The Gritty Nurse

The Gritty Nurse is back, and NO TOPIC is off-limits! Launching in September 2025 with host Amie Archibald Varley, this podcast is dedicated to amplifying the voices of nurses and others who work in healthcare to explore the most pressing issues they face. Join Amie as she continues to take a deep dive into powerful and often uncomfortable topics. Though shared experriences, storytelling and the discussions surrounding the intersection of power, we will navigate the challenges facing healthcare nationally and internationally--as of course--challenge the status quo. The show's core belief remains unwavering: that compassion is the through understanding diverse narratives and perspectives is KEY. Amie will continue to explore hot-button issues like mental health, social justice, women's health, and the daily challenges within the nursing profession. The Gritty Nurse is more than just a podcast—it's a community where nurses and healthcare workers can feel heard, empowered, and recognized as the community leaders they truly are. Change is HERE.

A Battle Cry for Change: Postpartum Psychosis, Systemic Failure, and the Case of Lindsay Clancy

Aug 7, 2026

In this new episode on The Gritty Nurse Podcast with Amie Archibald-Varley, we examine the case of Lindsay Clancy through the lens of postpartum psychosis and the catastrophic gaps in mental health care that allowed it to go unrecognized and untreated. I start with the question that should be asked before...

Why Thousands of Nurses Are Walking Out Across North America? (And Who’s Replacing Them)

Jul 30, 2026

Frontline pressures have reached a boiling point. In this swapcast episode, nurses Erica and Amie tackle the wave of nursing strikes across Massachusetts (MNA) and British Columbia (BCNU), exploring what these recent labor actions reveal about the true state of healthcare.

Together, they dive into the harsh realities...

The Handover: What a 40-Year Gap of Experience Can Teach the Nursing Profession

Jul 17, 2026

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...

7 Years Ago, I Hid Under My Desk--And Seven Years Later, Almost to The Day... She Was Walked Out.

Jul 3, 2026

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.

Follow The Legislation, Fix The Insurance! Nurse Psychotherapy Supports Mental Health

Jun 26, 2026

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...