5 nurse speakers and authors making a name online

With conferences being postponed, professional development travel a no-no, and scads of potential fans relegated to sheltering in place, what's a nurse with a powerful viewpoint to do?

For noteworthy nurse speakers and authors, that leaves online. And so they've become masters at getting a message across in posts, podcasts, and webinars. Of course, some of these thought leaders have maintained a powerful online presence for many years, while others are newly emphasizing the virtual aspect of their communication abilities. There are literally too many online nurse thought leaders to mention, but here are five nurse speakers and authors making a name for themselves online in 2020.

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Innovation in nursing thought leader Rebecca Love RN, MSN, FIEL

Creds: Love is widely considered a thought leader on innovation in nursing. She serves as a vice president at OptimizeRx, an enterprise platform for digital health communications. She was the first nurse to present on Ted.com. As a volunteer, she is the founder and serves as president of SONSIEL, the Society of Nurse Scientists, Innovators, Entrepreneurs & Leaders. She is keeping pace with the demands of communicating virtually during the pandemic, appearing as a featured expert on Johnson and Johnson's live "Road to a Vaccine" episode in May 2020 and the Amplify Nursing podcast of the University of Pennsylvania Nursing School. She has nearly 10,000 followers on LinkedIn and has exchanged a free flow of ideas there with articles like "Elevating Nurses as Innovative Changemakers Ahead of 2020."

Recently: Love was featured in a March 20, 2020, ABC News Nightline episode, "Communities help collect medical supplies as coronavirus threatens shortages," in her role with SONSIEL. Here's what she had to say: "So many of our peers, the healthcare troops, from the ranks of doctors and nurses and every role on a team, are seriously affected by and at risk due to this dire shortage of protective gear. We cannot lose our healthcare workers to sickness as a result of exposure to this invisible enemy. With all of your help, with the efforts of active and retired nurses, military veterans, tech workers in Silicon Valley, tradespeople in our neighborhoods, shop owners, co-workers, our family and friends, with all of your help, SONSIEL is locating and delivering PPE where it is needed, as fast as we are able, at no cost, until the country's manufacturing and supply chains can adjust to the new PPE production levels demanded in today's war against the virus."

The Inspiration Nurse Donna Cardillo

Creds: Based in Sea Girt, New Jersey, Cardillo is a registered nurse, certified speaking professional, Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, and veteran retreat leader. Her core work revolves around in-person speaking engagements internationally, but she also has an accessible online message with a popular blog and more than 10,000 followers on LinkedIn.

Her clinical background is rich and varied, including stints with emergency and psychiatric nursing. She rounds that out with a background in professional singing and a writing ability that resulted in her being the original Dear Donna columnist at Nurse.com and a published book author. She wrote the indie book "Falling Together: How to Find Balance, Joy, and Meaningful Change When Your Life Seems to Be Falling Apart."

Recently: Cardillo's viewpoint and current outreach are evident on her COVID-related post on her Nurse Power!™ blog, "The Lessons of Scarcity," which takes as its subject paper napkins.

Her May 28, 2020, post on LinkedIn is a shoutout to her nursing colleagues: "Reminder: #Nurses are skilled in problem-solving, organizing, planning, and analyzing. We're detail oriented, innovative, and resourceful. We're both analytical and creative. Give us a job that needs to be done, and we get it done with the time and resources available, regardless of how scarce. And talk about managing multiple priorities — nurses are masters at this." Her next in-person gig is a conference and retreat Empowered Nurse, Enlightened Practice™ at

Canyon Ranch Resort & Spa in Lenox, Massachusetts, this August.

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Career coach, blogger and podcaster Keith Carlson, BSN, RN, NC-BC 

Creds: Based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Carlson has been a nurse since 1996, with roles varying from home health and public health to education. At points in his career he's held positions such as chief nursing officer and director of nursing. Now he also hosts a podcast, The Nurse Keith Show, aimed at giving nurses work-life inspiration and support. He's also the author of successful books including "Aspire to Be Inspired: Creating a Nursing Career That Matters." The pandemic hasn't slowed down the Nurse Keith podcast. Rather, the host is doubling down by issuing more coverage and interviews that focus on nurses versus COVID-19.

Recently: Nurse Keith published a blog post titled "The Profound Meaning of Nurses' Week During a Pandemic: Nurses Show Up" on May 12, 2020. His memorable core message:"What we need at this time in history is 3 million Florence Nightingales on steroids. We need nurse advocates; nurse members of Congress; nurses running for local and state office; nurse journalists; nurse truth-tellers; nurse filmmakers; and nurses willing to be assertive, outspoken, and unafraid to speak their truth."

Renee Thompson, registered nurse and founder of The Healthy Workforce Institute

Creds: Thompson, who also holds a Doctorate of Nursing Practice, is best known as a health care workplace bullying expert. She was tapped as one of the LinkedIn Top Voices in the health care category in 2018, one of 10 "must-follow voices helping to drive the conversation on LinkedIn." Her speaking engagements include keynote at the International Forensic Nurses Conference 2019 and speaker at the 2019 National Nurses in Business conference in Las Vegas. She's author of the e-book "Nurse Bullies and How to Tackle Them Head On" and has nearly 10,000 followers on LinkedIn.

Recently: On May 27, 2020, Thompson shared her article "Reducing Physician Incivility Using Hard Data" on LinkedIn. The Healthy Workforce Institute has also recently created a series of scripts for health care leaders aimed at "8 Ways to Stop Unprofessional Conduct."

Brittney Wilson, aka The Nerdy Nurse blogger and keynote speaker

Creds: The shift to even more reliance on telecommunicating in the age of coronavirus is simpler for Wilson than most. The Nashville-based millennial blogger is also an Informatics RN and the author of "The Nurse's Guide to Blogging" and "The Nerdy Nurse's Guide to Technology."

"When I worked on the floor, I saw that the technology nurses used was frustrating for them and I wanted to fix that, so I started working in informatics where I could make an even bigger difference by improving the lives of nurses, and through them the patients they serve," she told Nurse.org. "I had an opportunity to take it to the next level by joining a company that develops the healthcare workforce and has a presence in around 70% of hospitals. It's a great fit and allows me to use the skills I've learned both in nursing and technology."

She also told Nurse.org she began blogging as a way to cope with residual stress from being bullied as a floor nurse and to help others do the same. Today, the Nerdy Nurse has more than 20,000 followers on Facebook and has been a speaker at conferences nationally and internationally.

Recently: She shared this classic quote on LinkedIn on May 28, 2020: "To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived; that is to have succeeded." --Ralph Waldo Emerson