.

The inaugural Shout Out goes to Amanda Trebach. Amanda is an ICU nurse in California who recently was held for 36 hours by federal agents for engaging in the protected right to protest government actions and treatment of detained individuals without due process.

If you would like us to shout out a nurse holding up the ethical tenets of the profession, please let us know by contacting us at nursing.nation.voice@gmail.com or message us through nursingthenation.substack.com.

Jamie and Melissa Anne take on the Medicare changes in The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBBA), signed into law by President Trump on July 4, 2025. OBBBA makes significant (although less extensive than Medicaid) changes to Medicare that could still have major impacts on seniors and people with disabilities. While core benefits remain intact for those who still qualify, the law tightens eligibility for legal immigrants, excluding many who have paid into the system but lack green cards. It halts planned reforms that would have streamlined enrollment for low-income assistance programs, potentially leaving 1.4 million seniors without help paying premiums or co-pays. OBBBA also triggers up to 4% annual Medicare provider payment cuts starting in FY2026 under PAYGO rules, which may lead some clinicians and hospitals, especially in rural areas, to limit Medicare patients or close services. Indirectly, massive Medicaid cuts will harm dual-eligible citizens who rely on Medicaid to cover out-of-pocket Medicare costs and long-term care. The bill also expands exemptions in Medicare’s prescription drug price negotiation program, reducing the number of drugs subject to negotiation and likely keeping premiums and co-pays higher. While supporters say the law strengthens Medicare’s finances and targets waste, critics argue it erodes access, affordability, and fairness, disproportionately harming vulnerable populations like low-income seniors, rural residents, and legal immigrants who have worked and paid taxes for decades.

Head over to our Substack for detailed show notes and resources.

This week, we unpack the sweeping new law formerly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill—now signed into law by President Trump. While it promises tax breaks and rural relief, it delivers historic Medicaid cuts, stricter eligibility requirements, and new barriers to care that could leave 12 million Americans uninsured. Jamie and Melissa Anne break down what this means for nurses, patients, and entire communities—arguing that these changes will harm everyone, not just those on public assistance. Spoiler: taking away healthcare isn’t a savings plan—it’s a public health crisis in the making.

Full show notes, suggested reading, and resources available on Nursing the Nation's Substack.

Soapbox Saturday is segment of Nursing the Nation where Jamie or Melissa Anne step up on their figurative soapbox and talk about something they feel strongly about. In today's Soapbox, Jamie explains why nurses are political, and why you should, too. This means a commitment to civic engagement for just and equitable health policy at local, national, and global levels.

Nursing the Nation a podcast where we dissect today's headlines through the uniquely insightful lens of the nurse. Join your hosts, Jamie & Melissa Anne, as they use their nursing expertise to navigate the complexities of national events, offering perspectives rooted in holism, advocacy, and nursing science. Beyond the medical jargon and political noise, they’ll explore the human element of current affairs, providing a grounded and compassionate understanding of the issues that impact us all. Because when it comes to understanding the pulse of our society, who better to ask than the most trusted profession?

In the second half of our series finale, Jamie and Melissa Anne take on one of the most inflammatory claims in the MAHA commission’s MOCHA report: that gender-affirming care is “child chemical and surgical mutilation.” We unpack how this rhetoric misrepresents transgender healthcare and ignores both medical guidelines and clinical realities.

We explore the 2024 HHS review of transgender youth care—heavily criticized by the AAP for excluding experts and endorsing discredited “exploratory therapy”—and reveal surprising ties between the report's cited sources and hate groups like Genspect. Jamie shares her clinical experiences supporting trans youth, including a powerful story of improved mental health following gender-affirming surgery and reduced antidepressant use.

We also tackle the MOCHA report’s broader attack on mental health care, including its embrace of Abigail Shrier’s Bad Therapy, which criticizes trauma-informed care and emotional literacy. Melissa Anne highlights the flawed logic behind the report’s anti-therapy stance and its romanticized ideas like RFK Jr.'s “healing camps.”

To close, we reflect on the report’s dangerous omissions, especially its complete silence on maternal, newborn, and infant feeding health. Melissa calls out the myth that America was ever truly “healthy.” If we want to raise a healthier generation, it won’t be through fear-mongering and misinformation, but through compassionate, evidence-informed care for all children and families.

Full show notes on our Substack.

In the (almost) final episode of Decoding “Make Our Children Healthy Again”: What Nurses Want You to Know, co-hosts Jamie and Melissa Anne examine one of the MAHA commission’s most controversial claims: that American pediatric care is dangerously overmedicalized. The MOCHA report criticizes the use of medications, surgeries, and even routine lab tests in children as examples of systemic overtreatment.

Jamie and Melissa Anne acknowledge valid concerns (like the overuse of antibiotics) but argue that the report distorts data and omits essential context. For instance, the claim that ear tube surgery is harmful is based on a misinterpretation of a NEJM study, which actually showed comparable outcomes between surgical and antibiotic treatment, both with parental consent. Similarly, the report selectively uses psychiatric research to suggest medications are unsafe, ignoring evidence that supports their use—especially for fluoxetine, escitalopram, and methylphenidate.

The episode also debunks the idea that children born later in the school year are being recklessly overdiagnosed. Jamie notes that the research cited actually calls for improved educational and clinical responses, not fewer diagnoses or less treatment.

The hosts further critique the MOCHA report’s misuse of international studies and flawed logic. One example includes a 2017 study linking mental illness to single-parent homes, while overlooking stronger evidence from World Psychiatry (2024) emphasizing broader social determinants.

Ultimately, Jamie and Melissa Anne advocate for evidence-based, individualized pediatric care rooted in shared decision-making. They caution against oversimplified narratives and stress the importance of nuanced, transparent dialogue when public health messaging targets children. Originally intended as the series finale, this episode became a necessary deep dive to correct widespread misrepresentations in the MOCHA report.

Full show notes and suggested reading available on Nursing the Nation's Substack.

In this episode, Jamie and Melissa Anne tackle the fourth major claim in the MAHA Commission’s MOCHA report: that American pediatric care is overmedicalized, with too many vaccines. While the original plan was to explore the broader claim about overuse of medications and mental health care, the complexity of vaccine misinformation—especially from RFK Jr.—warranted a dedicated episode.

The hosts break down the MOCHA report’s critique of the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule, which calls for more clinical trials using true placebos, larger sample sizes, and longer follow-up periods. It also suggests the U.S. gives more vaccines than necessary, especially compared to European countries, echoing nostalgia-driven arguments like “it wasn’t like this when I was a kid.”

They highlight RFK Jr.’s controversial decision to fire all 17 members of the CDC’s ACIP and replace them with individuals lacking vaccine or infectious disease expertise—many with ties to anti-vaccine activism—as a deeply troubling move.

Jamie and Melissa Anne firmly assert that vaccines are safe, effective, and thoroughly tested, with ongoing surveillance through systems like VAERS and VSD. They acknowledge that public health communication missteps, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the dismissive labeling of concerned patients as “anti-vax” may have worsened vaccine hesitancy.

The episode ends with a strong rejection of the MAHA report’s insinuations that vaccines are linked to chronic illnesses like autism or autoimmune conditions—claims soundly disproven by decades of global research.

Full show notes and suggested reading can be found on our Substack.