In episode eight of Beyond the Scrubs, we spoke with Dr. Emily Gesner, an IT training specialist in the simulation center and nurse scientist at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.

Dr. Gesner received her master’s degree in nursing informatics from Excelsior College, her doctor of nursing practice degree from Northeastern University, and her PhD degree in nursing with a focus on health policy and population health at the University of Massachusetts-Boston. Her focus of research is reducing documentation burden in nursing. 

In this episode we learn more about Dr. Gesner's journey in nursing, her role as a nurse informaticist and her research on nursing burnout and the impact of documentation burden on nurses.

In the seventh episode of Beyond the Scrubs, we speak with Susan Davis. Susan started her journey in veterinary medicine and then transitioned into nursing. Our conversation centers around the problems she has observed when it comes to cardiac arrest response and resuscitation training. Susan is a nurse entrepreneur who has developed the CodePRep program, which emphasizes hands-on training and early recognition, aiming to improve response times to two minutes or less. The program has quickly gained traction, particularly in radiology and imaging departments, as a tool that provides practitioners with the skills they need to provide basic life support. In today’s episode, Susan shares more about approach to entrepreneurship, the importance of the problem she is solving, and how she plans to leverage technology to scale her innovative solution.

In the sixth episode of Beyond the Scrubs, we sit down with Dr. Douglas Barnaby, an emergency medicine physician, educator, and healthcare innovator with over 25 years of experience. Starting as a philosophy major, he found his way into healthcare through ski patrol and EMT work before pursuing a career in emergency medicine.

Dr. Barnaby shares his work at Northwell Health, where he spearheaded a project to tackle severe hyperglycemia in hospitalized patients. By assembling a multidisciplinary team—including clinicians and data scientists—he helped develop an AI-powered chatbot that cut hyperglycemia rates from 14% to 7-8%, showcasing the power of agile methodologies in real-world healthcare challenges. Beyond clinical innovation, Dr. Barnaby has dedicated his career to bridging the gap between research and implementation, pioneering AI-driven clinical decision-making tools, and mentoring the next generation of medical professionals. As an Associate Professor at the Donald & Barbara Zucker School of Medicine, he has played a key role in integrating AI and predictive analytics into medical education. Now working as a Medical Consultant for the New York Mets, Dr. Barnaby is also exploring ways to enhance medical support for professional athletes and their families. In this episode, he reflects on the intersection of medicine, technology, and patient care, emphasizing the need for continuous feedback, adaptability, and real-world application in healthcare innovation.

In the fifth episode of Beyond the Scrubs, we catch up Frankie Hamilton, an accomplished nursing leader with extensive experience in hospital operations, regulatory compliance, and workforce management. As VP of Nursing Operations, he drives efficiency in nursing practice, enhances patient outcomes, and strengthens interdisciplinary collaboration.

With leadership roles at Mount Sinai Queens, NewYork-Presbyterian, and NYC Health + Hospitals Lincoln, Frankie has overseen staffing, Magnet readiness, and regulatory compliance in complex healthcare settings. As an Adjunct Professor at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, he helps shape the next generation of nurse leaders.

Beyond hospital administration, Frankie serves as an Advisory Board Member for Sepsis Alliance, advocating for patient safety, and as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve, ensuring medical readiness for service members. His expertise in nursing governance, operations, and education makes him a transformative force in healthcare leadership.

In the fourth episode of Beyond the Scrubs, we talk with Noelle Kohles, a seasoned nurse leader who has transitioned into the industry after over 20 years of experience in nursing. Having served as a VP of Nursing, Noelle’s career has focused on enhancing nursing education, workforce stability, and leadership development. Now, she’s applying her vast experience to influence change and innovation within healthcare systems. In this episode, we discuss her insights on leadership, workforce challenges, and the future of nursing in our evolving healthcare landscape.

In the third episode of Beyond the Scrubs, we talk with Sarah Rossetti, an Associate Professor of Biomedical Informatics and Nursing at Columbia University. Sarah is a principal investigator at the “Optimizing with Applied Clinical Informatics Models and Methods” lab, which uses informatics to advance healthcare delivery and outcomes for individuals and communities. Sarah is known for her work leading CONCERN, which stands for Communicating Narrative Concerns Entered by RNs. The CONCERN system is an expert-knowledge, machine learning, predictive model that produces an early warning score and is implemented as clinical decision support to alert nurses and physicians about hospitalized patients who are at risk of decompensation. Early results from a multisite clinical trial indicate that CONCERN can identify patients’ deterioration risk up to 42 hours earlier than other EWSs.

In episode two of Beyond the Scrubs, we talk with Maia Routly — a RN and the Strong4Life Program Manager at the Center for Advanced Pediatrics at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta — about her passion for nursing, how the field has evolved over the years, and what she envisions for the future of nursing.

In our first episode of Beyond the Scrubs we take a deep dive into nursing - both its challenges and rewards - with Mindy Stites, a CNS at The University of Kansas Medical Center.