HealthCetera

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The nursing shortage is a global issue and high-income countries have long recruited nurses from low- to moderate-income countries. They are continuing to do so, despite shortages of nurses and healthcare and education resources in these poorer countries. This has raised important issues about nurse migration, ethical recruiting practices, and treatment of recruited nurses in the destination countries. HealthCetera Producer and Host Dr. Diana Mason, RN, PhD, talked about these issues with Dr. Calvin Morley, RN, PhD, is a Professor for Diversity & Social Justice, Nursing Department, London South Bank University. His r...

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Hunting season provides opportunities for people to fill their freezers with venison, in particular, and sometimes to donate this high-protein meat to food pantries. But hunters that use lead bullets may actually be harming people they love, as well as pregnant women and children who may be relying on food pantries. HealthCetera producer and host Diana Mason, RN, talked about this issue with Peter Nye, a retired wildlife biologist who worked for the New York State Department of Conversation for 40 years, leading the endangered species program and overseeing many research and...

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The nursing shortage is a concern for most countries including the United States. HealthCetera Producer and host Dr. Diana Mason, RN, talked with Dr. Cynda  Rushton, RN, about her work that examines nurse resilience and well-being in 20 health systems in Maryland — something that is relevant for health systems and nurses everywhere. Dr. Rushton is the Anne and George L. Bunting Professor of Clinical Ethics at the Johns Hopkins University’s Berman Institute of Bioethics and School of Nursing where she is also a professor of pediatrics. She is the Chief Synergy Strat...

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In the not too distant past, you could go to a hospital and find someone who was dying in a hospital room at the end of the hall with the door closed. While the patient would receive necessary care, the real message was that we shouldn’t discuss dying. In fact, health professionals often let family members decide whether or not to tell a loved one that he or she was dying. As a result, some people experienced horrible, lonely deaths. But this scenario has changed, though more needs to be...

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The Trump administration’s plans to cut the federal budget to accommodate larger tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations means that Medicare and Social Security may be on the chopping block. HealthCetera producer and host, Dr. Diana Mason, RN,  spoke about this with Dr. Catherine Dodd, RN, former chair of the National Committee to  Protect Social Security and Medicare. She also served as the chief of staff for representative Nancy Pelosi’s home office for a number of years, was a regional director for Health and Human Services under President Clinto...

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In mid-December of 2024, another school shooting was making headlines. This time, the shooter was a girl student in Wisconsin who pulled out a gun and opened fire – killing two people, wounding six others. As we grow numb to the media reports of school shootings, as well as those that the media doesn’t cover, school nurse Robin Cogan, RN, refuses to be complacent about the persistent gun violence in our country. Robin is the author of the blog Relentless School Nurse, a blog she writes on a variety of topics related...

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The murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, generated an outcry about health insurance companies and their policies. HealthCetera Producer and Host Dr. Diana Mason, RN, interviewed Dr. Adam Brown, MD, about a commentary entitled “Insurers Are Dictating Care and We’re Sick, Sick, Sick of It!— Now is a moment ripe for change” that he wrote for Medpage Today. Dr.  Brown is a practicing emergency physician and the founder of ABIG Health, a healthcare growth strategy firm. This program first aired on HealthCetera in the Catskills on WioX Radio on December 18...

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What are the trends in healthcare that we may see in 2025? Diana Mason, PhD, RN, FAAN, and host of HealthCetera in the Catskills, wanted to see what ChatGPT would say about such trends and asked it to generate a list of the top health care trends in 2025 that would matter to people. She and Theresa Brown, PhD, RN, FAAN, discussed the ChatGPT-generated trends. Dr. Theresa Brown is a nurse and writer who lives in Pittsburgh and has written books, Op Eds, commentaries and more about nursing and health care. Recently, she...

HCR Home Care provides much needed home care services for people in a number of counties in upstate NY, ranging from the Rochester area and now, to Delaware and Otsego Counties. Adrianne Mann, RN, BSN, MSHA, is the Chief Nursing Officer for the agency and talked with HealthCetera producer and host, Diana J. Mason, PhD, RN, FAAN, about home care in the state and region. This program first aired on WIOX Radio on November 13, 2024.

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In our country, someone dies by suicide every 11 minutes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mental health and suicides are issues that are touching all of us, including in rural farming communities. HealthCetera producer and host Diana Mason, RN, discussed this issue with Chris Pawelski, a fourth generation farmer in Goshen, NY, who had his own struggles with managing the stress of farming in the documentary Muckville. He continues to farm and to work on agricultural policy that he discusses during the interview. The interview first aired on October 9, 2024, on WIOX Radio.

The post Mu...

Today’s politics divide Parties, friends, and families. Having strong political positions makes it harder for people who are Republican to live with their Democratic family members, and vice versa.

This ideological divide is not the only 2024 issue creating tension in families. The current generation’s parenting style can be different from how their parents raised them creating a generational divide and tension.

Guest Francine Smilen decided to take this issue on and created the Grandmothers Circle, a workshop series focused on ways to live and learn from these different parenting approaches and enjoy the role...

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Earlier this year in the case of Loper Bright Enterprises vs Raimondo, the Supreme Court overturned what is known as the Chevron deference, allowing courts to ignore the expertise of federal agencies when interpreting laws. While this decision was prompted by actions of the Environmental Protection Agency, it has enormous implications for health. HealthCetera host and producer Dr. Diana Mason, RN, talked with Dr. Georges Benjamin, Executive Director of the APHA, about the implications for health and health care of this Supreme Court decision. This interview first aired on HealthCEtera in...

Chad Harper is an Award-winning Hip Hop artist and the founder of HipHop Saves Lives, a non-profit organization that uses music to propose ideas and solutions for positive social change. His most recent initiative was the recording “Ability”, the lead single for the “I’M JUST LIKE YOU” global campaign that highlights the talents of people with disabilities. Recorded in Sierra Leone, it features two rappers — 50 Don and Prophet — who are survivors of polio. HealthCetera host Diana Mason, RN, talked with Chad Harper when he was at the ParaOlympics about his commitment to social change, how a focus on people with disabiliti...

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Prior authorization is a requirement by insurers that you and/or your health care provider get prior permission to do a procedure or provide certain medications or the insurer may not pay for it. This has been particularly true for people on Medicare Advantage, the alternative to traditional Medicare. But now commercial insurers outside of the Medicare program are using prior authorization as a way to reduce what they spend on your care, but it can potentially delay or deny the care you need when you need it. The burden...

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Voting is a social and political determinant of health. There is evidence that voting plays a positive role in our health and the overall well-being of our communities. Healthcare professionals are working in a nonpartisan civic engagement way to encourage people to vote. Today’s HealthCetera guest is a committed public health nurse and a member of this civic engagement movement. Dr. Lisa Campbell is the founder and CEO of Population Health Consultants. She’s a leadership & life coach for nurses as her primary service. She is known as an enterprising publ...

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We are an aging society. Some of us worry about what will happen when we can no longer take care of ourselves without help. We may not like to think about it but we should. Long-term care (LTC) can be challenging to access, difficult to navigate and expensive. And yet, who among us wants to spend the last months or years of their lives without options on how we will live and be cared for? Diana Mason, RN, talks with two experts on the topic. Liz Seegert is an independent journalist...

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Talking about death and our choices in dying is crucial to those of us who want to die a “good death” but it’s equally important that our loved ones know of our end of life and post-life wishes. Dr. Diana Mason, RN, talked with Mary Ellen Markant, RN, an end-of-life educator, about preparing for death. Markant writes and talks to groups about how to begin to feel comfortable with and accept death as a natural part of living. They also talk about “green” burials and other choices related to our after-deat...

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Samadhi is a nonprofit organization based in Kingston, NY, that takes a mindfulness approach to preventing, treating and supporting people in recovery from SUD and addiction. But the need for these services extends beyond the city’s borders. With funding from OASAS, the NYS Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services, Samadhi purchased a mobile van to take its services to northern Ulster County and Delaware County. Diana Mason, PhD, RN, talked with Jason Tompkins, a CRPA (certified recovery peer advocate) with Samadhi and Simon Abramson, LMSW, a psychotherapist and the Dir...

Harper Spero is a business coach, and Founder of Made Visible helping people living with an invisible illness be seen and heard. 

People living with disabilities that cannot be seen, are rarely accommodated for them and are frequently shamed when they physically cannot do the things that are expected of them.

Despite the progress towards inclusion, there are still significant barriers that persist that impede people living with an invisible disease and other disabilities from participating in society fully.

Ms. Spero shares how those living with an invisible illness can better navigate their lives thro...

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If you talk with the young people in the Catskill region, they will tell you that there are simply not enough places for them to be together in person for fun. One teenager is doing something about that. Edrick Henderson is a rising junior who lives in Phoenicia, NY, and has been skateboarding since he was a young boy. He is leading an initiative called Shandaken Skatepark that is creating a place for skateboarding in the town of Shandaken. His father, singer and founder of the Phoenicia International Festival of the...

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The COVID-19 pandemic challenged most everyone to think about their vulnerability to infectious diseases and how communities and society responded. It was an opportunity to learn about what we need to do to be better prepared for the next pandemic or epidemic, including the current spread of Avian flu that is proceeding with minimal public health tracking and interventions. In the April 2024 issue of Health Affairs, Dr. Arthur Caplan, Mitty Bioethics Professor at the New York University School of Medicine, discusses the book The Wisdom of Plagues by science journalist Donald McNeil...

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Suicide rates are increasing across the country, including in Delaware County, NY.  HealthCetera in the Catskills host Diana Mason, PhD, RN, talked with Doug Ellston, LCSW-R, Director of Community Services for the Delaware County Mental Health Clinic, about the factors contributing to increasing rates of suicide, how to prevent suicides, and how to respond when you think someone may be at risk for suicide. This interview first aired on WIOX Radio on June 12, 2024.

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More than 200,000 residents and staff in nursing homes died during the pandemic. Some nursing homes did better than others and nurse staffing has been found to be one reason why. But we knew before the pandemic that nurse staffing in nursing home matters. We have reams of research documenting that staffing makes a difference in the quality of care and outcomes of that care. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid recently released long-awaited final rule that would set federal minimum staffing standards for nursing homes, but there have been efforts to undo i...

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The COVID-19 pandemic created unimaginable situations for patients, their families and health care workers, including nurses who put their own lives on the line to care for highly contagious patients. Why would someone do this? Nurses and most other health care workers are inculcated with what is called a “duty to care”—an obligation to do whatever is necessary to care for patients, even if it puts the worker at some risk.  Nurses went from being heroes cheered in the streets during the height of the pandemic to the targets of violenc...

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Workplace violence is a persistent problem, including in health care. The American Academy of Nursing recently issued a report entitled, Protecting Our Caregivers: Comprehensive Strategies for Eliminating Workplace Violence.” On May 29, 2024, Diana Mason, PhD, RN, FAAN, host of HealthCetera in the Catskills, talked with Scott Hutton, PhD, RN, MBA, FAAN, about this report. Dr. Hutton is Director of Operations, Workplace Violence Prevention Program in Veterans Health Administration’s Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, where he leads a cutting edge program on violence prevention. He spoke at the meeting with the Aca...

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This November, the NYS ERA is on the ballot to change the NY state constitution. Most people, including myself, didn’t know we didn’t have one already. I go through why it’s needed and what the current status doesn’t protect us from.

Banning Smartphone use in schools – will this upcoming generation move on to the return of the flip phone? Gov. Kathy Hochul is considering a ban on smartphones in New York schools, reports Chalkbeat

Governor Hochul commitment to address the mental health of NYS youth incl...

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Accessing social services can be difficult in a large rural county such as Delaware County, NY. This is particularly so when the otherwise excellent one-stop social service organization is located 45 minutes to an hour away from those who need to explore and access social services and there is no public transportation. Robin Williams, Program Coordinator for The Hubb on Main (Main Street, Margaretville, NY) talks with HealthCetera host Diana Mason about how The Hubb is serving as a bridge to social services for those in need. This interview first aired on H...

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Suffering from mental health problems and addictions is widespread in the U.S. and the Catskill region. In recognition of the impact of mental health problems on local communities, Delaware County (NY) has a Mental Health Department and Clinic that provides important services to individuals and families in the county. Doug Ellston is a licensed social worker and the Director of Community Service for Delaware County, which primarily oversees Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services through the State Offices of Mental Health and Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services in the county. P...

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As many people have experienced, when your bank account is empty and you’re trying to figure out how to pay for housing and food for yourself and your family, the stress can be unbearable. The Western Catskills Community Revitalization Council is an organization that understands this stress and provides counseling to people who are struggling with finances and housing. Eileen Knott is the Housing and Financial Counselor for Western Catskills. She spoke with HealthCetera in the Catskills host Diana Mason about this issue and the support that the Council can pro...