The Gap: Nursing and PPE, Debate Talk and Best Practices for Debunking Rumors

On this episode of the Gap, Tammy and Althea talk with traveling nurse Anne about a work experience she had at the very beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Anne was fired for refusing to downgrade from an N95 mask to a surgical mask in accordance with CDC guidelines (which were changed shortly thereafter). We explore how that has changed her views of the nursing profession and of the medical field as a whole. 

Then, we talk a bit about the presidential debate that happened this week. While we weren't surprised with the outing, we would tend to agree with Jake Tapper from CNN, who called it a "hot mess wrapped in a dumpster fire, wrapped in a trainwreck."

Finally, we learn about some newsroom best practices for debunking rumors and conspiracy theories and consider how they might factor in to our own lives. There are a lot of potentially fraught political conversations to be had in the next month, so here are some tips.

1. Focus on the facts, and avoid repeating the falsehood if you don't need to
2. Make debunks easy to process -- short, simple and sweet.
3. Avoid ridicule. Frame debunks in a way that is less threatening to a person's worldview.
4. Try to answer questions that the debunk might surface, like if X isn't true, why do people believe it?

Plus, your calls!