Nick Chmielewski speaks with Alan Vierling, DNP, RN, CENP, a former administrator at Alaska Native Medical Center, the referral center for Alaska Native and American Indian people living in Alaska. They discuss leadership approaches when working with vulnerable patient populations, including listening to patients and understanding environmental impacts—in this case, food insecurity.

Nick Chmielewski speaks with Kory Scheideman, BSN, RN, CEN, CPEN, TCRN, FAEN, clinical nurse manager of UCHealth’s Harmony Freestanding Emergency Department. They discuss the incidence and prevalence of opiate use disorder, as well as key attributes of successful medication-assisted treatment programs.

In this episode, Nick Chmielewski speaks with Jeff Leibach, a managing director and leader of BRG's Revenue Strategy Services team. They dive into the fundamentals of managed care, including revenue strategy, charge capture, volume and patient mix, and questions to consider when evaluating your facility departments.

In this episode, Nick Chmielewski welcomes back Lisa Wolf, PhD, RN, CEN, FAEN, FAAN, a tenured professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. They discuss her recently published study on “Medical-Legal Communication Among Emergency Nurses in States With Abortion Bans” in the Journal of Nursing Administration. The study focused on how emergency nurses receive and share information about practice concerns related to abortion bans.

In this episode, Nick Chmielewski speaks with Anna Valdez, PhD, RN, FAEN, FAADN, professor and chair of nursing at Sonoma State University and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Emergency Nursing. They discuss executive essentials in promoting peer-reviewed publications, focusing on strategies for leaders in nonacademic medical centers. Dr. Valdez notes that utilizing writing accountability groups, leveraging mentors and nursing staff, and creating team incentives are effective ways to begin the publication process.

Nick Chmielewski speaks with Jennifer Johnson, BSCN, RN, author of books including Nursing Intuition: How to Trust Your Gut, Save Your Sanity, and Survive Your Career. They discuss the importance of nurses connecting with their intuition—an essential tool for managing the high stress of the job, protecting mental health, and enhancing patient care.

In this episode, Nick Chmielewski speaks with David Wildebrandt, a partner and managing director at BRG. They discuss key findings from BRG’s recent 2025 US Healthcare & Life Sciences Transactions Outlook report, including transactional evolution and industry disruptors.

Nick Chmielewski speaks with Caroline Segovia-Marquez, MBA, BSN, RN, ACM, CMAC, a managing consultant on BRG’s Care Transitions team. They discuss how targeting lower case mix index (CMI) diagnostic-related groups (DRGs) can be effective to improve length of stay. Prior to admission, the team must manage all points of entry to ensure that patients are admitted appropriately and assigned the correct status.

In this Nurse’s Week episode, Nick Chmielewski welcomes back Katie Boston-Leary, PhD, MBA, MHA, RN, NEA-BC, senior vice president of Equity and Engagement at the American Nurses Association (ANA). They discuss ANA’s recently released document regarding the principles of virtual nursing—meaning leveraging technology and tools, including artificial intelligence, to deliver quality care through communication and collaboration across the continuum of care.

Nick Chmielewski speaks with Kamela Kolander, LMSW, CCM, a consultant on BRG’s Care Transitions team. They discuss how targeting specific care units prior to providing care can be an effective strategy to reduce length of stay by considering patient data, facility and patient demographics, payer and provider mix, and potential unit barriers.