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.

Nursing Ratios & Union Power with Michael Hurley President of Ontario Council of Hospital Unions/CUPE

Dec 18, 2025

What does it mean to lead a movement? Michael Hurley, a veteran advocate and President of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU/CUPE), joins Amie Archibald-Varley, The Gritty Nurse to discuss the grit required to protect the healthcare workforce.

In this high-stakes episode, we pull back the curtain on what it...

Sepsis, Equity, and the Fight for a National Standards In Canada with PhD. Candidate & Prominent Researcher Fatima Sheikh

Dec 11, 2025

In this powerful episode of The Gritty Nurse Podcast, host Amie Archibald-Varley sits down with researcher Fatima Sheikh, a PhD candidate at McMaster University, to unpack the urgent crisis of sepsis.

This conversation goes beyond the bedside, focusing on the social and structural determinants of health that fuel sepsis...

Why Boys Need Anti-Manosphere Education: Feminism, Neurodivergence, and Challenging Patriarchy

Dec 4, 2025

In this episode of the Gritty Nurse podcast, host Amie Archibald-Verley engages in a deep conversation with guest Jayne Gallays about the intersections of neurodivergence and feminism. They discuss personal experiences, the challenges faced by neurodivergent individuals, particularly women, and the societal expectations...

Hospice Nurse Penny on "Influencing Death," End-of-Life Myths, and The Difference Between Hospice and Palliative Care

Nov 27, 2025

Does discussing death actually help us live better? In this episode of the The Gritty Nurse Podcast, Host Amie Archibald-Varley sits down with Penny Hawkins Smith—better known to her millions of followers as Hospice Nurse Penny—to find out.

Penny is a certified hospice and palliative care nurse and a "death...

Screaming to be Heard: The Urgent Fight to Save Black Moms and Their Babies (Karrie Jones and Mercedes Wells Horrifying Experinces with Birth in the US)

Nov 20, 2025

Two Black women. Two different states. One shared, terrifying experience: being ignored by the very people sworn to care for them.

Why are Black women in 2025 still screaming to be heard? In this episode of The Gritty Nurse, Amie Archibald-Varley, a former L & D nurse and Maternal Health Expert (Masters in Women's...