Connections

Travel nurses

By Racquel Stephen,

Published August 13, 2025 at 1:56 PM EDT

Five people wearing headphones sit at a table in a radio talk studio: a woman front left has long blonde braids and is wearing glasses, a black t-shirt, turquoise pants and sneakers; a woman front right has short maroon hair and is wearing a white and yellow cap, bright green shirt and pants and sneakers; a woman back left has long blue braids and is wearing a black sleeveless top; a man back right has short grey hair and is wearing glasses, a grey suit jacket, light blue button-down shirt and blue tie; a woman at center has short blonde hair and is wearing a green dress with grey and white stripes and gold strappy heels. — (foreground) Brandy Brumfeld and Shante Hill, (background) Jeri Hayes and Daniel Ireland with host Racquel Stephen on "Connections" on Wednesday, August 13, 2025

A smiling woman with short blonde hair sits at a desk in front of a microphone wearing a gold necklace and green and white patterned dress. — Racquel Stephen guest hosting "Connections with Evan Dawson"

Host Racquel Stephen examines the trend of using travel nurses to fill gaps in health care systems and talks to travel nurses about their experiences.

In studio:

Brandy Brumfeld, RN, BSN, director of nursing for Wesley Gardens
Jeri Hayes, travel nurse
Shante Hill, RN, BSN, travel nurse
Daniel Ireland, executive vice president, chief nursing executive and patient care officer at Rochester Regional Health

Connections

Racquel Stephen

Racquel Stephen is WXXI's health, equity and community reporter and producer. She holds a bachelor's degree in English literature from the University of Rochester and a master's degree in broadcasting and digital journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

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Elissa Orlando

Elissa Orlando is a producer for “Connections with Evan Dawson.” She returns part-time to WXXI News after stepping back from a long career in public media and in translational science.

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Julie Williams

Julie Williams is an associate producer for "Connections with Evan Dawson." She started at WXXI in 2019 and has been working on Connections since 2022.

See stories by Julie Williams