Nurse News: Nursing AI Watch, Financial Security for Nurses, and $15K Well-Being Grants

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Welcome to Club Nurse. I'm Colton Lord, your host. By you being here today, it shows me that you are someone who wants to learn, grow, laugh, Connect and just let your emotions flow. We are here to share real stories and hear real life experiences from real people. You are not alone in this, and Club Nurse is here to show you that. Don't forget to follow the show and share today's episode with someone you love. Now let's dive into today's conversation.

Hello everybody. Welcome back to the Club Nurse Podcast. My name is Colton Lord. I am your host. And today we are going to dive into some more nurse news. Um, that is the focus of the Club Nurse Podcast. Is really trying to understand more of the things, the current events happening in healthcare and specifically in nursing. I think knowledge is power. Information is power. It's good to be in the know. I have said this before. If it feels too heavy, if it's too much, if you already have enough going on in your life, girl, you don't have to listen because it's a lot. I understand. I mean, any news headline is going to have some negativity because that's why it's a headline. There are some good things. And some positive things that happen as well. But the things that people focus on is just, it's a lot of negativity. And I know that there's a lot going on in the world already, but I am here to provide you with information, knowledge. All of the information that I get comes directly from the nurse.org website. So if you are looking for more in-depth information, if you're wanting to get into the nitty-gritty of these stories that I talk about, you can always go to nurse.org/news. All of the articles are there with links And references to where nurse.org is getting their information from. And yeah, so if you'd like to know more, go to nurse.org/news. So we have a few things to cover today. First of all, can I just start off by saying, okay, this is so off topic and nothing to do with nursing, but I moved to Los Angeles, okay, this year, the beginning of this year. Girl, I'm from Arizona. Okay, I know heat. I can handle the heat. But the thing about Arizona is you have air conditioning everywhere. When I signed a lease here in Los Angeles, in the Los Angeles area, I didn't even think twice to look for AC because I just thought everywhere came with air conditioning and it does not. And on top of that, the windows that I have are called jalousie windows, if you've ever heard of those before. So portable air conditioning is really difficult. I was able to, with the assistance, not on my own, By any means, conjure up a portable air conditioner that was— is able to function in my room so I can at least sleep. Girl, my apartment has been up to like 83, 84 degrees, and it'll stay there because it's just like a little hot box. So today we are grateful. We are grateful for air conditioning. I have, I have learned in times of hardship, in times of stress, go to gratitude. And I'm grateful for air conditioning today. Although right now I am a little bit Hot. I'm a little bit sweating because to record this podcast, I've turned off all the fans. So I'm doing that for you. I am sweating for you. Just kidding. But really, let's kind of dive into the nurse news for this week. So a judge has ruled that a hospital must face a wrongful death suit over nurse killed in a parking lot. So this is a developing story. I have, I believe I have actually touched on this in one of my previous nurse news because I think this happened, yes, on May 12th, 2026. And this update is to let you know that on July 13th, a judge has denied the hospital's motion to dismiss itself from the case, rejecting the hospital's argument that workers' compensation was the family's only legal remedy. The civil case now moves forward against all 3 defendants. So what had happened was there was a nurse in Tuscaloosa. If you don't remember, let me refresh your memory. If you've never heard the story, let me enlighten you. A nurse— it's a very sad story— a nurse, Ada Doss, Uh, it was a, it's a 27-year-old nurse and case manager at DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, was shot and killed during an attempted robbery in the hospital's south parking lot on May 12th, 2026, as she walked to her car at shift change. A suspect, Matthew James Taylor, has been indicted on capital murder. So basically, um, Dossa's husband filed a wrongful death lawsuit against DCH. its contracted security firm, and Taylor, the alleged murderer, alleging security failures allowed an armed man in a mental health crisis to roam the campus for hours before the shooting. And so again, the update on this is that a judge has denied the hospital's motion to dismiss itself from the case. So they are still part of the case, and now the civil case will move forward against all 3 defendants, being the hospital, the security firm, and the alleged murderer, Mr. Taylor. Matthew James Taylor. So that's just an update there. So sad for this family. Healthcare violence is, I don't even know, off the charts, out of this world, especially for nurses. That's that one. That's sad. It's always hard when we hear anything really negative in our community, but especially when it comes at the cost of somebody's life. It's really, really difficult to digest and take that in. Okay, on to the next headline. So nurses can now apply for a $15,000 grant to fund well-being at rural hospitals. So this article is talking about how the American Nurses Foundation has opened applications for 8 different $15,000 microgrants to fund nurse peer and leadership support at rural healthcare sites backed by the Covista Foundation. And this article is really just talking about how rural nurses work with fewer resources, less support versus their urban peers. And this just is supposed to offer them a little bit more assistance. And this is so true. Rural nurses are the unsung heroes of healthcare. They are expected to do the same job as any other nurse holding the same nursing license, at these huge university hospitals or huge inner city trauma centers with resources. And in my nursing career, that has been something that I've looked for most of my— really any job I've gotten is, does this place have resources? Because it's true. I mean, with my travel nursing and my experience, when I have worked with nurses who come from a rural community, you can't touch those nurses, man. They know exactly what They could go above and beyond, run circles around all of us because they have to. They've had to survive that way. They're so resourceful. They're so smart. They've had to make do with saving lives and giving patient care with so little that when they get to these places that have all these resources and all this help, it's like, okay, whatever, sure. I could do laps around you. So this is great. I love that there is a way for them to get some money and to get them some more resources that they deserve. I've worked at one community hospital in my life and it wasn't even somewhere I'd call rural. It was literally a suburb of Boston, but just it being a smaller community hospital, you can tell the lack of resources. And I don't know, the nurses, they're just— I don't want to say built different, but they kind of are built different. So yeah, I love this. That's a little bit of a positive. Oh, we have another positive headline. Nurses can now be named Times Healthcare Champion of the Year thanks to Johnson Johnson. So yeah. Time and Johnson Johnson have launched a new Healthcare Champion of the Year award for U.S. healthcare professionals, with nurses eligible to be nominated. The award spotlights frontline impact through grit, innovation, and patient care, giving clinicians at every career stage a national platform. Nominations are open through August 28th of this year, 2026, and the honoree will be announced ahead of Time's A Year in Time celebration in December. This is the part that I loved about this, is that eligible nominees include physicians, nurses, advanced practice clinicians, surgeons, community health workers, care coordinators, patient navigators, and other healthcare professionals actively involved in clinical care or delivery in the United States. Which I love because as much as I love— hello, I love all the nurses in the creator space— but I love that this is going to highlight somebody who is still hands in the fire on the grounds, taking care of patients and in clinical work. I think that that's great to recognize anybody. And What Johnson Johnson is saying is that the award extends its longstanding focus on the nursing workforce. Healthcare professionals bring skill, compassion, and resolve to some of the most important moments in people's lives. This is a quote from Vanessa Broadhurst, Executive Vice President, Global Corporate Affairs at Johnson Johnson. With the Healthcare Champion of the Year Award, we proudly recognize those whose compassion, innovation, and grit are transforming patient care today and building a healthier tomorrow. So the article goes on to recognize that nurses are frequently the largest group of any care team, but are often the least publicly recognized. An award that names nurses alongside physicians and surgeons as eligible for a national level of recognition, and that judges impact by grit and patient care rather than title or credential, is a meaningful sign for the profession. So I do love this, and I'm excited to see what nurse out there gets to be named Times Healthcare Champion of the Year. That's Super exciting. Can't wait to, can't wait to see how this unfolds.

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All right, so next we're going to talk about AI. I know, eye roll, eye roll, eye roll. Let me just preface this. When AI, I, I, I don't, I hate to say like when it first came out, 'cause I know it's been around, but as it was, you know, starting to surface and there was all this talk around AI, um, I've had conversations with people who work at Microsoft and who are kind of championing the AI world. And I don't know, my mindset has changed a little bit. My outlook has changed. Um, I'm gonna offer up a little bit of my own opinions. This is my own. This is not, not related to nurse.org. This is just my own opinion. Uh, I really think that, uh, we should Pump the brakes on AI. And that's just my personal opinion after seeing the way it's damaging, um, our Earth and our water supply. And just, I don't know, I think that the negatives really do outweigh the pros. I understand the, the thought of efficiency and, um, helping provide more resources. And like, I can understand that there is a positive to it. I just feel like we don't need it. And I don't know, I think especially in healthcare, it just creates a big, big question mark, as it does for the world. But with healthcare specifically, it's just a big question mark on like, what do we do when AI does something that brings harm to a patient, whether that just be through any kind of error, mistake? I don't know. It's just, I don't love it. And again, when it comes to like the environmental impact, I just think that we're doing more harm than good. To be quite honest with you. But Nurse.org's Nursing AI Watch has identified 127 AI deployments across 106 health systems, and the footprint is growing. The market is concentrated. At least 68 of those deployments trace to just 2 vendors based on what's publicly documented. Safety is the live concern. And that's what I'm saying. Independent research has flagged AI documentation errors and bias, and the nurse's signature still stays on the chart. And I don't like that. That's what I'm— that's what I'm talking about with these ambient documentation systems is it's short, it's listening to you, you're having this huge conversation with the patient, it's documenting and it's making your job more efficient, which I understand that. But then you're expected to then sign off on that while you're reviewing it. I'm putting that in quotes. That takes time and you're signing off on it and then now your name's attached to that. And I just, I don't know, I have an issue with it. I think, I think that, you know, Maybe there's some information that I'm missing. And obviously this is kind of developing and gonna be going into, you know, into more systems. But I just, I just don't know. I just, I think I can understand now more than I did before why a lot of nurses and a lot of people are like, no thank you, AI. Like, we don't need you, we don't want you. I can now understand that a little bit better because I'm starting to kind of go more on that side. Whereas before I was like, oh, welcome it, I'm not scared of it. We can't do anything. People were scared of the internet too. Those are all the things that I was hearing and kind of saying. And now I'm, I'm maybe more towards the, I don't know why we're doing this. Again, my opinion. Nurses are starting to win a say through contracts. 7 systems now have ratified union language addressing AI, though our research shows most AI decisions are still being made without nurse input, which is true. Oversight lags adoption of 106 systems deploying AI, at least 26 have a named governance body, and we could confirm a named nurse leader publicly shaping AI governance in only 6. So again, a lot of nurses are not being involved, as in most things. They make these policies, they make these changes, and they don't even ask the nurses. They just go and do it. And that's just the name of the game. It's a tale as old as time. And on top of this, I'm not going to go deep into this article, but let's just piggyback this onto what we were just talking about since it's AI related, is nurses have waited a century for billing codes and AI may get them first. And really what the importance behind this and someone who could explain this much better than me is Rebecca Love. Go find her on LinkedIn. She posts so much great information and she's brilliant. But in her quote, Rebecca Love, if the AMA can build an entirely new billing category for AI, it can build one for nursing because that's what's happening is they are starting to build billing codes for AI, which is a big deal. For decades, health systems have been told nursing work is too complex to unbundle nurses from the room rate and bill. However, Because if you didn't know, that's what they do. They bundle up nursing into the room fee. And basically nursing is just a cost. That's why getting a raise, yada, yada, yada, is so hard. From my understanding is because we're just bundled into this little fee and we're more of a cost versus billing, which they bill for so many other things. Again, I'm not the best person to explain that in depth. However, the very process used to develop AI's CMAA codes allows us to develop a CMAA equivalent for nursing. We must act now, for if we don't, AI will be reimbursed for the very work nursing has long done but was never able to bill for. AI will become a revenue stream, and the implications will be devastating to nursing. Again, I encourage you, if you want more information on that, to go to nurse.org/news, find this article, find information from Rebecca Love. She's really the most— like, from my experience, from what I consume, she knows this information. She's very smart, knows how to speak about this more than I would. But if you want more about this topic, go to nurse.org/news, find the article that says nurses have waited a century for billing codes. AI may get them first. All right. And to round out this week of nurse news, I wanted to give you a little resource that nurse.org is putting together to help you with your money, with your finances, because you know what? I mean, people in general, but a lot of nurses don't have maybe the best financial habits. And that's just because, I don't know, we work differently. We're not a money through Friday job, it's like, oh, I'll just pick up an extra shift. I'll pick up some more hours and it'll cover that. Like, that's how I've functioned a lot of my life because I was working restaurants as a server and then as a nurse. So that's just— I've always been like, oh, I'll pick up a shift, you know, it'll be fine. But Nurse.org has a new resource center, Financial Security for Nurses, which brings together expert explainers, original state-by-state research, and free interactive tools on what happens to a nurse's paycheck when work stops. The gaps are real. No state's workers' comp— Which this is true, and I didn't really ever think about it this way. And I've never had to use it. I should knock on wood, but no state's workers' comp fully replaces a nurse's income. Employer disability plans typically cover only 50 to 70% of pay, and FMLA protects your job but not your paycheck. Even if nothing feels urgent today, a 2-minute quiz or bookmark beats scrambling for answers after an injury, illness, or gap between contracts. So again, this is Your Paycheck Needs a Care Plan, a new financial security resource for nurses. On the nurse.org website. So what you'll find is answers or resources to questions like, what if I get hurt or sick and can't work? What if something threatens my license? What if my family depends on my income? What if I travel, I'm PRN, or I'm a 1099 employee? How do I build long-term security? So it talks about things like retirement planning and self-directed saving, protecting your income. I think this is really great. There are quizzes like a missed paycheck Can you afford to miss a paycheck? Which I know a lot of people cannot. So it's just helping to plan and maybe give you a little bit of peace of mind because you know what? Money is stressful and that's why no one talks about it. It's stressful. It's taboo. It's yucky. It makes people feel gross. There's judgment, yada, yada, yada. So I think this is a really great resource. There's a caregiver risk calculator, legal risk quiz, eligibility, leave eligibility checker, and life insurance calculator. Love this. So this is guided by a nurse who has done this herself. The expertise behind the resource center comes from Elaine Mala, who is a practicing pulmonary and sleep nurse practitioner and certified financial educator who paid off $200,000 in student loans in 2 years and built a 6-figure investment portfolio on a nursing salary. Her guidance runs through every guide grounded in the same math she used on her own paycheck, and you can follow her at Nurse Who Invests. All right, everybody, that is the end of this week of Nurse News on the Club Nurse Podcast. I'm literally sweating in this apartment. I can tell you it is. Yep, my thermostat says crisp 80 degrees. So that is my cue to get off of here and I think go get some fresh air. But I hope that you have a wonderful week. I'm wishing you well. I hope you are taking care of yourself, whatever that looks like for you. I know we always hear self-care, yada, yada, yada, self-care. Well, you know what? You have to. You got to take care of yourself before you can take anybody else. It's so cliché. You got to Fill your own cup. It's cliché for a reason because it's true. But anyway, my name is Colton Lord, and we'll see you guys next time. Bye.

From the bottom of my heart, I wanted to thank you for being here at Club Nurse. I hope you gained something valuable from today's episode, and if you did, remember to share this episode with someone that you love. Follow me on socials @NurseDaddies or @ColtonLord17, and be sure to follow nurse.org to stay informed with all of the hot healthcare topics. Until next time, take care of yourself the way you take care of everyone else. Love ya. Bye.