North Island College Nursing Student Podcast Takes on Single Use Plastics
Marielle Tattman’s passion for community health and podcasting could revolutionize the Comox Valley’s view of nurses and the issues they care about.
The fourth-year NIC nursing student recently launched the ‘These are the Nurses in Your Neighbourhood’ podcast, taking on single-use plastics as the first of many initiatives where local nurses, health professionals and community members advocate for change.
“Nurses are so much more than the people who help you in a health care setting,” said Tattman. “Many of us are passionately working for solutions to human and environmental issues. I wanted to give voice to their experiences.”
The podcast started as Tattman’s student leadership project for her final year of NIC’s four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.
“Marielle’s podcast profiles nurses and their greater role in the community,” said RaeAnn Hartman, NIC’s associate dean of health and human services. “It’s an excellent showcase of one of many ways nurses are leaders contributing to the community.”
Tattman’s guests so far include Helen Boyd, a registered nurse and human and environmental health advocate; marine biologist Laura Griffith-Cochrane, curator of the Ucluelet Aquarium and NIC alumna; Alex Bissinger, a Comox town councillor and John Jerszinski, of John’s Independent grocery store.
She got the idea to tackle single use plastics after speaking to Boyd, coordinator of Comox Valley Nurses for Health and the Environment, who is active in a campaign to ban single-use plastics in the Comox Valley.
To Tattman, the podcast has endless possibilities with topics including the opioid crisis and empowering nurses in the workplace. She may also use the platform to highlight other NIC nursing leadership projects in future years.
“I love this,” said Tattman. “I’m covering a story, uncovering a passion, listening to their voices, focusing on their work and giving a platform for it to exist and be heard.”
Tattman’s interest in broadcasting started while studying at VIU, where she worked at CHLY 101.7 FM, the university’s official radio station. She took culinary arts, scripting and creative writing courses before transferring to NIC.
She credits NIC’s program for giving her the flexibility to pursue her passions alongside her studies.
“At NIC, you get a ton of attention,” Tattman said. “The instructors take an active role in helping you in your studies and they really push you to pursue what you’re interested in.”
She tributes Jean Sarrazin, who taught a ‘Podcasting 101’ course at NIC Continuing Education and Training, for helping her edit episodes between nursing courses last term, completing a practicum at North Island Hospital Campbell River and the Emergency Nursing Specialty courses she’s taking through BCIT. She is set to graduate this spring with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.
These are Nurses in Your Neighbourhood can be heard at https://soundcloud.com/user-786643018. To learn more about NIC’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree, visit www.nic.bc.ca/health-human-services.