Nursing Shortage: A Doctor’s Perspective
Barbara Ficarra, RN, Award-Winning Journalist, Executive Producer and Medical Show Host of Health in 30 and Nurses in Motion recently sat down with Fred Pescatore, M.D., NY Times-Best Selling Author and Practicing Family Physician in NY to continue the discussion on the nursing shortage.
The nursing shortage is a global complex issue, and there are no easy answers. Watch uncensored, passionate dialogue unravel; Barbara Ficarra and Dr. Pescatore speak candidly about how the nursing shortage impacts quality patient care, how vital the role of nurses are in society, how nurses are not being compensated for their work as professionals; and how major manufacturers in essence contribute to the nursing shortage.
Fred Pescatore, MD, is a traditionally trained physician practicing nutritional medicine. Dr. Pescatore is the author of the New York Times best selling book, The Hamptons Diet. This lifestyle program focuses on the use of foods of high nutritional quality, does not exclude any food groups, and unravels the mystery of heart-healthy monounsaturated fats. A former Associate Medical Director at the Atkins Center for five years, Dr. Fred’s other titles include, Thin For Good, The Allergy and Asthma Cure and the number 1 best-selling children’s health book, Feed Your Kids Well.
Major television reporters, radio hosts and print journalists call upon him to be the medical expert on nutrition. He has been featured on such shows as, Health in 30 Radio Show with Barbara Ficarra on WRCR, The View, The Today Show, Deborah Norville, The O’Reilly Factor, and Extra. Recent interviews include Washington Post, InStyle, US magazine, First for Women, Women’s Health and Fitness, Let’s Live, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Women’s World and more.
Dr. Pescatore lectures across America, and the world; and is actively involved in clinical research.
He is the author of numerous papers and magazine articles. Dr. Fred is a consultant for many firms and is instrumental in developing and clinical testing many of the leading nutritional products. He is the President of the AHCC Research Association, President of the International and American Association of Clinical Nutritionists, member of the National Association of Medical Communicators.
Nurses in Motion Host
Barbara Ficarra RN, BSN, MPA is an award-winning journalist and the medical/health correspondent and executive producer with ScribeMedia. Barbara is the creator/host/executive producer of Health in 30 and Nurses in Motion for Scribe Media. Nurses in Motion delves into the complex ssues surrounding the nursing profession. Barbara is also on-air in Radio.
Barbara is the creator/executive producer/host of Health in 30™ radio show which airs live every Friday from 5:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. EST, broadcasts on WRCR-AM 1300 and streams live online at Healthin30.com – click the WRCR logo to listen live! Health in 30™ is a 30-minute show that brings listeners the latest health and medical news and information with leading guest medical experts. Barbara conducts lively and informative discussions with leaders in their fields to provide vital health information on a broad range of topics, while focusing on education and prevention; and listeners will often call-in with questions.
Barbara Ficarra is also the creator and editor-in-chief of the Healthin30.com website. Healthin30.com is dedicated to the responsible sharing of information from leaders in the healthcare industry. On Healthin30.com, readers can get more in-depth information and tips from these same experts. The highlight of the website is the “Speak Out” logo, this is where all medical communicators can go to sign-up to be a guest on the Health in 30™ show and/or write for the website. Nurses are especially encouraged to sign-up and to use their voice to advocate to the pubic that they are medical experts and communicators.
Barbara is a media consultant, medical communicator and media consultant/co-coach with Media Image Coach and is active on the front lines of the healthcare system, she is an administrative head nurse at a level 2 trauma center and she is multifaceted in her clinical experience from oncology to general med/surg.
Barbara Ficarra has been selected by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) to receive a prestigious Journalism Award of Excellence for Coverage of Emergency Medicine. The program, “Ins and Outs of the ER” covered what to expect in the ER and the challenges of crowding and waiting on the Health in 30 Radio Show.
“Awards are given for outstanding coverage of an emergency medicine issue, in-depth analysis or investigation that brings clarity to a key emergency medicine issue and educates the public and significant impact that motivates positive change or breaks a new story that generates widespread coverage.” Barbara was honored by ACEP at the Leadership and Advocacy Conference on May 1st at the Hyatt Regency in Washington, D.C.
Barbara was selected to teach at the American Medical Association’s Medical Communications Conference in Tampa, Florida on April 12th.
Barbara is in demand to speak at professional conferences, the next conference is scheduled for June 6th where she will be the keynote speaker at the American Association of Critical Care Nurses in Fairfield, NJ. On April 21st Barbara spoke at the Hudson Valley Chapter of the American Society of Ophthalmic Registered Nurses in Mt. Kisco NY, Barbara was the closing keynote speaker on April 27th at the Nursing Spectrum Career Fair in Teaneck, NJ. and presented “Nurses in the Media” during nurses week at a level II trauma center in NJ. Barbara will also be the Keynote Speaker at two Nursing Spectrum Career Fairs in October. Barbara spoke at the National Primary Care Conference in Boston in Nov.
Barbara was recently elected to the Board of the National Association of Medical Communicators and a member of New York Women in Communications. Barbara has media training featuring teleprompter, anchoring, hosting, broadcasting and interviewing; and she is a published author. Barbara serves on the Academy of Judges for the International Health and Medical Media Awards (the FREDDIE Awards).
I am glad that I got a chance to view this interview. I am heartened that Dr. Pescatore believes in the preventive quality care that nurses give on a regular basis, and he is right on a lot of points. I agree that our health care system is broken. I agree that nurses are underpaid and can’t recruit from the next generation because it’s thankless work a lot of times. I agree that doctors are also stressed out. I agree that big business runs health care, not the doctors and nurses at the bedside.
The one question I have for Dr. Pescatore that Barbara tried to address is if everyone stopped paying for health care premiums and don’t have the money to pay for their health care, how much better off are we than we are now? I surely don’t want to be on the forefront of this movement. How could I pay for an unexpected hospital stay without any warning? I think that he, like many others, has the problems down, but the solutions for these problems are lacking in substance.
So now the question is not what is wrong, but how do we fix the whole health care system? I want a seat at the table, how about the rest of health care?
Kathy Rozema, MS, APNP, FNP, APRN-BC
Family Nurse Practitioner
Stoughton, WI