Nurse Rosa's INsights

Recorded live at Magnet 2026 in Chicago.

Nurses are being asked to adopt AI, carry heavier workloads, and stay safe at work, often without a say in any of it. In this episode of Nurse Rosa’s INsights, I sit down with Dr. Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, president of the American Nurses Association, to talk about what it really takes for nurses to shape the decisions that shape our practice.

Jennifer opens up about her TIME100 recognition and why advocating for advanced practice nurses mattered so much to her. We get into why voting is one of the most practical forms of nursing advocacy, ANA’s push on workplace violence prevention (including better incident tracking and OSHA involvement), and the fight for more than $300 million a year in Title VIII nursing workforce funding, compared with the $20 billion plus that goes to graduate medical education.

Then we turn to AI. Jennifer explains why AI can support nursing work but should never replace clinical judgment, and shares the Oregon legislation she helped shape with nurse Representative Travis Nelson to keep non-human AI agents from using the RN or LPN title. We close on nurse-led innovation and why protecting your ideas and intellectual property needs to happen early, not after someone else profits from them.

If you’re a nurse, a nurse leader, or you build or invest in healthcare technology, this one’s for you.

Timestamps

00:00 Rosa Hart welcomes ANA president Jennifer Mensik Kennedy02:36 Nursing advocacy, elections, and federal priorities

04:40 The fight for Title VIII nursing education funding

05:49 Why nurses belong in local and state advocacy

09:09 AI needs nurses’ voices, not just their labor

10:46 Oregon moves to protect RN and LPN titles from AI

11:37 Keeping clinical judgment central to healthcare AI

12:18 Nurse-led innovation and protecting intellectual property

14:34 Seeking federal and state protections early

14:54 Closing from MagnetKey takeawaysVoting is advocacy, and nurses can move policy at the local, state, and federal level.Workplace violence can’t be fixed if it isn’t tracked accurately.

Nursing education funding is a fraction of what medical education receives.

AI can support nursing work, but it can’t hold a nursing license or replace clinical judgment.

Nurses should be in the room for technology selection, governance, training review, and escalation pathways.Your ideas have value. Protect them early.

About Dr. Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, is the 38th president of the American Nurses Association, representing the nation’s nurses on policy, practice, and workforce issues. She was recognized by TIME in 2026 for her advocacy, particularly on behalf of advanced practice nurses.

Connect with Jennifer Mensik Kennedy on LinkedIn

American Nurses Association: nursingworld.org

Resources mentioned:ANA innovation resources: nursingworld.orgTitle VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs

ANCC Magnet & Pathway Conference: magnetpathwaycon.nursingworld.orgAbout your hostRosa Hart, BSN, RN, SCRN, FLAA, is a nurse, speaker, podcaster, and author of Speak Up, Start Now, available on Audible and Kindle.

Follow along @NurseRosaSpeaks

Should AI ever be allowed to call itself a nurse? Tell us in the comments, and share this episode with a nurse who needs a reminder that their voice matters.

Recorded live at the ANCC Magnet & Pathway Conference 2026 in Chicago, hear from Angela Beddoe, CEO of the American Nurses Enterprise, and Corenza Townsend, LPN and Chief Administrative Officer of Norton West Louisville Hospital.

Angela shares conference highlights, and describes the vote to bring LPNs and LVNs into the American Nurses Association, an equity issue members have discussed for nearly a decade.

Corenza has a clear message for LPNs: a nurse is a nurse is a nurse, and the door’s wide open. She also shares how speaking up helped lead to a hospital being built in West Louisville.

A reminder that leadership is about action; it isn’t about titles or the letters after your name. Every nurse’s voice matters.

Timestamps

0:00 Welcome, live from Magnet & Pathway

0:43 Day-one highlights

1:41 What LPNs should look for next year

2:05 “A nurse is a nurse is a nurse”

2:50 The vote to bring LPNs and LVNs into the ANA

3:19 What’s next in 2027

3:52 Speaking up and building a hospital

4:33 Why your voice matters

About the host

Rosa Hart, BSN, RN, SCRN, FLAA, is a nurse, speaker, podcaster, and author of Speak Up, Start Now, available on Audible & Kindle.

Follow @NurseRosaSpeaks

Recorded LIVE in Chicago, hear from Bradley Goettl, CNO of the American Nurses Enterprise, and Sarah Gray, Senior Vice President of Nursing Impact at the ANA. They discuss the newly released fifth edition of the Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice.

Learn what changed, why it matters for the profession, and how the new AI guidance keeps clinical judgment with nurses.

Timestamps:

0:10: Welcome and introductions. Bradley Goettl (CNO, ANA) and Sarah Gray (SVP of Nursing Impact, ANA) join Rosa after speaking on stage about the new scope and standards.

0:39: What's new? The document was not rewritten from the ground up. It is reviewed every five years through a rigorous process of about 48 months. Two additions: innovation and AI.

1:50: Is nursing a profession? This is the fifth edition. It is the foundational description of the profession, grounded in science and evidence, and it came out alongside the push to recognize advanced practice nursing as an advanced practice degree.

2:51: Who does it cover? It is the foundational RN document and applies to every RN, including advanced practice nurses. LPNs/LVNs are not part of it yet. The membership assembly decided in 2026 to include them in ANA membership, so they are being considered for the future.

4:07: "Written by nurses, made for nurses." Nurses define nursing practice, and the profession is self-governing.

4:27: Innovation. Nurses are natural innovators. The new section covers the process of innovation and critical problem-solving, not just workarounds.

5:11: AI in the document. The section is brief by design. Nurses remain in charge of clinical judgment and safe care.

6:12: Keeping pace with AI. Public comment recently opened on ethical principles for AI.

6:40: Accountability. If AI makes the decision, should the nurse's license be on the line? The guests discuss accountability when a nurse confirms or agrees, and "see something, say something."

7:30: AI can reduce cognitive burden and spot trends, but personal judgment is the human part of nursing.

8:04: A quote from page 81. AI-enabled information is "one input" into professional decision-making and should be treated as supportive information, not final authority.

8:55: Governance and licensure support. ANA will keep developing guidance beyond a document with a five-year shelf life.

9:15: Where the guidance helps most. It helps nurses take part in hospital AI policy conversations, with a focus on prevention rather than legal protection.

9:49: ANA's AI think tank brought together industry leaders, nursing and technology experts, across generations and geographies. It is producing tools for nurses, leaders and policymakers.

10:33: Policy advocacy and lobbying on AI.

11:00: State-level conversations. State nursing associations can use the guidelines with legislatures. ANA's government affairs team works with the constituent and state nursing associations.

12:00: How to get it. It is available as a paper book (smaller than past editions) and as an e-copy.

12:44: Not meant to be memorized. Treat it like a drug reference book. Most content is familiar from nursing education, and leaders should know it to support their staff.

13:29: Thanks and sign-off.

The fifth edition adds innovation and AI.

It is the foundational RN document, and it applies to all RNs regardless of specialty or role.

AI is supportive information, not final authority. Clinical judgment stays with the nurse.

It is available in print and as an e-copy.

About your host Rosa Hart, BSN, RN, SCRN, FLAA, is a nurse, speaker, podcaster, and author of "Speak Up, Start Now", available on Audible & Kindle.

Follow along @NurseRosaSpeaks

Healthcare is changing fast, and nurses need a seat at the table where AI decisions get made. In this episode, hear from Rich Kenny, Vice President of AI and Digital Health Programs at the American Nurses Association, to talk about what it really means for nurses to be “AI ready.”

Rich started his career as a flight nurse and now leads ANA’s work on artificial intelligence. With a $5 million grant from the Johnson & Johnson Foundation and Google.org, his team is setting out to train 250,000 nurses in AI literacy, with a focus on nurses in underserved and rural communities. As Rich puts it, there’s no other profession whose voice is needed more right now in shaping these technologies.

We talk about why AI readiness is less about knowing everything and more about curiosity and the confidence to ask questions, why designing for nurses in rural and under-resourced settings lifts the whole profession, and how nurses can keep compassion, advocacy, and connection at the center of care as technology evolves.

Whether you’re a bedside nurse, a nurse leader, or a healthtech founder building tools for clinicians, this conversation is for you. And stay tuned for more coverage from the Magnet Conference in Chicago.

Timestamps

0:00 Rich Kenny’s new AI and digital health leadership role

1:32 The $5 million, three-year AI literacy grant

3:17 From flight nursing to informatics and AI

5:47 A goal to train 250,000 nurses

7:12 AI fluency means confidence to ask questions

8:23 Why AI readiness may mean staying curious

10:32 Nursing experience with ambiguity can inform AI

11:46 Why nursing voices must protect the human element

Connect with Rich Kenny on LinkedIn

American Nurses Association: nursingworld.org

About Your Host

Rosa Hart, BSN, RN, SCRN, FLAA, is a former Neuro ICU nurse and stroke nurse navigator, podcast host, speaker, and author of Speak Up, Start Now. Nurse Rosa’s INsights brings you conversations with the nurses, leaders, and innovators changing how healthcare works.

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Recorded live at the ANCC Magnet & Pathway Conference 2026 in Chicago.

Most people still picture nurses as the ones carrying out the doctor’s orders. Dr. Katie Boston-Leary has spent about 33 years proving that picture wrong. In this episode of Nurse Rosa’s INsights, I sit down with Katie, a former chief nursing officer and now Senior Vice President of Equity and Engagement at the American Nurses Enterprise, right in the middle of the Magnet buzz.

We get into what the public misses about nursing, why you’re still a nurse after you leave the bedside, and why technology keeps missing the mark when nurses aren’t in the room where it’s designed. Katie calls the EHR nursing’s biggest broken promise, and we talk honestly about systems that end up taking nurses away from patients and the moral stress that comes with it. We also cover AI, and why nurses should help shape it rather than push it away.

Then it gets personal. Katie shares what happened when she pushed back as a nurse leader, including with a physician CEO, and why she’d do it again even when she didn’t win. Her take: not every story has to be a success story to be worth telling, and not everything is a microwave situation.

Whether you’re a bedside nurse, a nurse leader, a health tech founder, or someone who builds the tools nurses use every day, this conversation is for you.

Timestamps

0:16 Welcome, live from the Magnet conference

1:04 Katie’s journey, from CNO to senior VP

3:24 Closing resource gaps so nurses can be their best

4:26 Next-gen nurses and Katie’s advocacy

5:14 What the public gets wrong about nurses

6:48 “Not a nurse anymore?” Rosa’s leap from her W-2 job

7:35 Leaving the bedside and being a nurse wherever you work

9:30 Why tech and innovation miss the mark without nurses

10:45 The EHR, nursing’s biggest broken promise

12:44 Less time with patients and the moral stress that follows

13:11 AI and nursing: design it, don’t reject it

14:07 Stepping into rooms where nurses weren’t invited

14:33 Speaking up as a nurse leader

15:21 Root cause analyses and follow-up work that lands on nurses

16:38 Lab results, “nagging and flagging,” and med reconciliation

18:12 Pushing back when the CEO is a physician

19:40 Speaking up when you don’t get the outcome you want

20:18 Agency, integrity, and stories that aren’t success stories

21:01 “Even if I lose this battle, I will be back”

23:09 Persistence in innovation: not everything is a microwave situation

23:18 What teams want from leaders: remove the boulders

24:03 Closing and an invitation to next year’s conference

Key takeaways

Nurses are far more than task doers; healthcare roles depend on each other.

Technology fails when nurses aren’t part of designing it.

Speaking up and staying persistent are part of leadership, even when you don’t win.

A nurse is a nurse wherever they practice.

About Dr. Katie Boston-Leary

Katie Boston-Leary has been a nurse for about 33 years and is a former chief nursing officer. She joined the American Nurses Enterprise in 2020 and rose from director to Senior Vice President of Equity and Engagement, where her focus is closing resource gaps so nurses can do their best work and building the strongest nursing workforce possible.

Connect with Katie

Katie Boston-Leary on LinkedIn
American Nurses Association: nursingworld.org

Resources mentioned

ANCC Magnet & Pathway Conference: magnetpathwaycon.nursingworld.org

About your host

Rosa Hart, BSN, RN, SCRN, FLAA, is a nurse, speaker, podcaster, and author of Speak Up, Start Now, available at nurserosaspeaks.shop and on Amazon. Follow along @NurseRosaSpeaks

When did YOU speak up, even if it didn’t go your way? Tell us in the comments, and share this episode with a nurse who needs to hear it.