Coffee Before Clinicals
Real nurses. Real professors. Real support for nursing students.
Nursing school is hard. We’re here to make it a little easier.
Coffee Before Clinicals is a podcast created by nurse educators who understand what it’s really like to balance exams, clinicals, care plans, and the never-ending pressure to “figure it all out.”
Hosted by experienced nursing professors, this show is your go-to space for:
Practical survival strategies for nursing school
Test prep tips that actually work
Deep dives into diseases, meds, and clinical scenarios
Case-based learning to help concepts stick
Real talk about burnout, confidence, and impostor syndrome
This isn’t a polished lecture or a YouTube recap. It’s the voice of nurses who’ve been where you are—and now walk beside you in the classroom and on the floor. Whether you’re on your way to clinical, prepping for the NCLEX, or questioning everything during finals week, we’ve got your back.
No fluff. No judgment. Just coffee, clinicals, and the clarity you need to keep going.
New episodes drop when you need them most.
Follow wherever you listen—and grab your coffee before clinicals.
🎙️ Got questions or a topic you're dying to hear? Text us and let’s make it happen—we’re all ears and ready to roll! We dig into the uncomfortable math behind 93,000 qualified nursing applicants being turned away while the country keeps repeating that we desperately need nurses. We lay out why “just admit more students” ignores the real capacity limits of nursing education, especially clinical placements and preceptors. • what “qualified applicants turned away” actually means in AACN su...
31 Aug 2026
Nurses Believe in AI. It's Time Healthcare Caught Up.
🎙️ Got questions or a topic you're dying to hear? Text us and let’s make it happen—we’re all ears and ready to roll! Nurses are more optimistic about AI than any other clinical profession, and the numbers are not subtle. Yet trust is still fragile, and the biggest reason isn’t that nurses “don’t get technology” it’s that too many of the decisions about AI in nursing happen without nursing at the table. We dig into what the latest survey data actually says about optimism, adoption, training qu...
25 Aug 2026
The Quiet Overhaul: What the 2026 NCLEX Test Plan Actually Changes
🎙️ Got questions or a topic you're dying to hear? Text us and let’s make it happen—we’re all ears and ready to roll! The NCLEX pass rate drop is real, but the internet’s favorite explanation is not. I start with the numbers that have everyone spiraling and then we slow down long enough to separate two stories that landed in the same news cycle: shifting first-time pass rates and the 2026 NCLEX RN and NCLEX PN test plans that quietly took effect on April 1, 2026. We walk through what did not ...
19 May 2026
Can AI Replace Nurses? The Truth About Tech at the Bedside
🎙️ Got questions or a topic you're dying to hear? Text us and let’s make it happen—we’re all ears and ready to roll! AI is rapidly changing healthcare — but what does that actually mean for nurses? In this episode, Jennifer breaks down how artificial intelligence is being used in hospitals, where it can help, the risks nurses are worried about, and why critical thinking and human connection still matter more than ever. From charting automation to algorithmic bias, this episode explores the re...
29 Oct 2025
Nurses Confront Bias: Addiction, Recovery, And Respectful Care
🎙️ Got questions or a topic you're dying to hear? Text us and let’s make it happen—we’re all ears and ready to roll! What if the fastest way to safer care is changing a single assumption? We sit down with educator and recovery advocate Shane Watson to examine how stigma around addiction silently shapes assessments, pain decisions, and patient trust—and how simple shifts in language and presence can prevent harm. Shane’s lived story spans early substance use, incarceration, and 14 years of lon...
8 Sept 2025
Trust, Technology, and Truth: Navigating Academic Integrity in Nursing Education
🎙️ Got questions or a topic you're dying to hear? Text us and let’s make it happen—we’re all ears and ready to roll! Nursing has been the most trusted profession for 23 years running, but academic dishonesty threatens both education integrity and patient safety. Dr. Suzanne McWilliams, Director of Nursing at Northern Arizona University, unpacks why integrity matters in nursing and how AI is changing the landscape. • Academic integrity directly connects to patient safety and professional cond...
25 Aug 2025
Med Class in a Mug: Decoding Beta Blockers
🎙️ Got questions or a topic you're dying to hear? Text us and let’s make it happen—we’re all ears and ready to roll! Beta blockers are essential cardiovascular medications that act as the "brake pedal" of the heart, helping to manage conditions like hypertension, angina, arrhythmias, heart failure, and sometimes migraines or anxiety. Despite their complex names that resemble Wi-Fi passwords, these medications follow predictable patterns in their effects and side effects that nursing students ...
14 Aug 2025
Stop Memorizing, Start Narrating: The Secret to Understanding Disease Processes
🎙️ Got questions or a topic you're dying to hear? Text us and let’s make it happen—we’re all ears and ready to roll! Remember struggling with pathophysiology, staring at pages of scientific terms wondering how anyone could possibly remember it all? You're not alone—and it's not your fault. The problem isn't your brain; it's the approach. Pathophysiology transforms from an overwhelming memorization challenge into an intuitive learning experience when you approach it as storytelling. Your brai...
1 Aug 2025
You Don't Need to Memorize Every Drug in Existence
🎙️ Got questions or a topic you're dying to hear? Text us and let’s make it happen—we’re all ears and ready to roll! Pharmacology doesn't have to be about memorizing hundreds of drug names in a week. We can make this challenging subject manageable by focusing on patterns, categories, and building confidence over time. • Break drugs down into categories - medication class, mechanism of action, therapeutic use, and key side effects • Focus on distinctive side effects that stand out (like pheny...
19 Jul 2025
Trailer
🎙️ Got questions or a topic you're dying to hear? Text us and let’s make it happen—we’re all ears and ready to roll! Nursing school is intense, and you don’t have to go through it alone. Coffee Before Clinicals is the podcast for students who need real talk, smart strategies, and support from nurses who teach it every day. Hosted by real professors. Coming soon. Music by Smallrose Productions
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Host of Coffee Before Clinicals?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
