Soapbox Saturday is segment of Nursing the Nation where Jamie or Melissa Anne step up on their figurative soapbox and talk about something they feel strongly about. In today's Soapbox, Jamie explains why nurses are political, and why you should, too. This means a commitment to civic engagement for just and equitable health policy at local, national, and global levels.

Nursing the Nation a podcast where we dissect today's headlines through the uniquely insightful lens of the nurse. Join your hosts, Jamie & Melissa Anne, as they use their nursing expertise to navigate the complexities of national events, offering perspectives rooted in holism, advocacy, and nursing science. Beyond the medical jargon and political noise, they’ll explore the human element of current affairs, providing a grounded and compassionate understanding of the issues that impact us all. Because when it comes to understanding the pulse of our society, who better to ask than the most trusted profession?

In the second half of our series finale, Jamie and Melissa Anne take on one of the most inflammatory claims in the MAHA commission’s MOCHA report: that gender-affirming care is “child chemical and surgical mutilation.” We unpack how this rhetoric misrepresents transgender healthcare and ignores both medical guidelines and clinical realities.

We explore the 2024 HHS review of transgender youth care—heavily criticized by the AAP for excluding experts and endorsing discredited “exploratory therapy”—and reveal surprising ties between the report's cited sources and hate groups like Genspect. Jamie shares her clinical experiences supporting trans youth, including a powerful story of improved mental health following gender-affirming surgery and reduced antidepressant use.

We also tackle the MOCHA report’s broader attack on mental health care, including its embrace of Abigail Shrier’s Bad Therapy, which criticizes trauma-informed care and emotional literacy. Melissa Anne highlights the flawed logic behind the report’s anti-therapy stance and its romanticized ideas like RFK Jr.'s “healing camps.”

To close, we reflect on the report’s dangerous omissions, especially its complete silence on maternal, newborn, and infant feeding health. Melissa calls out the myth that America was ever truly “healthy.” If we want to raise a healthier generation, it won’t be through fear-mongering and misinformation, but through compassionate, evidence-informed care for all children and families.

Full show notes on our Substack.

In the (almost) final episode of Decoding “Make Our Children Healthy Again”: What Nurses Want You to Know, co-hosts Jamie and Melissa Anne examine one of the MAHA commission’s most controversial claims: that American pediatric care is dangerously overmedicalized. The MOCHA report criticizes the use of medications, surgeries, and even routine lab tests in children as examples of systemic overtreatment.

Jamie and Melissa Anne acknowledge valid concerns (like the overuse of antibiotics) but argue that the report distorts data and omits essential context. For instance, the claim that ear tube surgery is harmful is based on a misinterpretation of a NEJM study, which actually showed comparable outcomes between surgical and antibiotic treatment, both with parental consent. Similarly, the report selectively uses psychiatric research to suggest medications are unsafe, ignoring evidence that supports their use—especially for fluoxetine, escitalopram, and methylphenidate.

The episode also debunks the idea that children born later in the school year are being recklessly overdiagnosed. Jamie notes that the research cited actually calls for improved educational and clinical responses, not fewer diagnoses or less treatment.

The hosts further critique the MOCHA report’s misuse of international studies and flawed logic. One example includes a 2017 study linking mental illness to single-parent homes, while overlooking stronger evidence from World Psychiatry (2024) emphasizing broader social determinants.

Ultimately, Jamie and Melissa Anne advocate for evidence-based, individualized pediatric care rooted in shared decision-making. They caution against oversimplified narratives and stress the importance of nuanced, transparent dialogue when public health messaging targets children. Originally intended as the series finale, this episode became a necessary deep dive to correct widespread misrepresentations in the MOCHA report.

Full show notes and suggested reading available on Nursing the Nation's Substack.