Care Behind the Walls Runs on the People Who Stay.
Chris Sund is a correctional healthcare speaker who helps jail and prison health teams keep their people and improve patient experience in settings where turnover is high and recognition is rare. He delivers The Power of Small Moments: Elevating Patient Experience at the NCCHC National Conference on Correctional Health Care in October 2026.
Why Is Retention So Hard in Correctional Healthcare?
Nurses, mental health staff and providers in jails and prisons do clinical work under security rules, staffing gaps and public scrutiny. The thank-you that other settings take for granted rarely comes. When the work is that demanding and that unseen, people leave for the hospital down the road.
Chris works on retention for a living. His sessions give correctional health leaders the small, repeatable leadership moments that decide whether a nurse comes back for the next shift, and that shape how patients experience care in a custody setting.
- The everyday interactions that decide whether staff stay
- Recognition that works when nobody outside the walls sees the work
- Trust-building habits for high-stakes, high-scrutiny environments
- Patient experience in custody: dignity in small moments
- Practical actions leaders can use on the very next shift
Proof: The NCCHC National Conference
The National Commission on Correctional Health Care lists Chris in its official speaker directory for the 2026 National Conference on Correctional Health Care, the 50th anniversary gathering of the field. His session gives correctional health leaders a practical framework for being more intentional in the ordinary interactions that fill a shift. See the NCCHC event page.
His topics are well researched, and he weaves in practical tips and real-life examples that make every session realistic and relatable.
Chris consistently brings knowledge, insight, and practical advice to every presentation, elevating the value he brings to every engagement.
I always have takeaways to put into action after Chris’ sessions. He cares deeply about uplifting the entire profession.
Programs for Correctional Health Teams
Every session is customized to your members, your setting and your year.
The Power of Small Moments
The patient experience keynote. How brief, ordinary interactions shape care, trust and culture, and what leaders can do with them.
You Are Capable of a Better Culture
The culture keynote built on SPARK: support, purpose, appreciation, relationships, and knowledge and growth.
Employee Retention
Why people stay in demanding work, and the leadership behaviors that keep them when easier jobs exist.
Formats
Each program runs as a keynote, a half-day workshop or a full-day workshop.
Keynote
A general-session keynote for the full room, with stories and one framework attendees can use on the next shift.
Half Day
The keynote content plus working time: leaders apply the framework to their own teams and leave with a written plan.
Full Day
A leadership day built around your agenda, combining the keynote, applied sessions and planning time for a leadership group.
Who Books This Session
Related pages: Healthcare Keynote Speaker · Patient Experience Speaker · Nurse Retention Strategies · Employee Retention Speaker · Behavioral Health Speaker
What Correctional Health Planners Ask
Has Chris worked with correctional health audiences?
Yes. He presents Session 470, The Power of Small Moments: Elevating Patient Experience, at the NCCHC National Conference on Correctional Health Care in Las Vegas on October 28, 2026. See the NCCHC event page.
Is the content adapted to jails and prisons?
Yes. Before the event Chris asks about your staffing picture, your facilities and what your teams are carrying, and the examples are built around custody settings rather than a hospital with the names changed.
Who is the session for: leaders or frontline staff?
Both. Leaders get the retention and recognition practices; nurses, mental health staff and providers get language for the small moments that shape patient experience. It works in a general session that mixes the two.
What formats are available?
A keynote, a half-day workshop or a full-day workshop. A common format is the keynote in the general session followed by a working session for health services leaders.
Can attendees get copies of the book?
Yes. Conferences regularly pair the keynote with copies of You Are Capable of More, and Chris can run a signing table. Bulk pricing is available through bulk orders.
You Are Capable of More
The bestselling book behind the keynote, and the 2026 Paris Book Festival winner in the How-To category. Ten principles for closing the gap between what a team is producing and what it is actually capable of.
Copies can be bundled for attendees, and Chris can run a signing table at the conference.
He Works on Retention Every Day
Chris is President & COO of Uniti Med and GQR Healthcare and COO of Nebula. He has spent the past decade in healthcare staffing, building Uniti Med from startup to one of the largest healthcare staffing companies in the US: 10x revenue growth on the core brand, #3 on the Inc. Regionals list of the fastest-growing companies in the Midwest, and a Fortune Best Workplaces award along the way.
Staffing is a retention business. Every week he sees why clinicians and caregivers take a job, and why they leave one. That is the material he brings to the stage, not theory borrowed from somewhere else.
He is the bestselling author of You Are Capable of More, a Maxwell Leadership Certified coach, an Inc. contributor and a Forbes Business Council member.
Stages I Have Spoken On
Where Healthcare Audiences Have Heard Chris
Correctional, state association and healthcare stages where Chris has spoken on retention, culture and patient experience.
NCCHC National ConferenceLas Vegas, NV · Oct 2026Iowa Health Care AssociationDes Moines, IAMontana Health Care AssociationBillings, MTTORCH/TARHC Fall ConferenceRound Rock, TXAOHP Annual ConferenceOccupational HealthColorado Health Care AssociationDenver, COAlso: Healthcare Keynote Speaker · Patient Experience Speaker · Nurse Retention Strategies · See all speaking engagements →
Bring Chris to Your Correctional Health Event
Tell Chris about your conference or your health services team and what the year is asking of them. You’ll get a fast, straight answer on fit and availability.
Check Availability & FeesResponse within one business day · Speaker kit, bio & headshots