The Checkup with Doctor Mike - How He Became The Funniest Nurse Online | Nurse John

Episode Date: August 23, 2026

I'll teach you how to become the media's go-to expert in your field. Enroll in The Professional's Media Academy now: https://www.professionalsmediaacademy.com/Huge thanks to  @NurseJohnn�� for coming on the show before setting off on his world tour. Buy tickets here: https://nursejohnnshows.com/00:00 Intro01:53 Filipinos18:45 How He Started Nursing22:42 Nurse Abuse33:37 Travel Nursing37:01 Quitting Nursing44:48 Healthy Nursing51:07 Doctors vs. Nurses1:11:25 His Favorite Videos / Critics1:20:55 Stand Up ComedianHelp us continue the fight against medical misinformation and change the world through charity by becoming a Doctor Mike Resident on Patreon where every month I donate 100% of the proceeds to the charity, organization, or cause of your choice! Residents get access to bonus content, and many other perks for just $10 a month. Become a Resident today: https://www.patreon.com/doctormikeLet’s connect:IG: https://go.doctormikemedia.com/instagram/DMinstagramTwitter: https://go.doctormikemedia.com/twitter/DMTwitterFB: https://go.doctormikemedia.com/facebook/DMFacebookTikTok: https://go.doctormikemedia.com/tiktok/DMTikTokReddit: https://go.doctormikemedia.com/reddit/DMRedditContact Email: [e-mail] Producer: Doctor MikeProduction Director and Editor: Dan OwensManaging Editor and Producer: Sam BowersEditor and Designer: Caroline WeigumEditor: Juan Carlos Zuniga* Select photos/videos provided by Getty Images *** The information in this video is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images, and information, contained in this video is for general information purposes only and does not replace a consultation with your own doctor/health professional **

Two and five Canadians will hear the words, you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Walk. Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of cancer. Register today at pmcfwalk.ca.ca. I saw my friend on the other side of the street. I was heading to school with the kids.

I let go of mom's hand to wave. I had already forgotten their lunches. I ran over to hug her. She came out of nowhere. And then... It stopped. Sometimes the moments that never happen matter most. Volvo's automatic emergency braking helps ensure a safe ending for everyone.

Learn more at VolvoCars.caps.ca. Going on vacation? We're here for it. With kids who turned the backseat into a courtroom drama over whose tablet is louder, whose charger is faster, and while watching the same cartoon for the hundredth time is a human right? Yep, we totally have vehicles to handle that. Because whether it's a road trip or a business trip,

where your flight's delayed, your phone's at 2% and your dinner is whatever is open. Yeah, here for that too. Enterprise, we're here for it. There's probably like the nursing coordinators, social worker, nutritionist, everyone is there. He came into me standing there right in front of the nursing station. The next time I'm speaking, I need you to silent your mouth. You're painting a very bleak picture of what it's like to be a nurse. Do you want to talk the audience out of becoming nurses?

You know, people are like, John, You're making fun of the profession. I'm like, I'm not making fun of the profession. It's just sometimes humor is the only way for us to cope in this very dark workplace that we are. And I'm using my humor and my knowledge and my own experiences from when I was working as a nurse to show the public and the things that we go through that people don't see because the only thing they see is that curtain in that triage area. Sure. But anything behind that is much deeper.

and worse than what they see in the waiting area in the ER. John Dela Cruz has become one of the most famous nurses in the world because of his viral videos poking fun at the healthcare system. Some of which I've even reacted to on this channel, but he's no fluke with a single viral hit under his belt. Nurse John has found a way to turn the trauma he experienced as a frontline healthcare worker in Canada into internet super startup. And now he enjoys an enormously successful,

career as a stand-up comedian. It's been a meteoric rise for a kid with humble roots from the Philippines. I had to get to the bottom of this. John has gotten millions of views wearing funny wigs online, but let's take off the wigs and get down to what really gets him passionate. How can nurses avoid burnout? What really needs to change about nursing school? What problems are nurses actually facing when dealing with doctors like me?

Please help me in welcoming Nurse John to the Checkup podcast. I love the fact that we have another health care professional. who follows the very carefully selected standard medical position, period, first name. Dr. Mike, Nurse John. Exactly. It's just not my name. It's not? It is not my name.

I mean, like, people recognize me as nurse, John, not just John anymore. I thought you're about to say it's not my name, and my name is actually something completely different. No, it's John. It's like your pseudonym. Yes. And you function under Nurse John. But was Nurse John your handle or did people already call you Nurse John in your? It is my handle.

And I think I have never changed it since I made my social media accounts. And I think from there on I was just like, you know what? I'm just going to keep it that way because people just recognize me as Nurse John now. It used to be to where my colleagues would just refer to me as Nurse John. Okay. And that icks me because I'm like, you guys can call me John. Like a friend, like a colleague. You know what I mean?

But yeah, it's nurse John now. It's funny because I was playing soccer yesterday and people on the field are calling me Dr. Mike. I'm like, you guys can just call me Mike. This is not a medical encounter right now. Even my parents now. They refer to me as nurse John. I'm like, mom, you don't have to. But that's probably a point of pride for them.

It is. Right? It is. Because you're part Filipino or full Filipino? I'm full Filipino. Okay. So you're full Filipino. And that's got to be a point of pride because health care workers are very much celebrated in

Filipino culture. I know. I think we make up a lot of. A lot of the hospitals in, I mean, like everywhere around the world, there's so many Filipinos, I think, nursing. And honestly, fun fact, I did not realize how nursing is one of the most common jobs Filipino go for. Really? No, I didn't know. What drives the Filipino culture to nursing?

I think it's a stability. Okay. And that our parents ingrate to us that if you are going to college and you want to be something that's fruitful, and something that is going to get you out of the light that you have right now because in the Philippines, it's a total war country. A lot of us are struggling. A lot of us are leaving the country and working. And that's why a lot of us are moving to different places and countries.

And they're like nursing is one of those professions where you can actually change your life. And then you actually go to another country and then it's not. And it's interesting that in the Philippines a lot of people speak English. We do. There's always been this American presence. I don't know if it's like a military thing, that there was stations. It's funny because we are, we were colonized, but the Americans. Okay.

So it's the Spanish first, and then Japanese came. And then Americans is like, okay, we're going to buy. We're next. Yes. We're going to save the Philippines from Japanese people, but actually they bought us from Japanese. And then they took over the Philippines and basically English. became our second language. And we just speak it throughout

like our Tagalog language. So it's called Taglish. So Tagalog. Exactly. Tagalog in English. Oh, wait. Hold on. I have to flex something real quick.

Yeah. Mah buhai. Salama. Look at you. You probably work with Filipinos before. Yes. Yes. Absolutely.

Every time that I would work on night shift and there was a Filipino nurse, the amount of laughter and happiness that happened on that shift, Even though you would think medicine is in general sad because people are sick, because we're working in night shift, so we should be grumpy. And yet it was smiles all around. There's this infectious happiness that comes from working with a fellow Filipino. I mean, I think one thing we always say is that Filipino people are just happy people.

I think, I don't know if that's good coming from me because I feel like that's bias coming from me because I'm Filipino myself. No, no, I said it first. Yeah. But I just feel like we're just happy. happy people. Like we see the good in everything that we do because if you didn't know, I was born in the Philippines and I lived there for 18 years of my life. I only immigrated in Canada. I'm actually Canadian when I was 18. And so I lived most of my life in the Philippines and the struggles that we go through in there, the only thing you can be is happy and you have to look for the positive

and everything in your life every single day. And I feel like that's why I'll a lot of Filipinos are just happy. And also getting a job somewhere that's out of the country just makes us so grateful that we even are able to feed our family back home. Yeah. And what was life or how is life different living in the Philippines versus now in the states? Completely, completely different. I think, first of all, the culture shock that I experience is very different.

We're very tight-needed family You know everyone lives in the same compound Right Everyone shares the same food The same clothes like It's paradise Right And then going here in the West

Everything changes for me Because then now I have to learn how to be an individual To be a man in an island alone That's kind of is kind of like The Western mindset of like You know you grind and you do whatever you can to survive alone without depending on anyone.

When back home, we depend on our, my uncle, my aunt, my grandparents, everyone helps each other almost every single part of our life. So has this social media community that you've cultivated become that family so you don't feel alone? Absolutely. I think that's one thing I have been looking for when I moved here in America is the community, the sense of like. like I need someone or anyone that can make me feel like I'm not alone in this like journey

of like traumatizing, you know, experiences in a profession that I was so excited to go into. And I think social media gave me that ability to really find that family, if you call it. Sure. Why are Filipino people from the Philippines so strong and, represents so well on social media. Like, you know what I mean? Like, the fandom is real. When there's a Filipino person who succeeds,

whether it be on the national stage or international stage, they go all in. Yeah, I think one of the biggest one that we support heavily is Manipakiao. Okay. The boxer. Of course. I think we just need to feel like

we are represented in places that we occupy, a lot of us occupies, because I think, at least here in the West, I think there's so many of us in different industry. There's Filipino not just in healthcare, in customer service, in restaurants, in cruise ships, and everywhere you go, there's Filipino. And I think when we find other Filipino who are doing well or getting recognition,

we will come out full support for those people. And that is just something that, you know, seeing someone on screen that looks like me, that has the same skin color like me, that went from the same situation that I was before makes me feel proud about myself. So I think that's why Filipino are just so like, we will support anyone who's Filipino, even though you're half Filipino,

even though you look like your other half. Sure. Because even Bruno Mars, they're like, you know, Bruno is only 25% Filipino, but they're like, you know what? We love Bruno Mars. He's Filipino. It's interesting that unlike what I feel might happen

in some cultures, there might be jealousy when someone succeeds or hatred, it's the opposite. It almost feels like everyone is succeeding when that person is on that stage. Absolutely. But there's also pressure that they put on us without a Filipino, which is the pressure of like, you gotta do good. It's almost like that Asian parent mindset of like, don't get up.

Yeah. And that pressure is so high that if we do something wrong, they can also scrutinize us. Really? Where do you feel that happening in the moment? That happens a lot in pageantry. I don't know if you know what Miss Universe is. Unfortunately, I'm very well versed.

Are you well versed? I watch that. Well, you probably don't know, but I should share some of my history. I dated Pia Wordsbach for at the peak of her career. Hold on. Pia Wordsback? Yeah. Are you kidding me right now?

No. That is so funny. Yeah. Okay, so Miss Universe. So you know. So I'm very well versed. You are very well. Yeah.

You're part Filipino basically. Basically. Yeah. See, if you date a Filipino. You get absorbed into the culture. You become Filipino. Right. In that sense.

But in Miss Universe, they would scrutinize every single stage that she's in for that pageant. Very, very toxic. And it's almost to the fact that like you are. almost canceling this person who's trying her best to represent our country because she's not doing what you think or expect her to do in that pageantry, which to me is crazy. And you think that goes past pageantry and goes into nursing, social media, musicians as well?

I think so. I think so. I mean, we've gotten so many other people. I think one very prominent one was Vanessa Hudgens when she became the ambassador for the Philippines and the Philippines, but people are like, but you've never lived in the Philippines. How are you representing the Philippines? Right, right. When you've never lived the culture, you barely speak the language and you barely know us.

And so really, it's a balance of supporting and also being negative. So it's really hard. Wow. Okay, so it's almost like all in or all out. Exactly. It's a very extreme. It's either they love you so hard or they will hate you. Wow.

In your guts. So how does that, are you ever worried about that? How does that land in your mind? I am worried about that, but I am on therapy. And so I have learned a lot about myself and getting myself out of the cycle of the Filipino toxicity culture. Oh, wow. you don't always have to prove yourself to anyone because at the end of the day,

it will always just be you. You know, like I grew up in a very Asian culture where like you have to do good. You have to get straight A's. You have to make sure that every single one in your family are proud of you of what you're doing, the things that the way you talk, the way you walk, the way you do all this things. And for me, I have learned to really just accept myself, my own will, my own values, and get away from that, you know, like mindset that I grew up in for almost like half of my life.

And it's basically you taking the best of both worlds. You're taking the positivity, the happiness that is Filipino culture. And then the individualism of America where you want to represent yourself. Exactly. You try and phase out the negativity. Yeah. I'm just really happy being able to like make. those positives and negatives and create this new version of me, which is Nurse John.

Wow. And social media. I love it. You know, I was talking to one of my residents the other day, and he's from South Korea, or at the very least, that's where his heritage is from. And I was asking him about South Korean culture, because he was telling me to visit. And he was saying how they have a very strong monoculture. When something is very popular, everyone wants it, or everyone wants to support it.

And that's why all these crowds appear. That's why K-pop is so popular. That's why there's trends for certain collectibles that go crazy in South Korea. And I was curious, does that also happen in the Philippines? And that's what's also driving the social media aspect of it? Or is it too very unique cultures? I think it's two very unique culture, but it has similarities on it. Yes, there is those fandom like mania that happens in the Philippines too.

For example, Olivia Rodrigo, she's half Filipino and people just, like Filipino people just go off supporting her, even though they've only really found out that she's Filipino when she went back to the Philippines. Right. But there's also that difference between Filipino and South Korean or any other, like, Asian culture is that Filipino people are just very different. that we support people in a way that we feel like we were included in it. So it's very different.

And for me, what shocks me a lot is because I, I'm a stand-up comedian now, so I go on tours, is that I expected that half of my audience would be Filipino. But shockingly, there's only 20, 30% Filipino.

Okay. And what I realized is that that 20, 30% Filipinos were friends with their other white, black other friends. And they're like, listen, I want to bring you to this guy. He's Filipino. He's funny.

Come. And so it's like in your hospital. If you work with one Filipino, and she became your family, she would force you to come to my show. And then you're wondering, why am I in this show again? It's because of her.

And then now the 70% of my audience is just American people. And so that is shocking to me because I would think with the whole fandom of like the K-pop and the Filipino fandom, I would have more Filipino people come and support me. But honestly, there's 20, 30% of them.

So there's the interesting demographic there. But then what about the demographic of nurses to non-nurses? Right. I'm curious about that. So at the very beginning, at the very beginning, it's primarily healthcare workers because that's who relates to my content the most. And I think as my audience and I guess my niche, I try to delve, like get out from just doing nursing and healthcare content to showing the other parts of my life. Because I can cook.

I can do other things. And so right now I think there's still 60% of them. being healthcare, 20% Gen Zs and the millennials and the rest is just a bunch of random people from... Plus ones. The plus ones. Yeah. And mostly the husbands of the nurses.

Oh, okay. Fair. Yes. I do have a 10% male audience. Okay. But 90% of them are female. Why can't those 10% be male nurses? I know.

I... Or can they be? I don't know. They could be, but I'm pretty sure there's a very small amount of male nurses. Okay. in the healthcare system right now, I think we are just getting to the point where there's a lot more male who wants to be nurses, but it's a very small percentage.

Yeah, why is that? Why are there not more male nurses? So if I'm basing it to just straight facts, it's because I think nursing is such more of a women job. That's how it started. Women started. It's all about caring. It's all about nurturing.

think like those things things that are not men things are not men if i'm being honest because men are providers men are like you know what i mean and so i think we're just getting to the part now where like men are being more accepting of their different roles different roles and their femininity that like you don't have to be this toxic masculine man that you can be caring you can be nurturing to strangers and I think that's why there's small percentage. But now I'm seeing a lot more, a lot more male nurses coming into the profession and wanting to do. Two and five Canadians will hear the words, you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer

Foundation walk. Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life saving research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of of cancer. Register today at pmcf walk.ca.ca.com. The 26 Chevrolet Tracks is the stylish SUV for those on the move. And with the standard Chevy safety assist package, you have the backup to handle every turn with confidence. The 26 tracks. Start your build at Chevrolet.ca. Want to talk ETS with the people behind them? Join me, it's Jean-Gaubouchard on the upside ticker talk. We dive into what's moving markets with timely analysis, trends, and answers to ETF questions you've actually been thinking about.

Hit play on the upside ticker talk and elevate your ETF investing IQ. This job. How did you find nursing? What drove you to it, given the fact that all these roles... Right. They're pretty established, I'm assuming, in Filipino culture as well, right? It's a conservative nation. It is. It is.

But for me, because I grew up with mostly women in my life, I was raised by a single mother, but my mom had to leave the house so that she can work and become the father. And I grew up with my grandmother and my grandfather. So I primarily grew up in a very, like, women household. Got it. My aunties are around. They basically race me. And I think I've got that nurturing and that caring part from every single one. of them and also because my grandpa had Alzheimer's and stage four long cancer and so during that time

it was really tough for me to see him struggle and not be able to do anything and so my family struggled a lot emotionally mentally and as a young kid seeing someone you love the most mostly because my grandfather is my father figure struggled that much I I want to change that for other people and other families. So I wanted to do something in my life where someone's family or someone who's suffering with the same situation doesn't have to go through. The mental, emotional and physical suffering that I went through and my family went through. Have you ever had patience that reminded you of that situation? Oh my God, many times, many, many times.

And I think that's the hard part is, you know, in healthcare, they always teach us, you got to separate your personal. There's going to be personal boundaries. Right. Your emotions should be separate from your work. But I actually disagree with that. I do believe that, at least for my profession nurses, our personal experiences, our emotions is what makes us nurses. It's what makes us be able to care for people. even in times where we cannot do it anymore.

And so I've gone through so many patients where I've literally seen my grandpa, almost like hallucination of like, oh my God, this is him right here. Like a flashback. Flashback. And it just makes me sad, but happy that now I'm so knowledgeable about a lot of things

and I can help him or her or them as, you know, as a fact. family as a unit. Yeah. What was your favorite part about actually being there practicing as a nurse? I think it's caring for patients. I think that's one big, you know, one big thing that people misconstrued about nursing. I was like, oh my God, you guys complain so much about nursing.

Why did you guys choose a caring career? I love caring for my patients. it is one of the most beautiful thing that I love about this profession is that I get to be bedside with someone's ill family member and be their support, their healing hand, and that person that can bring them back to the community. And I can sleep at night knowing that I change someone's life by just helping, literally doing my job that I'm getting paid for. So that's why I sometimes and a lot of times nurses, you know, confuses this having a boundary and caring too much because you're just that kind of person.

Right. And then the boundary goes away and now you're working 16 hours because you care so much about every single people in this hospital. Is that why so many nurses are burning out these days? I think so. Like a compassion fatigue almost? Compassion fatigue because I do believe that like burn out, it's not a disease. It's a symptom of the system that we're in.

It shows you how much crap we have to deal with in healthcare and that is not being fixed for decades now and still exist to this day. and it almost like healthcare has confused compassion, resilience to doing it because it is your job to do it. Right. And then, you know, we celebrate so much of like resilience, but we forget that like

it's not resilience, it's tolerating. Tolerating the abuse that we experience every single day in healthcare. Yeah, what's the most toxic form of that abuse that happens where people feel like that's normal now? Physical abuse in nursing. I think that happens every single day and it's in the news that nurses get stabbed, nurses get shot, nurses gets, you know, physically, literally, like almost dead while working. It's funny because, you know, abuse should be something that.

that we are warned about when we get into healthcare, or at least for my profession, but it is something that we are being trained for because we should expect it to happen. It's like, hey, you're a nurse, I'm gonna teach you a few things that you can do to protect yourself so that you don't die. You know what I mean?

Here's a martial arts training, yeah. And the martial arts training are not even good because they show you the crappiest way to like, you know, protect yourself. It almost became like, hey, we're preparing you for the worse. And you should be okay with that because you chose to be one. And that's a crazy thing for me to, for us to accept and just normalize. Do you think some changes need to be made?

Like should it be rule changes? Should it be mandatory punishments for patients? more security like what would you like to see done i think so i think so there should be changes in healthcare and it always starts and you know they're always like well let's buy this new computer that can help us chart fast no we don't need that we actually need staffing okay safety safety for every single nurses who are caring and protecting all this people in the hospital How about we in place safety for nurses so that they don't have to fear going into work and one day get stabbed by a random stranger on a parking lot before she gets to work? Yeah.

Because we also have families. And one thing I always tell my audience and my community is that at the end of the day, you have to realize that the most important patient is yourself. because once you are able to recognize that you need to take care of yourself first before you can take care of others, it's going to be hard for you to get out of a system that is made for you to feel like suffering is okay. Do you think your humor, the way that you use your comedic abilities, can help shine a light on this problem?

Yeah, I think so because, you know, people are like, John, you're making fun of the profession. I'm like, I'm not making fun of the profession. It's just sometimes humor is the only way for us to cope in this very dark, you know, workplace that we are. And again, humor isn't minimizing trauma. It's surviving it. And I'm using my humor and my knowledge and my own experiences from when I was working as a nurse to show the public and the things that we, go through, not just nurses, all of us, that people don't see because the only thing they see

is that curtain in that triage area. Sure. But anything behind that is much deeper and worse than what they see in the waiting area in the ER. Yeah, because when people go to the hospital or medical office, they'll see one nurse, one doctor, maybe a few other specialists, but it's single digits. We're seeing dozens of patients over the course. get to see it at scale. And they rotate in like 10, 15 seconds, mostly in the ER, you know? Like,

sometimes, like, I'll be given an admission. They're like, you're going to get admission four, five, six. And before I even see them, they're already sent to the floor. Right. I'm like, and you didn't get a good sign out and all this. No, sign out, no, nothing. Everything is just happening so fast that like, you should be okay. And you're like, oh, they're gone. All right. But you also want me to take care of the established patient. that I have still. Exactly. And so all of those are just like, it's, it's something that needs to be changed in healthcare. I think there's, there are things that should be in place for us healthcare worker, for us to feel like we're also being taken care of in the system that we're trying

to take care of as health care workers. Speaking of systems, did you work in Canada as a nurse or here as a nurse? I work in Canada as a nurse. And here too or just in Canada? Just in Canada. I was going to ask how different do you think the system is. in Canada versus here. Exactly the same thing. Really? Exactly the same thing. Wow.

And the only difference is that there's... The cost is different. Yes. Our healthcare is free. And I don't want to say that because free doesn't exist. We pay of it from our taxes. Right. But we don't have to pay hundreds and thousands of dollars for a fever or UTI and an ER.

Sure. where I'm from Montreal, we get treated without needing to pay or pulling out our credit card or getting sent a mail in our mailbox of like hundreds of thousands of dollars for us four-hour visit. And I think what I appreciate though

in American nursing system, at least in our healthcare system, is that there's unions, unions that is being built to protect us healthcare workers, at least for my profession, there's a lot of unions right now of nurses being protected from the system. And it's another difference is that our hospitals are not just taking advantage of every single one of us in Canada. In the U.S., there's been many strikes.

nurses have gone on strikes all across the country. Hundreds. Even here nearby in the city. Yes. Are the strikes mainly about these staffing ratios where nurses have to take care of too many patients on a shift or is it a larger issue? It's a larger issue. I think the bigger issue of that is, first of all, safety.

Safety, not just for us, but mostly for our patients. Again, the shortage of nurses right now is insane. not because there's not enough nurses, but I think there's less of us who wants to suffer in the system. There's so many nurses. I do believe that there are so many nurses out there. If you walk on the street, you'll find a nurse.

And the funny thing is like, you know, there's a lot of nurses because they're now in Love Island. Okay. That's good representation. Once you're on Love Island, that's, there was a doctor, a radiologist, or something on one of these shows.

And I was like, oh my God, look at that. There's always a healthcare worker, a nurse on this TV shows, which means that we are everywhere. And I think what's happening, though, is that we're just diverting out of the profession and realizing, you know what, maybe I can be a flat attendant. Maybe I can be a florist. Maybe I can do something else. Maybe I can be a chef. Maybe I can go back flipping burgers or anything like that because this job, I love it.

but it's killing me. And I think that's the problem. So safety is number one. Two, it's the increasing amount of things we have to pay and be able to afford every single day. With a state of our economy right now, everything, even water is $5. Water that should be free for us to drink. And nurses are just asking, listen, if a meat costs $30 now when he used to be like 10, my pay should be increased, I don't know, $2, $3, $4 or a bit more because I need to be able to feed my family.

I can't be just going to work and helping these people get back on their health while I'm killing myself and then go back and still feed my own family with the money that's not enough for me to do that. And plus like cities like New York City, there's so many nurses in here. And this city is so expensive. It's out of control. That this nurses needs to be able to afford their rent or the house or whatever they need to survive and be able to go to work. And lastly, but and not the lease is I think this strikes are just talking a lot about more of the things that's happening. inside that is unstoppable. Again, the physical abuse, the mental, the emotional, the verbal abuse that we

all experience. And when we ask for help, we get in return, well, yoga session. Or here's mindfulness. Right. Here's a link for a 15 minute mindfulness in your break time that also do not exist. Yeah, exactly. It's like, how do you want us to do that without speaking and standing out there and helping other people realize that, hey, we're crying for help. Somebody, please. It's like... Two and five Canadians will hear the words, you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation walk.

Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of cancer. Register today at pmcf walk.ca.ca. We're drowning. Why are so many nurses going into travel nursing these days? Because I think we're finding ways to make a living without being stuck in a system or a hospital that is dragging us out of this profession. And travel nursing became a thing because now we're actually helping a lot of other places to resolve short staffing and like this racial problem. And I think that's why travel nurse became such a thing.

And I actually appreciate it because you can take contracts because I have a lot of travel nurses friend who can take contracts for like five, six months. You don't get stuck in that same hospital or you. unit and then you can take off like two three months leave enjoy your life be with your friends and family and then take another contract in another state or another city it makes you feel better about doing a job yeah that is stressful well it's almost like how in the er physician world there oftentimes so much burnout they do a few days on and then like seven days off a few days on seven days off because that burnout rate is so high otherwise it is very high yeah not just for a nurse is but even physicians.

And like, I think that's the problem. And, like, what happens is because we're all burned out, we just bark at each other and bite each other when we shouldn't be doing that. Yeah, why are nurses so mean to young nurses?

There's a thing called nurses eat their youngs. Yeah, why is this? Okay, so how do we, how do we go through this? I think it's issues that the older generation of nurses needed to suck up and be okay with that they think because it works for them it should work for the new generation of nurses who can realize that like, no,

I don't have to feel bad calling sick. If I'm sick today, I'm sick today. And it doesn't matter if I just started this job three months ago. If I don't feel good, I can call sick. But then the older generation is like, I've been working here for 40 years of my life. And the last time I took a day off was four years ago. And it's like, no, Betty. Like, that's the system that you were in before.

But now we have more confidence as younger nurses emerges. And like this whole society is changing that people are realizing that, you know, you know what? You can have boundaries. You can say no to things that doesn't make you feel comfortable. Like if your manager comes in to you and tell you like, hey, we're sure today, are you not feeling bad with your coworkers working this late? No, I don't feel bad. I feel bad about myself staying more than I could. Yeah. But before that, like two decades ago, absolutely. I'll stay for another four or five hours. And next thing you know, you've been working 16 hours.

And you're like, oh. Part of the job. Part of the job. You know, I guess I'll see it on my paycheck when you actually don't. So I think that's why. You're painting a very bleak picture of what it's like to be a nurse. Do you want to talk the audience out of becoming nurses? No, I don't.

I don't think we actually do need them. No, I don't. But I just want them to see it far from just the books. Because the books teaches us very, very different things. The book teaches you to be compassionate, to be empathetic, to be all of this. But they don't teach you how to set boundaries, to be strong will, to live your life. That nursing and your profession is not your only personality that once you finish your job, you are another person. Like you are Mike outside of your job.

You know what I mean? And what I just want the younger generation of nurses or even the ones that are working right now is to realize that like you can feel however you want to feel and you should never ever feel bad about that. Because nursing is such a people pleasing job that you have to make sure that everybody's happy and comfortable and. and all of these things, but forget about yourself. And I just want to remove that from the profession. I want them to realize that. It's okay to take it.

It's okay to take it. Like if you go to vacation and you want to post it in your Instagram, you don't have to block your coworkers. Let them see that. Do people still do that? We still, absolutely. No, that's bad. You're like, you know, I don't want Martha seeing me

shaking my ass in Mexico. Why? But I was like, Martha should see that. If you're a great nurse, And you love shaking it in Mexico. More power to you. Exactly. Show them that you're taking shots.

Yeah. Because, you know, you've been giving shots. You're on vacation. You've been giving shots to patient. You should be able to do the same thing for yourself. So that's, I think, what I'm trying to paint the picture for everyone in my community is that you don't have to leave this job. And you don't have to be scared going into nursing. But I just want you to prepare yourself for the real parts of it.

Because I do believe that. at least for now, what I realize is that nursing school actually don't want you to be nurse. They don't? They don't. What do they want you to do? They want you to fail nursing. Why? Is it like a weeding out process, you mean?

Oh my God. It is so competitive to get into nursing school. Wow. And plus having professors who would bring you down or colleagues that would almost take you out from the profession. Really? It's insane. What's like the meanest thing a professor or colleagues told you? So when I was in nursing school, we have this thing called a care plan.

You probably know what care plan. Of course. I hate care plan. I don't even know who invented that crap. Well, actually, tell the audience so they know what a care plan is. A care plan is, it's a paper that is you're supposed to fill that up and tell us exactly how you're going to take care of this patient, their wounds and the steps that you're going to do that is that, that has. It has to be research-based, evidence-based, all of this base. But at the end of the day, you actually don't have time to look at that care plan.

Right. Because if somebody... On a practical level, it's useless. It is useless. Because just do the thing. Yes. And then document it after. Exactly.

Like when someone explodes their shit on the bed, I don't have time to look at what was number one in my care plan for C-DIF. My first thing is like, call housekeeping. I need someone with me right now and let's get this shit out of here literally literally and so yeah that's it and

so what was the mean thing that they touch you the care plan is something that you have to submit to your professor I didn't have enough time to submit that because I was in clinicals the night before and I was doing night shift so I ask her

if I can get like an extension she's like so I went to her office the next day, told her, listen, I need just two more hours to sit down in the library and finish this whole care plan. And I promise you, I will finish it and submit it the same exact day.

She told me, maybe if you are unable to do something simple like this, maybe you should rethink finding another profession to go to. Off of one situation. Off of one paper that is not going to dictate if I'm going to be a good nurse or a great nurse. Why is that so dramatic? It is very dramatic. And that's why I think nursing school wants you to fail.

And that's why there shouldn't be any competition in nursing school. It should be like, you help me, I help you. We'll do this together. We're our group. We're tight. Let's help each other and become nurses. We had gunners in medical school. We called them gunners where they try

stand out or make you fail or make you look bad or tell on you. Do you have that in nursing school? Same term or no? Not the same term. What's the term you guys use? I can't really remember it. But it's more, it's,

but it's almost the same exact way of like the older generation or at least the people who are experienced wants you to fail because they think you should be set up in the same system they were set up in. Like they struggled so you have to struggle. Exactly.

Like if I had to stay up this much to study, you should be able to do that because you're younger. You're 21. I'm 55. It's like, no, you, no, I don't have to. So I think, yeah. So I think nursing school is not set up for us to really succeed. If you had to change one thing about nursing school, what would you change? I think it would be how they introduced.

the hospital to us. How do they introduce the hospital to you? They introduced the hospital to us as this like beautiful paradise. This beautiful paradise where... Love Island. Exactly where people are sick, but you are the superhero that will come and save them. And you do all the stuff from one to ten. And this is exactly what you should be doing.

because if you don't, you will fail the exam, the NCLEXs. And to me, that's just crap. I think they should introduce nursing to us like I did for my students when I was a nursing clinical instructor. I tell you, listen, if you have a mental illness, get therapy right now. If you're scared of blood, leave. Leave. Watch something that has blood in it. If you can take it in, come back.

Okay. If you are scared of touching shit, try to touch shit. If you're scared being screamed out by a grown-ass adult who Google the symptoms from, I don't know where, reflect. Think about it because these are the things that the book hasn't told you about. But I'm telling you because you will experience it no matter where or how far you got into, like, nursing school. Because one Two and five Canadians will hear the words you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters.

On September 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Walk. Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of cancer. Register today at pmcf walk.ca. And we are another, you will go through it. And I want you to know that it is tough. It is exhausting. You will burn out if you do not care for yourself.

So how does a nurse navigate their career successfully without burning out with navigating all these challenges? Is there a way to be a nurse healthily? Healthly, yeah. I think it's boundaries. Setting boundaries for yourself and knowing. that once you finish the job, you shouldn't carry that job back home. Because, you know,

we see a lot of things in the hospital and sometimes we take it back home with us. Because we want someone to listen to that story and you're like, man, I just seen like a seven-year-old brain dead. And you want to talk about that so much. But I think sometimes you just got to leave that exactly when you clocked out.

And keep it there. Don't bring it home. do whatever you want go see your friends go party do whatever makes you feel happy drink a wine or whatever but don't take it home

and also just putting boundaries on the things that you think will make you a good nurse because all the nurses around you has done it it's like you don't have to accept

an overtime shift you don't have to feel like you have to take Jennifer shift because she has two kids at home and you're a single guy and Jennifer told you, well, you're a single guy. You could take my ship. I have two kids.

Like you don't have to feel bad about someone. Instead, feel good about yourself and that outside of that job, you are another person that deserves that same happiness. Do you think it's a bad idea for nurses to date other nurses? You know, I talk about this a lot. Really? Okay. I think, I tell him I was like, pro or against? In between.

Okay. I do believe that it's not love. It's trauma bonding. Ah. That's, it's one of my- Stockholm syndrome. Exactly. It's like the only reason why you fell in love with this person is because

it feels so good that somebody finally understands your struggle. And you're like, you know what? I love you. Yeah. I love you. Thank you. Let's get married. It's almost that.

But we also have this thing where we don't date the peas of nurses. The what? The pee. P's. There's five P's. Oh, there's five P's. Physicians. Okay.

Oh, you don't. They're a physician. Why? Police officer. Whoa. Paramedics. Wait, hold on. Where's the P and the firefighter?

Firefighters. We just put the P. Okay. It's, they're peace. Okay. This piece are all red flags because it's basically the same thing as dating a nurse. It's not good. It's not good.

Because that's also trauma bonding? That's also trauma bonding. Right. You want to date someone outside of your profession. But the problem is there's so many of us who dates all of this piece. Where did you guys met? When he pulled up in my ER entrance. Oh. Is that what kids are calling it these days?

Yeah. They pull up. You got to learn the language of this. You know, like they're raising you up. Yeah. And in your shift. Yeah. And you've got to be keeping up with that. So it's a bad idea.

I'm trying to think if I know any doctors that are married to nurses, what happened? Like, so you think doctors, nurses can't coexist? I'm kidding. It's just a joke. But it does happen, okay? It doesn't happen a lot. It doesn't happen a lot. I always have been of the mindset.

Yeah. As a doctor that I don't want to date another doctor. Why? Maybe I thought the same that you're explaining now. That I feel like all we would do would just be talking about that. Talking about the same exact shit every day. And it would be like I would be at work and then I come home and it's the same conversation. That's it.

So you want to date someone who's not in the profession who actually doesn't care about what the hell you're going to talk about when you get home. And they're like, yeah, sorry about that. Moving on. You know what I mean? You don't want someone to actually overextend a topic

that you want to get out of. Oh my God. What about a nurse dating a therapist? You know, a nurse and a therapist, I think, that's almost like obsession, the movie. Is that what obsession's about?

I didn't watch it. Yes. Is it good? It is good. It's like being a, obsessed with the person that understands you the most or who you want to understand you the most, I would never day a therapist. No.

I'm actually married to a nurse. Okay. And this is hilarious that you're saying. Yes. I am married to a nurse. She is a nurse to. We actually went to the same nursing school. Okay.

We went through nursing school together. So you trauma bonded extra. Early. Extra. Okay. And I don't suggest it. But not because... So you're like, I'm a hypocrite.

Basically, if you would like to say it that way. But the difference between us being both nurses is that she actually hates the hospital. She wants to be... She works at a community clinic. Okay. Because she hates interacting with a lot of people. She wants to be in her office. She want to do it 95.

And that's, I think the beautiful thing about nursing is that there's so many versions of... Versions that you can be. but we don't have the same exact experience because I work in MedSurge in the ER and she works in community she's like yeah I gave another kid a shot in the ass or like yeah I did another like condom teaching for teenagers and I don't have to talk about my day to her because it doesn't we don't correlate that way so it works well have you ever worked on a shift with a really douchebag doctor Or is that all the time? Is doucheback doctor repetitive?

Am I saying the same thing? Okay, I just love that you like went through the... Okay, yes, I have. I have. I have. And it's crazy experience. Tell me more. You know what?

We are on social media. There's a lot of talks about nurses versus doctors and social media. Oh, yeah. It's been crazy out there. I don't know if you... Has it been? There's a lot. What?

tell me what's happening. Maybe I missed it. I think there was this TikTok video that I think she's arrested it. And she was saying that I think I don't have the full scenario in my head. Well paraphrase. But she was in public and somebody

is having a cardiac arrest and she was there in the scene and apparently somebody's asking for another healthcare worker and the nurse came and she's like hold on, I'm a nurse, I can help. And apparently she felt like she was pushed away as an MD in the situation. And she, everything was going well until she said that like nurses do not have the same ability to diagnose like us doctors or the ability to like think logically in this kind of situation.

And I think that pulled a string to a lot of nurses because they're like, yes, we do have very different, you know, things that we studied. But that doesn't mean we cannot diagnose and see things the way you guys do. I mean, it obviously depends what type of nurse this is. But man, the nurses that I worked with in the ICU were in the CCU, I would ask them what to do in a scenario like that. Because they're ones running these things day in and day out. They have way more experience. And that's it. And again, this is never, I don't ever want to comment across as like nurses versus doctors because I think we're a team.

Without each other, we would both drown. When my patients would be like, oh, I don't want the nurse to draw up my blood. I want you to do it. You're the doctor. I'm like, are you kidding me? You don't want me to draw your blood. You want the nurse to draw your blood. They have way more experience than I do.

That's it. And I, you know, I do believe that doctor diagnosis. disease and nurses diagnosis changes because we're the one in bedside 24-7 we see the skin changes uh what's happening in their body the symptoms and all that stuff and with all that diagnosis that we have we come to you because you are the next person that we trust with this situation and i i i get it is a team like i don't think there should oh there should be this hierarchy or situation of like I'm a doctor you're a nurse or we're in the same level or whatever I think there should be collaboration complete collaboration but again what you ask have I experienced that

yes I have and I think it's very prominent in healthcare where a doctor could be rude or mean or degrading to nurses and I want to start it us off with just the basic facts Because I do think doctors have always been and it started as males and nurses, females. So we already have the gender role situation in here. That's one of the factors. Secondly, I think the stress that we are both in puts us in a very like high toxic environment where we could just, again, bark and bite each other back. but the third one is the most, and I think the most prominent, at least not to the older generations of doctor.

Again, I have never experienced a bad, like I've never had a bad experience with younger doctors because just like nurses, the younger generations of doctors are more open-minded. They're very much more... And I believe there's more women in medical school now than... There is. And I've never had a bad experience

with a female resident. or a female doctor. And again, this is based on my personal experience. I mean, I train in a program, much like you were raised. I was raised in the medical education system. My residency program, we had seven residents per year, 21 residents. There was only one man per year. So we're primarily women program.

Our preceptors are primarily women. So it's a very woman-heavy program, which changes the way your outlook is on health care, I think, much in the same way that it probably impacted you. Absolutely. And I think, again, this is, this comes back to just, it's the generational and what those generation of healthcare workers have experienced in their lives that they need to get out of. And for me, that experience is from like an older physician that is very well known because

he's smart, he's done a lot of things, he's been working there for you. years and it was a situation where my 95 year old patient cannot advocate for herself and she cannot talk for herself and you know it was really a hard time for a lot of nurses to be to even communicate with her because she's anxious she has dementia she's bedridden yeah all of that and I was able to make her talk and speak about like how she's feeling what's going on and all that stuff and she told me like john I need you to help me bring this to the doctor on their rounds in the morning. And so that morning, that physician came in with his four other residents.

They came in and see the patient, and he's asking question, which for me, first of all, that has been his patient for a very long time. So he knows exactly where she stands in this situation. He's throwing in questions of like, how are you feeling? How's your pain? How's all this? So I'm answering those questions because I have the information. And I remember him stopping me.

He's like, I need her to speak to me. And so I stopped speaking. I told him, but she can't speak to you. She's anxious. She hasn't spoken to any nurses. She only has given me information. So he left the room in our nursing station, which is very open. There's probably like the nursing coordinators, social worker, nutritionist, everyone is there.

He came into me standing there right in front of the nursing station. The next time I'm speaking, I need you to silent your mouth. And to me, I'm just shocked in the response that I got from him. He literally embarrassed me in front of these people. And for what? You're trying to advocate on behalf of your patient? Exactly. I told him.

I was like, I'm trying to advocate for him and be the voice that she needs in that various moment. He's like, yeah. But I can do my job and left. And this doctor is known to do that to nurses. So it's like an ego thing. It is an ego thing. And we've had many complaints about that. but nothing has changed

because I brought that up to my nursing assistant manager and they're like you know you just got to understand that he's doctor this and I'm like no this is insane it keeps going

and every single one of us nurses has to experience this and it's funny because one of his residents came out to me she's like I'm really really sorry he has anger issues. And why do we have to supper off of his problems? And, you know, that experience really just shows you that there is sometimes ego in this, like, generational differences between

us healthcare professionals. But I strongly, strongly believe that we should never have that. Do you think there are differences generally, generationally for nurses, like millennial nurses, Gen Z nurses and how they handle this type of scenario? Oh, absolutely. Because he would never talk like that to a senior nurse who's been there for 35 years. Because they'll tell him in his place. Oh, absolutely. But because I was a new nurse, I've only been there for a year and a half.

And he's only probably seen me like, I don't know, 40 times. That's not enough for him to respect me. the way he respects a nurse who he has been speaking for decades in that unit. But that shouldn't work like that. It should be like what respect you give to a senior nurse should be the same respect you give to every single one of us because we all deserve that. And again, this might sound mean, but like you need me more than I need you because I have a lot of other doctors I can. can talk to and nurses that will help me. Yeah.

If you don't want to work with me. That's kind of is. That's really crappy that you guys have to deal with that. Do you get a lot of DMs from people sharing their stories like this? A lot. Really? A lot. I, and I have to retell them through my videos.

Oh. And it makes them funny. So it doesn't seem so. Are they doing that so that you would do that? Because they want to see it reenacted? They want to see you reenacted and see if other people are going. going through the same exact thing. And the funny thing is like you'll see the common section and people are like, oh my God, this is exactly what I just been through. Oh my God. Two weeks ago. And you're like,

oh my God. So it's not just us. It's people everywhere who are experiencing this whole thing. And again, this is not every single doctors. Because I do believe there are also mean nurses to doctors. of like, you know, I've worked here for 40 years so you better respect me, but like it doesn't work like that. It should be like, hey. We all respect each other. Right. You know the July 1st effect, right?

Of course. It shouldn't be, why do we call July 1st effect? Well, I think it started off probably as a joke that you're going to get worse care because new residents are coming in. They don't know what they're doing. And actually, I want to be taking care of that newly friends. resident who is so kind and so welcoming.

It's like, oh, I'm Dr. Smith. I'm going to be here, you know, I'm going to be here with you for the next, like, four months. Like, yes, I want him, like him or her. Yeah. Like, that's amazing. I would be so worried when I started July 1st, I started off on the surgery floors. And our surgery floors are not run by our surgery program.

They're run by Columbia's surgery program. Oh, wow. So they're obviously very high level, very competitive. And because you're the intern, you get all the pages and you have to start triaging it. And I knew I wanted to be family medicine when I was doing my rotation. So I did a lot of my rotations in outpatient family medicine. That was where my passion was. And when I got into the surgery floor, I started getting pages for things that I wasn't capable of handling.

I didn't have a lot of experience. So they would page and they would say, oh, this patient's hypertensive. has high blood pressure, what do you want us to do? And I'm just like, shit, I'm supposed to solve this? Like, I have no idea what to do. And you know what nurses really appreciate it from those doctors is to tell like, hey, what do you guys usually do in this very situation? And we love that because we feel included in the care.

More less of like, hey, here's what I want to do. Exactly. It's more of like, hey, you've worked here for so long. I just started here. How does this work for you guys? Because I want to follow how you guys do things in here. Yeah. Not to like suck up what the system is happening in that unit, but more of like, hey, I want to

collaborate with you who's an expert in a new place I am starting at. And I want to be part of this group of people that I'm going to be probably working with for a good, you know, months of my career. And I think that's amazing. Yeah. I remember when I was on night shifts, you know, if you get a, oh, actually it was probably a 24-hour call shift. And you're in your call room at night and you're sleeping and you're like, at least I'll get two hours of sleep. And then you get paged.

And you call back and you'll get someone and they say, oh, the patient is hypertensive. So what would you like us to do? And I'm like, okay, well, it's the blood pressure. 142 over 88. And I'm like, oh, my God, don't do anything. Like, they're good. Follow up with their PCP once you're discharged. But at 245 in the morning, you're like, oh, I'm absolutely dead.

But it takes time to learn that. It does. So that's like the July 1st effect, I feel like. It is. It is. And it shouldn't be because I feel like those new residents should feel welcome starting in an environment. I think that's where it should start for like residents to not feel like they have to suck up to. It's the same exact thing with the older nurses is that.

you don't have to be like doctor rude you can be exactly your own personality and be the doctor that you are really because i feel like another thing that nurses always say is that i think medicine or doctors should have a day as part of their clinicals just working as a nurse oh do you think they'll fail no i think i think they'll fail I think we just want them to experience being in our shoes. Oh, you want like a shadowing experience? Shadowing experience, but like... Yeah, why don't we do that?

Can we make that part of a hospital orientation? We should start something about it. That's not a bad idea. We just... If you're starting as a doctor in a hospital, you have to shadow a nurse for a week. Absolutely. And you know what? Wow.

You might meet a bunch of nurses who will feed you every single day. Yeah, yeah. who would care for you, who would do all these things for you. You'll probably find your loved one. I know. Against your wishes. And it's just, I think that's such an amazing rotation. Yeah.

Because usually July 1st, they just start running around and they have this little booklets that they have and just like, what am I supposed to do? And what do we do for hyperclemia? Oh my God. And it's just crazy. It should be like an introduction of like, here's the people that you're going to be working with. and actually for this week you guys are going to be shadowing all this nurses

and go through their day together and I think that would be less scary for a lot of residents that shouldn't even just be residents that should be even if you're a new doctor joining a system you spend a day please that would be good we would be glad

and you could help thank you that could ease the shift for nurses might solve short staffing sometimes and you know know what nurses would be really happy if you guys do that i think i think it would create a lot more

collaboration because everyone would be able to empathize i do and i have so many doctors that i still keep in touch with because they have treated me with so much love and respect and i have never felt that we have this hierarchy status between us because they've always i've always feel included what do they do differently they ask me questions they do not act like they know more about me and they make sure that we have a personal relationship over just professional relationship.

It's like, do I have to call you nurse, John? I was like, no, no, no, call me John. Like buddies. Like you can call me, John. Sure. It's like, here's my pager. You can page me anytime. Nurses loves to hear.

that. Yeah. Like, if you guys have any concern, please don't hesitate to reach of us because that's the problem too. It's like sometimes they're like, don't reach me for bullshit. Yeah. It's like, what if it's not bullshit? What if the patient's at risk?

Right. Like, I want to be able to feel like I'm not scared coming to you to ask you something that I need help of as your collaborator. in this system. So I think that's what this other residents are doing is that it feels more like we're, I don't want to say friends because we're professionals, but it feels like a family.

Yeah. It feels like a family of people who are just doing the best that they could for the chosen population of people that they want to serve. It makes me happy to hear that you had, obviously, doctors that treated, you well. But at the same time, it makes me sad that the bar is so low. You said, these doctors are so amazing and I had such a great rapport with them. And all they did was asking you questions, treated you with respect. It's like the bare minimum. And you have such fond memories.

But I think that's all we want from the people that we work with. Because we get the same treatment from everyone, social workers, MPs, OTP, everyone else. Like, you know, We treat security the same exact thing. Like, we love security. They take our Uber orders downstairs and they bring it up to us. Like, we love that. Yeah. It just feels like a big family.

And I know, like, some nurses would disagree and they're like, no, this is not a family. If they tell you that this is a family, it's a red flag. Quit. People say that? Yeah. Why do they say that? Because they're like, you know, your job is not your family. Oh, okay.

You know, but I think it is. I mean if I spent so much. much time with them, maybe even more than with your family. I was like, you know, Betty that I work with, she's 67, but she knows more about me that I know more about myself. Because Betty has seen all my personality from day one. And she never judged me. It's one of my things that I say on my stand-up comedy is that I love Betty.

It's like exposure therapy. Because you might hate this person. Like, you could literally hate someone so much at work. Because you cannot like everybody. But if you work with that person every single day of your life, you start to like them. And now your best friend. You're 30 and your best friend is a 75 year old lady with four grandchildren and six kids. I love it.

And you hang out outside. You guys get mimosa. Yeah. That's one of my best friends. She's 67. Wow. I was 26. She's like, do you want to go to the market today?

Absolutely, girl. I'll bring it to your x-ray for your back. I love it. That's what we do. During this content journey of yours, what's been your most favorite content to make you that you enjoy making? And what's the most favorite content that your audience enjoys? Because I'm assuming they might be different.

Yes and no. I think my favorite. Two and five Canadians will hear the words, you have cancer. That's why every step and dollar raised matters. On September 19th, join thousands in Toronto for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation Walk.

Challenge yourself, friends, and family to walk 21 kilometers in support of life-saving research. Together, we can carry the fire and help create a world free from the fear of cancer. Register today at pmcfwalk.ca.ca. For content that I make for myself, is the things that we healthcare worker would love to say as a professional but can say.

Got it. Taboo subjects. Taboo subject. But in a, like, a funny, comedic way. Sure. Of, like, if a patient tells you, like, go to hell. And in my head, I'm like, I'm already in hell. I'm being told go to hell.

Yeah. Or, like, when a patient tells you, I'm leaving this hospital. Actually, I have your luggage and I have the taxi. You can leave whenever you want. You know what I mean? Those things that I love doing that because it gives nurses disability. Like, you know what? I can.

I'm allowed to laugh at things. I'm a lot to laugh at things. But at the same time, you know what? I never thought about saying this before. Maybe I should try it once or twice and see how it comes back to me. But the other thing that my audience loves seeing for me, I think, is just. just how I bring the profession together. Because I think that is something that we need right now

for a lot of us nurses is the sense of community and relatability and being able to feel like we're not alone going through this journey in healthcare that is very toxic right now and very like it's a lot. And I think that's what they appreciate when I make those content that are really is telling of our story because it's hard for them to tell it themselves and they don't have the platform or the ability to do that

and they so they come to me and ask me hey can you please show this to the world and I'm like done give me five hours do you think more nurses should be on social media

yes I think so why was there a pause because maybe they should not everyone in social media are there for good reasons. You know what I mean? Like not, there's a lot of us in healthcare who have been canceled since 2020 because

they've done some really shitty and stupid crap. Right. And so the pause is like, yes, because we, there's a lot more, there's a lot more of us now that can tell the world all the different parts that I cannot tell. Like, I'm not educational, but I'm more. comedic and true truth and someone can be educational right and someone can be dark humor like you know what I mean like everyone has a different approach exactly and so I think I want everyone to be able to do that and for all of the nurses and healthcare workers to be able to share their own story so that other people can

feel like they can relate to someone so better representation though exactly but the other part of me is saying that like there's a lot of stupid people out there. And I'm sorry, but like there's a lot of stupid healthcare people that goes in the internet and speak their mouth like hip-a doesn't exist or professionality wasn't something that we've learned and was drilled on our heads. Right. Every single day in our school. It's like, dude, why do you have to say that?

Like, how did you film this? Looked at it. Edited it with like captions and all this stuff and decided like, hmm. Good idea. This is actually good post. You know, it's hard. Yeah. It's hard.

It's a very like thin line of like show it to the world. But don't be stupid at the same time. Yeah. It's a very thin line. Because you've been in social media for a long time. And I think if there's one person that people, people in social media, at least in healthcare,

who wants to go in social media, needs to look up to, it's you. Wow. You've done it. Thank you for saying that. I mean, you've done it for a very long time. How long have you been in social media?

Like 10 years. It takes one single content. Sure. To bring you down. I mean, yeah. And also, you want to, the line between doing something stupid is small, but also the line of saying something inaccurate, trying to not fall victim to sensationalism, to selling out, to pitching supplements and miracle cures. There's a lot of money left on the table with all of these things. You know, you look at the podcast, best, highest paid podcast list just came out.

And the reason we're not on it is because we're refusing to accept all of these. these BS supplements. I literally, if I can tell anything to anyone right now, is that if I have taken every single thing that was offered in my table. Oh my God. Because I'm a nurse and a healthcare worker. Yeah. People will be poisoned.

People will be poison, but at the same time, I would be retired right now. But I never did that because I have my own values, my own beliefs and my own professional boundary that I keep very, very sacred to me. So when you look at these sponsorship offers, do you think back to John when he's taking care of or your family while they're taking care of your grandfather? And you're like, I would never want this for him so I would not do this? Oh my God, absolutely.

I mean, like there is so many out there that is being advertised. And for me, when I get those brand deals coming out on my table, I read them. I research them. And if it doesn't sit right with me, I would never take them. Or if it harms the people that I love. Because I always put the people that I love. Like, would I give this to my grandfather? If I don't, I shouldn't.

Why do you think some people give in and start doing it? You think that just the appeal of money is too strong? I think so. I think monetary, but at the same time, I think some people just don't think, I think people just don't take a step back and like, re-evaluate their decisions. And again, it's almost like the same thing as posting something so stupid in the internet of like, you've looked at this maybe like four or five times. How did you still think this was okay? Sure. You know, it gets to that point of like, you know.

And to me, I always, I'm lucky enough that I have friends and family that surrounds me who are also in healthcare. I would bring this brand deal to all this people. And I was like, read it and tell me, is this something that you guys would take, would agree on, would do. And if at least one of them says no, absolutely not. It takes a lot for me to even do that. Again, like, last thing I ever want is to harm anybody of anything. What are some of your loudest critics saying about your content? Is there anyone that's mad about, like I've seen during the pandemic,

people getting very mad at healthcare workers for filming instead of working? Do you get any of that kind of stuff? the beginning I did got some of those of like people asking me they're like so you're complaining about short staffing and your tie and burnout so how the hell did you had time to even like take your phone and put in there and click record I tell them I was like because I have a free one I have a time off within my job like I'm still a human being that I can do all these things but you know I think one big thing that people don't realize is what you see in social media is not even a percent of what I do in my real life. Right. You see nothing about me. This is not even a descriptive of who I am as a person. So I don't think it is for you to judge me because you've seen a video of me that you don't

agree with. Right. Like at the end of the day, it's more of like just being okay that people, not everyone will like you and that there's always going to be someone that will find a way. to destroy you because you're successful. And I think like just being okay with that. And that no matter what happens, it's always just knowing that as long as you know

that the people around you loves you and cares about you and know you are a good human being, that's all that matters at the end of the time. Very true. And speaking of being successful, your tour absolute success. Tell me how you got into touring as a comedian. I feel like being a,

a nurse, you get a very dark, unique sense of humor. Does that what translated well for you? So this is another fact that first of all, I want to recognize, yes, I'm doing standup comedy now. It is crazy, but also there's all scrutiny of that too. They're like, oh my God, he's a sellout. Now he's doing standup comedy. Why is that a sellout? Because well, you're selling out, you know, arenas and stadiums. So it's that. That's a good selling out. Sure. But they're like, you know, like he lost he lost the plot i was like i didn't lost the plot actually the plot still is healthcare and it's still telling the truth about healthcare but now i'm on stage and i'm doing it everywhere not just america i've been to europe i've been to asia i've been to australia all this

places what i realized in this tour is that every single one of us has the same exact universal experience when it comes to healthcare we don't get treat right And my stand-up comedy was something that was just brought in my table. And they're like, hey, John, if you can make comedic skits in your bathroom at home, maybe you want to do it on stage. And I was like, I have never been on stage my entire life. Like the last time I was on stage was to get my diploma. Okay.

My bachelor's in nursing. And this isn't something I've dreamed off or seen myself doing. And to me, I was like, if I'm. make my comedy skits, I get to have 50 rounds of revision until I feel like it's funny enough. Yeah. On stage, it's exactly what I'm doing right now. And it has to be funny. And people have to laugh for them to want to come back to this.

And after giving the first try, they're like... Where was your first try? In Brea, California. Okay. It's a comedy club, Brea Improv. It was 500 seats. It wasn't my show. It was, I was doing five minutes on someone else's show and they're like, oh my God, John, like, people love you.

The stories are actually funny. I was like, guys, that was just the truth. You're like, I'm not even, I was like, I'm not trying to be funny. I'm just trying to tell exactly what my life was being a nurse. Yeah. And then after that, my agents from CIA were like, hey, do you want a book another show? I was like, sure, but this is it. No problem.

Then my manager called me and said, like, John, they book you. Netflix is a joke. I was like, what do you mean? Like, Netflix is a joke. Like, hearing Netflix to me, because I didn't know what Netflix is a joke is first. And they're like, no, it's a festival. It's a comedy festival that happens in LA like every two years. Like, Kevin Hart is there.

Fortune Famster is there. Ali Wong is there. I was like, why would they book me that? They're like, they want you. The person who was booking things. Wow, so much pressure. Wife was a nurse and she convinced her husband that you're going to be a good fit. And it's always the connection of like healthcare workers from different parts that like, yeah, John will be great.

And then we sell that show out in like five minutes. Wow. It was, yeah, I was flabbergasted even knowing that. I was being part of that festival for known comedians. And it was so successful that they made it into a tour. And that tour lasted for two and a half years. I just finished it actually about 10 days ago. Is that hard?

Like you're traveling. I did a small live tour on the East Coast like four or five cities. Yeah. But not obviously at the scale. How did you feel about it? The biggest struggle I had, because my show is also improv variety, not skit-based. I love that. I do the same thing.

It's improv variety. Oh, so it's not skit-based. I tell a story, but I also do, I interview people. I get people on stage. Oh, okay. Yeah, that's what we did a lot of that. We played some improv games. We taught chest compressions.

We did a little competition. Oh, that's amazing. We did like a spin on the prices right, but instead made it the prices what, highlighting how ridiculous health care prices are. Oh my God. We try to do it real fun. But the biggest issue we faced was because my demographic is so broad, like I didn't know who the show was for.

Is this for kids? So we be a little more silly. Is this hard hitting medical systemic issues that we need to discuss? Right. Am I doing a heavy TED talk in the middle of it? And because of that, it had a little bit of everything, which meant it was almost for no one. Right. I think that's a hard part.

But I think because I think you're just so successful. And I mean, in YouTube, hello, like 14, 15 million. Like, that is crazy. And like, looking at your analytics and your audience is the same thing for me. It's like, for me, it's like, wait, your audience is 40% United States. And then the rest is the whole world. Right. How can we assure that you can sell a thousand,

Cedar right in Kansas City, Missouri and I just told them I was like I mean like let's see what's going to happen and if it doesn't work out and five minutes you're like done let's cancel this thing nice

I'm not going to do it again and they're like John we trust you you got to trust yourself and your audience and the people that supports you and that no matter what happens they will show up for you because if they don't you wouldn't be where you are right now and so I said, all right, let's do this.

Let's do a 15 date city tour and see what happens. And we did that and instantaneously, again, it's sold out. And they're like, you got to keep you. There is a market for you. And I'm like, okay. But that's so hard traveling, 15 cities a lot. I mean, now even bigger, obviously. It has been a crazy ride navigating through it because I've really only had myself and my

manager. My manager, Logan Watkins, she's here right now actually with us, but like not every single manager will support you the way she has been with me on the road. Every single show. And we have built this show from the ground

up without any help from anyone. Because we were so not in this game. Again, I was just wanting to do a podcast, sit down on like a 50 people audience where I can just do my podcast in like this group of people.

But then the bar got raised so quickly that we're like, who do we hire in this situation? Do we need audio, photos, videos, driver, everything. And we're like, you know what? Fuck it. Let's get a Hertz van. And we drove that van with. My other comedian who helped me, Nick, to get to standup comedy and then a videographer.

And then we drove everywhere, five, six, seven, eight hours, stayed in hotels in the most randomest places. Like, we were at Savannah, Georgia at one point. And, yeah, it's a lot. Wait, why is Savannah, Georgia the most randomest place? Like, why did that flag in your mind? Because... To me, doesn't seem so exotic. Right.

It is exotic to me because I've never been on that part of the South. Okay, got it. But at the same time, we stayed in this Hilton Hotel that was, I felt like I would die if I ever close my eyes. Oh, okay. Got it. So, you know, again, we were booking these hotels and all this things by ourselves without knowing like, hey, you actually can stay in the city. Got it. And we're like, well, this is a $50, 12 hour just to sleep in there so we can wake up at 6 a.m.

hotel. So you say to like a motel quick. Yeah. It's a bro tell at that point. You're like, holy crap. Like I'm doing this. But it makes me feel really proud that I'm able to do that for my community and our community because there's doctors in that audience sitting with us. That's so cool. And it just, it's good. I want to come to a show. What's your nearest show to New York? Um, New Jersey. Oh, perfect. The Angie Pack. Oh, that's like right near my hospital. Are you serious? Yeah, we're going to bring some nurses and come support. No, I think you should come on stage and you'll be surprised that your audience is actually primarily healthcare. You know what's funny. I wonder if that's true. Like how do, how do you how would you know? Like these days, how do you know who watches? Because you look at the

YouTube analytics and like you might tell you again, what country they're from. Yeah. Male, female split. But besides that, it's hard to know. I think we both want to do a lot of things. Yeah. And that strays us away from our real. community, but our always community is healthcare. It's healthcare. I think you gotta realize that the people in healthcare loves you so much. You are a doctor in social media. Hello. Like everybody knows Dr. Mike. Like I've known you before I was even in social media. And we actually met at the Pitt premiere indirectly. The pick, yes. And I was so, actually all my friends went to talk to you, but I was so scared because I was like, wait, I used to watch him when you. You were.

YouTube. And then I remember you also did a commentary in one of my videos. Oh, in a TikTok React video? Yes, React video. And I was like, oh my God, I feel so good. And guess what? Who told me? Every single nurses who follows and loves him. No way. Oh, that's awesome. So it's a smaller world that I probably even imagine. It is a smaller world. How many nurses are there in the United States, you know? Sam, can you chat GPT? I know how many doctors. I think there's like 1.2 million. 1.2 million. That's not enough.

Yeah. So I imagine how many nurses. All right, let's guess before he tells us. What's your price is right rules? Price. I would say, 4.5. Ooh, that's very low.

I'll stick with 6.8 million. I'm going. Because nurses are classified differently because there are. Like LPNR and all this. Yeah, all this stuff. So I'm going to go 6.7 I'm going to go 5-5.

5-5. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, there are more than 5 million registered nurses. Of all licensed registered nurses, 88% are employed. So about 4.4 million active working. Oh, wow.

So we're both over. We are close. You are closer. No, but we both lose prices right rules If you're over, you lose. Holy, wow. And we still have shortage of... Well, that's why we have a shortage.

We need more. We, they're going to triple this number. Yeah. And I think that's going to help. Maybe this podcast will help. I hope so. Yeah. I hope so.

And again, like, come to the show and I'll... Yeah. When is it? Month, wise. September. Oh, so it's like soon. It's very soon. I'm starting my new tour.

Okay. When's the first day? Against Medical Advice starts in Charleston, South Carolina on September 10th. And then, So very soon? Very soon. A month? Yeah, two, three weeks.

And we still have a lot of preparation to do. Okay. Because I'm actually filming my first ever live taping of my comedy show. That's the one that's going to be in South Carolina? No. That's my tour that I'm filming, especially. So that it's separate? Yes.

Okay. That's August 16th at Alex Theater in Los Angeles, California. Oh, fancy. My first ever live. And where will that live on YouTube? Netflix? We don't know. Yeah. Oh, who will buy it.

Who will buy it? It's a bidding war. It is a bidding war. And I'm just so excited to even do that. Amazing. But yeah. I'm so excited for you. Thank you. This is so fun. Thank you for giving healthcare workers a voice and an outlet and allowing us to have fun against medical advice. I think we both do that. So thank you too for what you do for every single one of us in healthcare. And I think like you've made so much difference. And honestly, I would say like one of the reasons why I went doing the social. media is because I've I've watched you for many. That's high praise. I know. You got to see how much effect you have towards us. Well, you probably can relate to this most.

When you're filming, you're filming with you, maybe a small team, a little camera. So you forget the impact on social media. Yes. And it becomes like almost like a job for us because we keep wanting to do more. More and more content. But then you don't realize that if you put that 12 or 14 million you have on YouTube in one area. Oh, yeah.

You have more than the Madison Square Guard. That's probably like 50 times of the Madison Square Guard and sold out. Like, it's just insane how much effect we have with. Do you have an arena that's your dream arena to play? I did play it. What was it? It was the Wembley Arena in London. Wow.

Isn't that like 100,000 or 90,000 or something? Oh, no, not that big one. Oh, okay. The Wembley Stadium. So that's a stadium. I went to the arena. Oh, there's a Wembley Arena. Yes, that was 7,900.

Wow, okay. And it was, it was just, it's mind boggling. Why was that one so important to you? It's because I've seen Queen perform. Oh, okay. Bohemian Rhapsody in that very stage. And to be able to stand on that stage where he did, I'm like, wow. And it's also London.

I love London. Okay. So how do people buy tickets? They can get tickets in my websites, It's www. N.N shows with an S of the N.com. Well, thank you. I'm excited to watch.

Maybe folks will see us together. Oh, New Jersey. They got to come out. Come out for a special surprise. Exactly. Thank you. Thank you, thank you. Thank you, man.

That's awesome. Of course. Oh, my God. That was fun. Nurse John isn't the only nurse who's been on the show. I also spoke with hospice nurse Julie about what it's like to provide care to patients as they pass away. She has some incredible stories about the life.

last things people say before they die. Scroll on back to find that episode and be sure to give us a five-star rating, leave a comment, maybe share this episode with a friend or family member. And as always, stay happy and healthy.