My Nurse Specialty
A podcast for nurses who want to explore the many specialties and career paths within nursing.
Nursing school teaches us how to be nurses, but when it comes to careers, most of us are only introduced to a handful of specialties, often based on chance conversations or limited clinical experiences. Beyond that, we are expected to figure the rest out on our own. That is often where uncertainty about what comes next begins.
Whether you’re a nurse, nursing student, or aspiring nurse, this podcast exists to expand that awareness. In each episode, you’ll explore nursing specialties some familiar and some you may not even know exist through real stories and insight that help you better understand what may be possible for you at any stage of your career.
We talk with real nurses who share their stories, their specialties, and the paths they took to get there.
Real nurses. Real stories. Real possibilities.
Episodes
26 episodes
Ep 26: What Work-Life Balance Really Means for Nurses
In this solo episode of My Nurse Specialty, I talk about work-life balance and why it does not look the same for every nurse.For one nurse, balance may mean three 12-hour shifts and four days off. For another, it may mean Monday...
Ep 25: Where Nursing and Yoga Therapy Meet with Eva ZobianWolf
In this episode of My Nurse Specialty, I talk with Eva ZobianWolf about how she combined her nursing background with yoga therapy to create a very different kind of career.Eva shares how her own experience as an ICU nurse led he...
Ep 24: From ER Nurse to Staffing Agency Owner with Karen O'Donnell
In this episode of My Nurse Specialty, I talk with Karen O'Donnell about her journey from emergency nursing into entrepreneurship and what it took to build her own nurse staffing agency.Karen shares how her career moved from onc...
Ep 23: Building a Flexible Nursing Career with Sandy Guadan
In this episode of My Nurse Specialty, I talk with Sandy Guadan about building a nursing career around your life instead of forcing your life around one job.Sandy shares how she combines several flexible nursing roles, including...
Ep 22: Remote Nursing and Utilization Management with Philip Layog
In this episode of My Nurse Specialty, I talk with Philip Layog about utilization management and what it really looks like to work from home as a nurse.Philip shares how he transitioned from more than 10 years of bedside nursing...
Ep 21: The Nursing Career You Probably Didn’t Know Existed: Nurse Scientist with Danielle Sarik
In this episode of My Nurse Specialty, I talk with Dr. Danielle Altares Sarik about the role of a clinically based nurse scientist and how nurses can build careers that combine clinical expertise, research, policy, and systems improvem...
Ep 20: Inside the World of Medical Sales for Nurses with Jeannie Nguyen
In this episode of My Nurse Specialty, I talk with Jeannie Nguyen about medical sales and how nurses can use their clinical experience in a completely different way.Jeannie shares how she transitioned from bedside nursing into t...
Ep 19: Nurse Coaching: A Different Way to Use Your RN with Mary Turner
In this episode of My Nurse Specialty, I talk with Mary Turner about nurse coaching and the many directions this growing specialty can take. Mary is a board-certified nurse coach, business coach, and founder of CoachRN, where she helps...
Ep 18: Make Your Next Nursing Career Move a SMART One
In this episode of My Nurse Specialty, I introduce the SMART Move Framework, a practical five-step process to help nurses make more intentional career decisions.Whether you are choosing your first specialty, questioning your cur...
Ep 17: School Nursing: Where Healthcare Meets Education with Carla Martin
In this episode of My Nurse Specialty, I talk with Carla Martin about the depth and complexity of school nursing. After 23 years in the specialty, Carla shares what school nurses really do—from managing chronic conditions and medical p...
Ep 16: What It Really Takes to Become a Flight Nurse with Stephanie Suzadail
In this episode of My Nurse Specialty, I talk with Stephanie Suzadail about her path into flight nursing and what nurses should know if they are curious about emergency and transport medicine. Stephanie shares how she started in EMS, b...
Ep 15: Behind the Data: A Nursing Role in Surgical Quality with Emily Nelson
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 ...
Ep 14: More Than the Floor: Inside OR Nursing with Mandy Carlile
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...
Ep 13: How to Find the Right Nursing Specialty
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 wh...
Ep 12: The Reality of Critical Care Nursing with Jessica Nelson
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, a...
Ep 11: Why Networking Matters in Nursing
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 s...
Ep 10: Remote Nursing Jobs: What a Prior Authorization Nurse Does
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 th...
Ep 9: Helping Patients Navigate Healthcare: The Nurse Advocate Role with Lori Schellenberg
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 ...
Ep 8: The Heart of Nurse Education with Heather Bohman
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...
Ep 7: What Nurses Need Beyond Experience
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...
Ep 6: When Every Second Counts: A Nurse’s Life in Critical Care with Jaclyn McPheeters
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 t...
Ep 5: Emergency Nursing Explained with Jessica Smith Dos Santos
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 un...
Ep 4: A Closer Look at Substance Use Disorder Nursing with Ondrea
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, ...
Ep 3: Inside the Rapid Response Nurse Role with Jill Leftwich
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 resp...
Ep. 2: NICU Nursing with Nurse Mari: What This Specialty Is Really Like
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 i...