He Sees Why Clinicians Leave. And Why They Come Back.
Chris Sund is a healthcare HR speaker for ASHHRA chapters, hospital HR leadership teams and healthcare talent acquisition conferences. As President & COO of Uniti Med, one of the largest healthcare staffing companies in the US, he sees every week why nurses and clinicians leave a hospital, what brings them back, and what HR teams can change about recruiting, retention and employer brand.
What Do Healthcare HR Teams Get From a Staffing Executive?
Hospital HR leaders are asked to fill clinical roles in a market where the same nurse can take a travel contract next week. Most HR conference speakers talk about the workforce from the outside. Chris works on the other side of that market: his companies place the clinicians that hospitals are trying to keep.
That view is useful in an HR room. He can speak plainly about what clinicians say when they leave, what makes a hospital an easy place to come back to, and where recruiting and retention efforts lose people in the first conversation.
- Why clinicians leave a hospital, and what brings them back, from inside the staffing market
- Handling hiring objections so the best candidates say yes
- Employer brand that wins when you cannot win on pay alone
- Retention as a leadership skill for managers, not only an HR program
- Language HR leaders can take to the executive team
Proof: Healthcare Recruitment and HR Stages
Chris delivered two sessions on Handling Hiring Objections to Recruit the Best Talent at the NAHCR 2025 Annual Conference in Palm Springs, and keynoted the NAHCR 2026 Annual Conference in Milwaukee with The Spark Advantage, for recruiters, HR leaders and talent acquisition professionals from hospitals, health systems and long-term care.
He worked with senior services leaders on hiring objections at LeadingAge Illinois, keynoted the AOHP Annual Conference, and has spoken to people leaders at the POWER Conference and DisruptHR. His LAARC objection framework was published by LeadingAge Illinois and written up by Cisive and NAHCR.
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 Healthcare HR Audiences
Every session is customized to your members, your setting and your year.
Handling Hiring Objections
How recruiters and hiring managers turn a candidate’s hesitation into a conversation, using the LAARC steps.
Winning the Talent Battle
Employer branding for healthcare organizations competing for the same scarce clinicians.
People Quit People, Not Companies
The retention keynote that treats turnover as a leadership skill managers can learn.
Employee Retention
Why people stay in demanding work, and the leadership behaviors that keep them when other offers 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: Employee Morale Speaker · AI for HR & Recruiting Teams · HR Conference Speaker · Recruiting & Talent Acquisition Speaker · Healthcare Staffing Speaker · Nurse Retention Strategies · SHRM Chapter & State Conference Speaker
What Healthcare HR Planners Ask
How is this different from a general HR conference keynote?
It is built for hospitals, health systems and senior care. Chris runs healthcare staffing organizations, so the examples come from clinical recruiting and retention: travel contracts, agency spend, nurses who leave and come back, and hiring managers on short-staffed units. For a general SHRM audience, see the HR conference speaker page.
Does he talk about agency and travel staffing?
Yes, plainly. His companies are part of that market. He speaks to why clinicians take those roles, what hospitals can do so fewer of them need to, and how to be the place people come back to.
Has he spoken to healthcare HR and recruitment audiences?
Yes. He has spoken at the NAHCR Annual Conference in 2025 and 2026, LeadingAge Illinois, the AOHP Annual Conference, the POWER Conference and DisruptHR, and chairs the Membership Committee for NAHCR.
Can the session support HR continuing education credit?
Chris’s sessions have been approved for continuing education credit at past conferences. The host association handles the CE application; Chris provides the learning objectives, outline and bio it needs.
What formats are available?
A keynote, a half-day workshop or a full-day workshop. A common package is a general-session keynote plus a working session on hiring objections for recruiters and hiring managers.
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 Runs the Other Side of the Market
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 HR and Recruiting Audiences Have Heard Chris
Healthcare recruitment, HR and people-leader stages where Chris has spoken on hiring, retention and employer brand.
NAHCR 2025 Annual ConferencePalm Springs, CANAHCR 2026 Annual ConferenceMilwaukee, WILeadingAge IllinoisChicago, ILAOHP Annual ConferenceTampa, FLPOWER ConferenceOmaha, NEDisruptHR OmahaOmaha, NEAlso: HR Conference Speaker · Recruiting & Talent Acquisition Speaker · Healthcare Keynote Speaker · See all speaking engagements →
Bring Chris to Your Healthcare HR Event
Tell Chris about your chapter conference or HR leadership meeting and the hiring and retention problems on the table this year. You’ll get a fast, straight answer on fit and availability.
Check Availability & FeesResponse within one business day · Speaker kit, bio & headshots