Nursing the System

🎙 Episode Overview Right after watching my team present during a company-wide session, I hit record. I couldn’t help but reflect on how many times I’ve coached others (and myself) through the basics of giving an effective presentation-whether it's on Zoom, in a meeting room, or from a keynote stage. In this episode, I’m sharing the quick, practical mindset shifts and strategies that help presentat...

🎧 Episode Overview: After receiving upward feedback from my team, I tried something a little meta and surprisingly effective. In this episode, I walk you through exactly how I used ChatGPT to synthesize, share, and build on the feedback my team gave me. You’ll hear the full behind-the-scenes on the activity I created, why I think it’s a must-try for leaders, and how it’s already transforming the...

🎧 Episode Overview: This week we’re talking about culture. Not as a vague workplace buzzword, but as something you’re constantly shaping through your behavior, your feedback loops, and your presence. Whether you're a formal leader or not, you're feeding data into your system every single day. This episode is about how to do that more intentionally. 🔑 In This Episode, You’ll Learn: What makes up...

🎧 Episode Overview: Yep, we’re talking about dating today. Stick with me. In this very fun (and surprisingly strategic) episode, I’m walking you through a little experiment my friends and I did this summer: we turned dating into a game. From point systems to profile prep nights to tracking rejection resilience, we gamified the entire experience. And it got me thinking about how any unsavory or te...

🎧 Episode Overview: This week’s episode is part confession, part coaching. I recorded this late at night after one of the roughest work weeks I’ve had in a while. I had planned to read you my most recent System Sunday email… but as I was preparing, I realized I was living through the exact lesson I’d written about. So instead, I’m sharing the email and the messy reality of what happens when we do...

🎧 Episode Overview: Yes, you read that right- we’re talking about Taylor Swift on the podcast today. Specifically: what we can learn from her about systems thinking, leadership, emotional regulation, and culture change. Whether you’re a full-blown Swiftie or just Swiftie-adjacent, this episode is a creative, thoughtful deep dive into five leadership lessons I pulled from her lyrics, interviews, a...

🎧 Episode Overview: If you’re a high-achieving, impact-driven nurse who’s juggling ten different projects and wondering why you still feel stuck or overwhelmed, this episode is for you. Today I’m talking about how ambition (yes, even the well-meaning kind) can quietly sabotage our impact. I’m walking you through the concept of leverage points from systems thinking and how applying this lens to yo...

🎧 Episode Overview: There’s a myth in healthcare that speaking up will get you shut down. And while it’s true that how your voice is received depends on power, politics, and identity...what I’ve seen again and again is this: You don’t get burned for speaking up. You get burned for speaking up without understanding your environment. In this episode, I’m walking you through how to assess your posit...

🎧 Episode Overview: If you’ve ever found yourself paralyzed by indecision, whether it’s about applying for a new job, enrolling in a course, or saying yes to a leadership opportunity—this episode is for you. I created the Aligned Action Audit after several powerful conversations with nurses on the CME waitlist. Many of them weren’t struggling with motivation, they were struggling with decision cl...

🎧 Episode Overview: This episode is a little heavier because I’m talking about something both personal and systemic: how we talk (and think) about big, broken problems like gun violence. I’m walking you through three common myths that hold change makers back—not just around policy, but in our teams, organizations, and careers. These myths come from the broader Nine Change Myths framework I teach...

🎧 Episode Overview: This week’s episode is a peek behind the scenes. I’m walking you through how I’m rethinking the way we run and grow Nursing the System, especially how we launch Change Maker Essentials. It’s part systems lesson, part business reflection, and fully rooted in the idea that iteration is key to sustainability. If you’ve ever wanted to launch something of your own, or if you’re jus...

🎧 Episode Overview: This episode was inspired by a DM I got from a nurse named Jessica, who asked about a topic I don’t hear discussed nearly enough: followership. We talk a lot about leadership in nursing—and for good reason—but we rarely explore what it means to be a great follower. In this episode, I’m diving into how following is actually a critical leadership skill, what it looks like to mov...

🎧 Episode Overview: This episode is a little different. I didn’t plan it. I didn’t prep it. I sat down on my lunch break in the middle of a very real, very messy Tuesday and hit record. Because I was overwhelmed and I remembered that I built a tool inside Changemaker Essentials specifically for moments like this. So I decided to walk myself through the framework I teach for navigating overwhelm a...

🎧 Episode Overview: This week’s episode is inspired by a DM I received from a nursing faculty member who said, “I want to set the nursing world on fire—but I don’t know where to start.” If that resonates with you, you’re not alone. Whether you’re a student, an educator, or a practicing nurse, if you know you want to make change but don’t yet know what your contribution will look like—this episode...

🎧 Episode Overview: We’re back—and not exactly how I imagined. My summer sabbatical didn’t go the way I planned. I got sick, lost energy, and had to put a lot of things on pause. But the time away gave me unexpected clarity. In this episode, I’m reflecting on a post I shared at the start of the yearand I’m revisiting what’s held true, what’s shifted, and how I’m applying (or re-learning) those le...

🎙 We’re Taking a Summer Sabbatical (But Here’s What’s Coming) 🎧 Episode Overview: This is a quick update to let you know what’s happening behind the scenes at Nursing the System and what’s coming your way this fall. After 6 months of showing up every week with new episodes, Taylor and I are taking a short sabbatical to rest, realign, and focus on some exciting projects we’re building for you. In...

🎙 The Cycle of Disempowerment: Why Nurses Stop Speaking Up (and How to Start Again) 🎧 Episode Overview: In this episode, I’m walking you through a pattern I’ve seen over and over again—not just in healthcare, but across all kinds of systems: the cycle of disempowerment. It’s what happens when we bring up ideas or try to push for change, and we keep hearing “no” until we eventually stop speaking u...

🎧 Episode Overview: If you've ever felt like you were handed the keys to a leadership role and left to figure it out on your own—this one's for you. In today’s episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on the making of Nurse Leader HQ , a brand new 6-month mentorship and mastermind for nurse leaders who are done winging it and ready to lead with clarity, strategy, and support. You’ll hear why I built...

🎙 Episode Overview: How I Structure My Week as a Corporate Nurse Leader + Entrepreneur If you are curious how I juggle a corporate leadership role and run Nursing the System, this episode is for you! In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain and walking you through exactly how I structure my week —day by day, hour by hour. This is the behind-the-scenes of how I balance strategic leadership, cl...

Episode Overview: Today’s episode is personal and powerful. After a string of frustrating public encounters in my (usually peaceful!) Dutch city, I started thinking about bullies—and how very present they are in nursing and healthcare. If you’ve ever been bullied, witnessed it, or had to manage someone who bullies others, this episode is for you. We’re talking about: Why bullies act the way they d...

Welcome back! This week we’re diving into something that high achievers (like me and probably you) struggle with: saying no . If you’ve ever found yourself overcommitted, running on empty, or constantly feeling like the "go-to person," this episode is for you. We’re unpacking why we struggle to say no, how to filter what you say yes to, and why setting boundaries isn’t selfish—it’s strategic leade...

Welcome back to the pod! Today’s episode is for nurse leaders who’ve ever felt like they’ve lost themselves in the demands of leadership. Whether you're burning out trying to fill every gap for your team, or you’ve drifted too far from the bedside and feel disconnected from why you started—this is for you. I’m walking you through why this happens and how to get back to yourself, without stepping a...

🎙 Episode Overview: This episode started with a Free Advice Friday question about time management—but the real issue? A much deeper systems problem. I take you through a real-world case study of an ICU nurse floated to an ED observation unit with a 1:7 ratio, and use it as a launch point to unpack the real layers behind “not enough time.” This one’s for the nurses doing their best inside broken sy...

🎙 Episode Overview: In this episode, I’m diving into one of my favorite (and most important) topics: workplace conflict. Whether you’re in healthcare or corporate, conflict is inevitable—and yet most of us never learned how to handle it well. I’ll walk you through a simple framework I use to navigate and coach others through conflict, the hidden trap of triangulation, and how leaders can shift fro...

🎧 Episode Overview Hey friends, welcome back to Nursing the System . Today’s episode is a bit different. Instead of my usual deep dive into leadership frameworks or strategies, I’m sharing something more personal—a real talk moment from my System Sunday email series. This week, I’m reflecting on my worst week at work so far —one where I dropped balls, struggled to communicate clearly, and just di...