My Nurse Specialty

In this episode of My Nurse Specialty , I talk with Emily Nelson about her role in NSQIP, the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program. Emily shares how she started her career in the OR, moved into quality and safety work, and now leads a remote team of nurses who review surgical data to help hospitals improve outcomes and patient safety. We talk about what this role actually looks like day t...

In this episode of My Nurse Specialty , I talk with Mandy Carlile about her path into operating room nursing and what nurses should know if they are curious about the OR. Mandy shares how she started on med-surg, moved into hospice, and eventually found her place in the operating room, where she has now spent most of her nursing career. We talk about what a circulating nurse does, the pace and str...

In this solo episode of My Nurse Specialty , I talk about one of the biggest questions nurses face: how do you know which specialty is right for you? I share why so many nurses end up in roles by circumstance instead of true fit, and why that uncertainty is not a personal failure, but a predictable part of how nursing careers often begin. I also walk through four practical questions to help you be...

In this episode of My Nurse Specialty , I talk with Jessica Nelson, an ICU nurse and educator with 24 years of experience in critical care. She shares what ICU nursing is really like, what nurses should know before pursuing this path, and why strong support and education matter so much in this specialty. Jessica also talks about the best ways to prepare for ICU, including building experience in st...

In this solo episode of My Nurse Specialty , I talk about one of the most overlooked parts of building a nursing career: networking. Many nurses work hard, gain experience, and still feel stuck when it comes to moving into a new specialty. Often, the difference is not talent or effort. It is relationships. In this episode, I share why networking is not about using people or self-promotion, but abo...

In this episode of My Nurse Specialty , I talk with Nurse Daisy about how she moved from bedside nursing into a full-time remote role as a prior authorization nurse. She shares her path from skilled nursing and emergency nursing into the insurance side of healthcare and how this work-from-home specialty became the right fit for her. We also talk about what this role looks like day to day, what ski...

In this episode of My Nurse Specialty, I talk with Lori Schellenberg about patient advocacy and why this role can be such a natural fit for nurses. Lori shares how her background in bedside nursing, case management, and years of advocating for patients and families led her to build her own advocacy business and mentor nurses who want to move into this work. We also talk about what a nurse advocate...

  In this episode of My Nurse Specialty , I talk with Heather Bohman about her path from NICU nursing to becoming a nurse educator. She shares how her love of patient education, precepting, and teaching led her back to school for her master’s degree and into faculty teaching in a nursing program. We also talk about what nurse educators actually do, from classroom teaching to clinical instruction,...

In this solo episode of My Nurse Specialty , I speak directly to nurses who have been told to “just get experience” but still feel unsure, overwhelmed, or stuck. Because experience matters, but experience alone is not enough when you do not have direction, support, or a strategy for what comes next. I talk about how to look at your experience more intentionally, recognize the skills you have alrea...

In this episode of My Nurse Specialty , I talk with Jaclyn McPheeters about her path into critical care nursing and what it really means to care for patients in the ICU. She shares how a powerful early experience as a CNA led her into this specialty and why critical care requires both technical skill and emotional resilience. We also talk about what ICU nursing looks like day to day, the level of...

In this episode of My Nurse Specialty , I talk with Jessica Smith Dos Santos about her path into emergency nursing and what it really takes to succeed in the ER. Jessica shares how she entered the specialty unexpectedly after another unit closed, and how what started as a default move eventually became a role she grew into and learned to love. She also speaks honestly about how overwhelming the ER...

In this episode of My Nurse Specialty , I talk with Ondrea about her work as a substance use disorder registered nurse and how she found her way into this specialty through mental health nursing. After years in different nursing roles, she discovered that working with patients receiving treatment for substance use disorders became one of the most rewarding paths in her career. Ondrea shares what a...

In this episode of My Nurse Specialty , I talk with Jill Leftwich about her role as a rapid response nurse and the path that led her there. Jill shares how she moved from telemetry step-down to cardiac ICU and eventually into rapid response after learning about an opening through a former coworker. Her story highlights how networking, timing, and experience can all play a role in helping nurses mo...

In this episode of My Nurse Specialty , I talk with Nurse Mari about her journey into NICU nursing and what it really looks like to care for some of the smallest and most vulnerable patients. She shares how she first became interested in working with babies, why she did not get into NICU right away, and how her background in med-surg, adult ICU, and travel nursing helped prepare her for the role s...

Welcome to My Nurse Specialty . After more than 35 years in nursing and working across many different specialties, I’ve seen how easy it is for nurses to believe there are only a handful of career paths available. In nursing school, we are taught how to pass boards and practice safely, but we are not always shown the full range of opportunities this profession offers. I created My Nurse Specialty...