Tenderness For Nurses

Tenderness For Nurses Your weekly dose of honest chats, self-care tips, and career advice for healthcare professionals.

Hosted by Nurse Practitioner Bek, Tenderness for Nurses is your go-to podcast for support, growth, and a little extra care.

I used to think the way things turned out for me was luck. That I'd somehow landed in the right places at the right time...
02/09/2026

I used to think the way things turned out for me was luck. That I'd somehow landed in the right places at the right times, and if anyone looked too closely they'd realise I didn't actually deserve any of it.

It took me a long time to see it differently.

Quitting drinking wasn't luck. Staying in this profession for 35 years wasn't luck. Building this podcast out of nothing, in the little pockets of time I had left after shifts, wasn't luck either.

It was just me, doing the hard thing over and over, long before anyone was watching.

If you're waiting for your version of luck to show up again, I don't think that's what you're actually waiting for. You already did the work once. You know how to do it again.

Bek x

31/08/2026

A surgeon who'd already lost his licence in the US was allowed to operate here. Nobody checked.

Toni Hoffman was the Nurse Unit Manager at Bundaberg Hospital in 2003 when Jayant Patel was given the surgeon position. Red flags from his first operating list. Patients coming back from theatre with major complications. One patient came back brain dead.

She raised it with the director of nursing. Medicine. The executive office. Nobody did anything.

So she went to her local member and journalist Hedley Thomas. That's when it all moved.

Toni talks about all of it in this episode, and what it's cost her since.

🎧 Revisit The Whistle Blower – Toni Hoffman on the podcast, Season 5 Episode 2.
👉 Link in bio to listen now.

Bek x

Damian knew something wasn’t right, but like so many of us do, he kept pushing through.By the time he was diagnosed with...
26/08/2026

Damian knew something wasn’t right, but like so many of us do, he kept pushing through.

By the time he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, he had four fractures in his spine.

If your body is telling you something isn’t right, listen. And if you don’t feel heard, ask again or see someone else.

Listen to Damian’s full story on Tenderness for Nurses.

Bek x

24/08/2026

Damian is one of my dearest friends. We met in my building years ago and hit it off straight away.

Nine weeks before we recorded this, he woke up, walked to the kitchen and collapsed. Couldn't feel a thing. His phone had gone under the fridge.

He was 44. Four fractures in his spine. Multiple myeloma.

Before that he'd lost 23 kilos in about two months and had back pain he called crippling. He was still flying. Still working. I kept telling him not to.

We talk about the five weeks in hospital. The night an agency nurse wouldn't give him pain relief for 14 hours. The three extra fractures he got just lying in bed. The stem cell transplant he's about to go in for and the three weeks of isolation that come with it.

He said it made him work out who was there for him and who was there for the fun Damian.

Damo, thank you. I know this wasn't easy.

New episode is on YouTube now. Link in bio.
Bek x

In my clinic and my life I'm really open that I don't drink, and that I had an issue with alcohol.At first I was so asha...
19/08/2026

In my clinic and my life I'm really open that I don't drink, and that I had an issue with alcohol.

At first I was so ashamed. I thought I was weak, that something was wrong with me.

It wasn't willpower that changed things. It was making a decision and asking for help.

The Urge Reset Kit is what I wish I'd had for the moment right before I poured the drink. Link in bio.
Bek x

17/08/2026

Five years ago, Hannah Clarke and her three beautiful children were lost in an act of domestic violence that devastated so many people, including Hannah's best friend, Dave.

Dave joined me just before the fifth anniversary of Hannah's death. We spoke about what life has looked like since losing Hannah, how something like this changes a person's life forever, and why he now spends so much of his time speaking with young people about respect, healthy relationships and appropriate behaviour.

I remember sitting across from Dave, listening. There were tears rolling down my face for most of the conversation. I can't imagine how difficult it was for him to revisit those memories, but he wanted to share Hannah's story and talk about what can be done to help prevent this happening to another family.

If you listened when it first came out, I encourage you to listen again.

If you haven't heard it before, I hope you'll take the time.

Bek x

Seven seasons in and I'm still pinching myself that I get to have these conversations.But I want to know who you'd love ...
05/08/2026

Seven seasons in and I'm still pinching myself that I get to have these conversations.

But I want to know who you'd love to see on the poddy? Is there a topic we haven't covered yet? Someone you'd love me to sit down with? A conversation you think needs to happen?

Drop it in the comments,
Bek x

29/07/2026

Kate was begging the ED to admit her daughter. They sent them home anyway.

A few hours later they were back and by this stage Phoebe was gravely ill. It was meningococcal. From the moment the paramedics arrived that night, Kate and Phoebe had been treated with contempt and it followed them all the way into the ED.
We talk about what happened, how important Ryan's Rule is, and what meningococcal can do to a body.

Phoebe required a kidney transplant, and Kate donated her own.

This episode is gut wrenching and so important for anyone who has ever felt dismissed in a hospital setting.

Season 3 Episode 7. Link in bio.
Bek x

Australians lost 32 billion dollars to gambling last year. We are a nation of 27 million people.I chatted with Zen, a so...
27/07/2026

Australians lost 32 billion dollars to gambling last year. We are a nation of 27 million people.

I chatted with Zen, a social worker and counsellor at Turning Point, and Kate, who shared her own lived experience with gambling harm. We talk about how these products are designed to addict us, why shame keeps people silent, and how gambling companies are already building neural pathways in our children through gaming apps.

Turning Point: turningpoint.org.au
Gamblers Help Line: 1800 858 858
Gambling Help Online: gamblinghelponline.org.au
Lifeline: 13 11 14

Season 7 Episode 9. Link in bio.
Bek x

22/07/2026

Gemma Carroll is a new grad nurse and she is already doing things I wish someone had taught me when I started in the 80s.

We chatted about the stress of uni, the process of applying for a grad position, the boundaries she has set for herself and how she looks after herself working full time. What really opened my eyes was hearing how differently young nurses are viewing the profession now compared to when I started out.

Times have really changed and honestly I think that's a good thing.

Season 4 Episode 1. Link in bio.

Bek x

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