The two nurses that are finding the ‘humerus’ in hospitals and pressing the record button

Alisha Beavis and Kelly Scorey met through working at the Kyabram District Hospital Service, trying to push through eight-to-10-hour work days — sometimes without a toilet break.

It’s the reality faced by thousands of nurses across Australia, and one that is sometimes difficult to deal with.

So when COVID-19 hit in 2020, and nurses were either being hailed the heroes of society or abused by patients facing long waiting times or families who couldn’t see their loved ones in their final moments, it was hard to find anything to laugh about.

Fortunately, Kelly and Alisha are natural conversationalists, and they were eager to share the ups, downs and amusing absurdities of nursing life.

The podcast started how many of them do — the host, in this case Kelly, thought she was funny.

“I love podcasts … I always thought I’ll do breakfast radio or something,” she said.

“I’m always the nurse on night shift and will tell stories and stuff.

“In COVID, I feel like we didn’t get to connect in that way, and so I wondered about doing a podcast … and I kept telling everyone I should, and no-one ever told me ‘no’.”

Kelly and Alisha met in 2016 and became fast friends, but they always had differing opinions on various topics; Kelly knew Alisha would be the perfect partner for this podcast.

“We had to be different enough in our opinions on things, but still be able to understand each other’s humour … and so I said ‘Do you want to do a podcast?’” Kelly said.

“I said: ‘You’re crazy,’” Alisha said.

The first Two Humerus Nurses episode was uploaded in October 2020 and saw the hosts set up in Alisha’s living room in their first clumsy attempt with their brand-new microphones, introducing themselves to an audience they did not know was there.

“We just wanted to make nurses laugh … I think some of our earlier episodes are absolutely hilarious — it’s just chaos, but it worked immediately,” Kelly said.

It turns out, at the height of COVID-19, there was no better time for two nurses to start fumbling around with mics and blurting out embarrassing stories about life in a hospital.

The pair said the podcast gained traction early on.

“There were hundreds of listeners within the first few weeks,” Alisha said.

“We hit 10,000 in only a few months, and now we have 280,000 downloads,” Kelly said.

And that’s where it began — the partnership that would span 90 episodes to date, with over 200,000 hours of their voices heard in 57 countries.

With their success, they now live double lives: staying professional in their work at the hospital while also recognised for their success in the “nurse influencer” world.

They have never stated which hospital they work at in case it jeopardises the workplace, but after having been recognised on various occasions, the secret has practically been spilled.

“We have had students on placement, and they recognise us … or we’ve done nursing events where we’ve had ‘KDHS’ on our uniforms — so a lot of people have figured it out,” Alisha said.

“I had a patient come in the other day and said, ‘Is that you’ (pointing to the poster) … she goes ‘You just showed up in my Spotify feed,’” Kelly said.

Kelly said neither of them ever had the desire to be famous, but that hearing stories of how their podcast had helped other nurses deal with their workplace or make light of an often very dark situation had meant the world to both of them.

“Sometimes you don’t know why or what you’re doing, because we’re just doing the podcast in the spare room with the clothes drying in the background,” Kelly said.

“But then you put (the episode) out there, and you get the messages, and just … wow.”

In December 2020, they released an episode called Nursing Your Mental Health where Alisha spoke candidly about her experience with mental health and suicide.

“We had an email from a gentleman who said that we literally save his life because listening to that episode gave him the courage to go and talk to his nurse manager about how he was feeling,” Kelly said.

“He said he probably would have killed himself if he hasn’t gone and got the support that she offered, and that he had the strength to ask.

“I think something like that is enough to make me think — sh*t.”

“We didn’t realise we would actually be impactful — we thought people might just enjoy us,” Alisha said.

But for all the positivity, the podcast has not been without negative reviews.

Kelly said they received a one-star review that said: “I feel like I’m overhearing nurses speaking at the nurses’ station.”

“Alisha printed it out for my birthday, and I have it in a frame in my study,” Kelly said.

The podcast is currently on hiatus (their last episode posted in June) with both women juggling their children, their work lives and their hobbies away from podcast creation.

Recently Alisha was diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, which she said had also impacted the way she scheduled her life, making it harder to pen in a podcast session recently.

“By the end of the day I’m so cooked … scheduling it is just hard and dealing with mental fatigue is difficult ... you don’t want to end up in a cranky mood on the mic,” Alisha said.

“Work was getting really busy … and that’s when we said to each other we should take a break,” Kelly said.

“But, the longer things are calming down, the more I miss it.”

The pair will not have to wait much longer to get back behind the mics — and this time in front of a live audience.

On Friday, September 6, Two Humerus Nurses will host the next EmpowHER event, with a live podcast recording featuring special guests, promising a night of fun and laughter.

They will take to the Kyabram Plaza Theatre stage on the night, with tickets selling fast.

Kelly serves on the committee for EmpowHER, a local initiative dedicated to fostering connections among Kyabram women through engaging events that encourage networking, conversation and mutual empowerment.

For Alisha, who is a thespian at the Echuca-Moama Theatre Company, getting on stage is not hard; for Kelly on the other hand, it’s something she never could have imagined doing.

“If you had asked me 10 years ago if I’d be doing this (I’d say) absolutely not,” Kelly said.

“There’s no way I would put myself in front of a crowd and draw attention to myself, but now, it’s not something I would necessarily seek out to do, but I certainly wouldn’t say no to it.”

“I’m actually terrified to do this event because it is the first time we will put ourselves out here locally,” Alisha said.

“I’m not used to being on stage as myself ... so it’s a bit terrifying, but we’ll see how we go.

“But, to think that what we have to say is so valuable that people are willing pay to hear it, it’s a bit of an achievement.”

To buy tickets to watch Two Humerus Nurses live, visit https://tinyurl.com/EmpowHER-Live-Event

In the lead up to the EmpowHER event you can listen to all 90 episodes of Two Humerus Nurses on Spotify or Apple Music.