Patty Wooten presents ...

Too Live Nurse is the musical performing group created by two nurses from Berkshire Hospital in Pittsfield, Massachusetts -- Bob Diskin, RN, BSN, and Rick Glasener, RN. They perform at nursing conventions, such as NTI for American Association of Critical Care Nurses, the national convention of Emergency Nurses Association and the annual conference of the Journal of Nursing Jocularity.

They have also recorded two tapes of songs for nurses: Rockin' to the Algorithms and Ineffective Individual Coping. Bob and Rick have successfully blended their senses of humor and their musical talents to provide a unique view of the nursing profession.

Patty Wooten: When and how did you begin writing songs about the funny side of nursing?

Bob Diskin: I first started all this back in nursing school. Sometimes, I would read a whole page several times and not have any idea what I'd just read, I just couldn't remember it. So then, I'd just pick up my guitar and make up a song about it. That's how I got through pharmacology. I'd make up little scenes between drugs. Give them personalities.

PW: How could you do this?

BD: I spent 15 years in show business, where, as an actor, I was used to ripping apart characters, finding out what they were like, their characteristics, their strengths, weaknesses, problems. I'd use that same process with the drugs. First I'd ask myself, what was their action? For example: the cardiac glycosides, they slow you down, make the heart go slower. So their characters became a sort of hillbilly family called Digoxin, Lanoxin and their brother Digitoxin. The amino glycosides sounded like upper crust British. I always thought that it would be a neat class assignment if the students had to act out each drug as some type of character. Student would then have to pay attention to the drug's characteristics, and they could have some fun doing it. They'd never forget those drugs.

PW: You said you have been in show business. Tell us more.

BD: I've done shows on Broadway and on Saturday Night Live. But I got tired of the sporadic employment. I figured with my nursing degree, I could always work per diem at Bellevue in NY and have time for theater work too. Once I got into nursing, I just loved it so much that I couldn't leave. Now, with Too Live Nurse, I get to do them both.

PW: You've written many songs since nursing school, too. What was your motivation then?

BD: Mostly we wrote songs about difficult or unpleasant experiences. It was a way to reduce our stress. The song "Paperwork" is a blues tune about the time I was expected to pull a double shift and float to another unit. Rick wrote "Bedpan Blues" after he'd dropped a full bedpan on his shoe. The "ACLS Rap" was actually written as part of a trade agreement. I needed to be recertified and didn't want to pay the fee. My instructor told me she'd waive the fee if I wrote her a song she could use in the class.

PW: I understand where the story line for the lyrics comes from, but how do you decide on the melody to be used?

BD: The idea comes first, then we try to match the melody to the subject of the lyrics. My personal musical preference is for Broadway, Gershwin, or folk tunes. Rick's style is more rock and roll. I might have an idea for a song, but the melody it needed wouldn't match my style. Like the "ACLS Rap." I had the idea, but Rick had to write the music.

PW: How did you and Rick meet and begin working together?

BD: I believe that there are no accidents, there really is a cosmic plan. One night, I had to float, which I call the "F- word." I wasn't really happy about it. Rick worked on that unit, and somebody mentioned that he wrote songs. He had a tape of his song "Bedpan Blues" and played it for me. I knew right then we had to work together.

PW: Are you both still working at the bedside?

BD: Yes, I work full time in critical care and Rick just transferred from Respiratory ICU to Psych.

PW: Does this mean you will probably come up with some psych related songs?

BD: Yes, I think so. Our next album will be entirely about drugs. We're going to call it "Down on the Pharm." We also have plans to write songs about respiratory care and communicable diseases.

PW: How can your tapes be used?

BD: It depends on if you want it for personal use or as a tool for presentations. Rockin' to the Algorithms is being used by ACLS instructors all over the country as a sing-along. You can also involve the students in making movements to act out the particular arrhythmia. This brings the whole body into the learning process. Some of our other stuff can be used by instructors as an icebreaker or energizer to make the lesson more interesting and memorable.

PW: How about for the nurse at the bedside ? How can they use your music?

BD: Our songs can be used as a personal stress reduction tool. When something stressful happens, if we can remember a song and start to laugh, it helps us to become more playful with the stress of the moment.

PW: What advice could you give nurses to help them find humor in moments of stress?

BD: Every time I feel bad, angry, or stressed; then that's the time I realize that I have two choices. I can either get angry and react; or I can find some humor in it. When you recognize you're feeling that way, there is something funny to be found. You just have to look for it. Sometimes the humor just jumps out at you. Sometimes when your sense of humor is overactive, some people just don't want to work with you.

PW: If you could offer nurses one piece of advice, what would that be?

BD: Just relax and lighten up. Try not to take things or yourself too seriously. It takes a tremendous amount of energy and intelligence to be a nurse. Sometimes the job is dirty and not very glamorous. Laughter is the best way to go. It's not going to make you less of a professional to take things a little more lightly. I think some nurses lose sight of this possibility.

PW: Thanks for all the advice and especially for the laughs. We really look forward to hearing you perform again at the Jocularity Show this June in St. Louis.

This article was originally published in "Jest for the Health of It", a regular feature in the Journal of Nursing Jocularity.

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Updated April 2001.
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