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.
