New podcast partners with Love Over Covid to foster hope and optimism
Love Over Covid and the Two Nurses and A Doc (2RN1MD) Podcast, launching May 1, 2021, have partnered to foster hope and optimism during these challenging times.
Ken Foster, of Love Over Covid, has donated ‘Love is more contagious than COVID’ t-shirts to the nurses at the Ongwanada Resource Centre, where a different partnership is taking place. KFL&A Public Health has joined forces with Ongwanada to hold pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinics for those in congregate care homes.
“We hope to achieve and reinforce that partnerships work,” said Deb Lefebvre, RN, BN, Mental Health & Trauma Informed Specialist, and member of the 2RN1MD podcast. “That love supports hope and optimism in the face of this killer disease; that love supports better mental health; that loveismorecontagiousthanCOVID, and that love helps feed the hungry. And all proceeds from the t-shirts & tote bags go to foodbanks!”
“Love can be a double edged sword,” she continued. “It is the love for our patients and our careers that drives nurses and doctors to care for our patients. But that same love is what is breaking us and negatively and deeply affecting our mental health. It is this love that drives us so hard that we stretch ourselves very thin as a result. We love to care for our patients at the expense of our own self-love.”
Originally scheduled as a media event, on Thursday, Apr. 8, 2021, Love Over Covid and the 2RN1MD podcast team officially presented the ‘Love is more contagious than COVID’ t-shirts to the Ongwanada nurses.
“Ongwanada’s partnership with the KFL&A Health Unit has been wonderful on a number of fronts,” said Alastair Lamb, CEO of Ongwanada. “It has allowed some of this region’s most vulnerable people get vaccinated early in the vaccine roll out. To a person, they were grateful to receive the vaccine; they understand the importance of being vaccinated and that in time this will help them get back to seeing friends and families and doing what they want to do.”
Lefebvre said the Two Nurses and A Doc podcast “features Angelic Troublemakers stirring up Good Trouble.” The podcast team includes Lefebrve, as well as Jennifer Waite, BN, MScN (student), and Dr. Joy Hataley, ER and Primary Care Physician.
“Through conversation, we examine topics related to health and healthcare, such as mental health, women’s health, and health equity,” she explained. “We share our stories and stories of others from every angle of the bedside. We provide a deeper understanding of important issues that matter to you. We also stir up passion, give voice to others who have been silenced, disrupt the status quo, and provide a platform for solutions and meaningful change. Episodes are educational, inspirational, hopeful, and fun.”
Love Over Covid was previously featured on Kingstonist when Dr. Kieran Moore, Medical Officer of Health for KFL&A Public Health, wore one of their ‘Love is more contagious than COVID’ t-shirts to his COVID-19 vaccination appointment.
“Being quarantined is tough, but even with all of these things, we find ways to get through it together,” said Foster, the creator of Love Over Covid. “That love, in the end, does overcome the obstacles we face. When we wear a mask, when we keep six feet apart, when we get vaccinated – these are things that we do for ourselves, but we also do them for the people that we love, to keep them safe, and to protect people that we do not know.”
The pop-up clinic at Ongwanada is two-fold; increasing vaccination rates locally, as well as providing a safe, comfortable, and trusted location for their clients to receive the vaccine.
“This is how we, as a society, can break down access barriers, establish and/or strengthen trust between health care providers and the public, and address vaccine hesitancy in some cases,” Lefebrve said. “We LOVE this — Nurses and doctors working in the vaccine rollout, bringing the vaccine to clients! We have married our initiative with theirs and are so grateful that Ongwanada and the KFL&A team see that they, too, need some LOVE.”
Visit the Love Over Covid website to purchase the ‘Love is more contagious than COVID’ t-shirt for yourself. All proceeds from merchandise sales go to food banks across Canada and the United States.
The Two Nurses and A Doc podcast has a website in the works. Visit https://twonursesandadoc.com/ after their launch on May 1, 2021 for news and details.