For the Leaders Holding Healthcare Together
Chris Sund is a keynote speaker for nurse leadership conferences and nursing audiences. As a healthcare workforce executive who partners with hospitals through the nursing shortage every day, he brings nurse leaders a message of ownership, resilience, and retention — with deep respect for the weight they carry.
Nurse Leaders Don’t Need Another Pep Talk
Charge nurses, managers, directors, and CNOs are leading through the hardest stretch in modern nursing: chronic short-staffing, burnout, and units held together by their steadiest people. Chris meets that reality head-on — his work in healthcare workforce solutions means he knows the vacancy data, the agency economics, and the retention levers — and he turns it into a session nurse leaders describe as both honest and energizing.
- Retention leadership: why nurses quit leaders, and the behaviors that make them stay
- The Power of Small Moments — how everyday interactions shape patient experience and team morale
- Resilience tools nurse leaders can model and pass to their units
- Ownership without self-blame: controlling the inputs in an uncontrollable environment
- Building unit cultures of support, appreciation, and growth that hold under pressure
Nursing & Healthcare Stages Chris Has Served
- Addressing the Nursing Staffing Crisis — Challenges & Strategies for the Future
- NAHCR — National Association for Health Care Recruitment (2025 & 2026)
- Crawford Memorial Hospital — Employee Recognition Dinner
- The Power of Small Moments — Renal Healthcare Association Webinar
- LeadingAge Illinois Annual Conference
- Rural Health Association of Utah
- See all speaking engagements →
Popular Programs for Nursing Audiences
The Power of Small Moments
Turning good care into great experiences — the signature healthcare session on the interactions that matter most.
You Are Capable of More: Leadership
For nurse manager and director development — unlocking the people around you, one unit at a time.
People Quit People, Not Companies
The nursing retention conversation every leadership team needs — practical, honest, and actionable.
You Are Capable of More
The signature keynote — renewal and resilience for clinicians who have been running on empty.
Nursing Audiences Chris Serves
Related pages: Healthcare Leadership Speaker · Healthcare Conference Speaker
What Nursing Event Planners Ask
Chris isn’t a nurse — why does this work for nursing audiences?
Because he doesn’t pretend to be one. Chris speaks as a workforce executive who partners with hospitals through the nursing shortage daily — he knows the staffing data, honors the clinical reality, and focuses on what he genuinely brings: leadership, retention, and resilience frameworks nurse leaders can use. Nursing audiences consistently respond to the respect and the practicality.
Is this appropriate for Nurses Week or recognition events?
Yes — recognition dinners and Nurses Week events are a natural fit. The Power of Small Moments and You Are Capable of More both celebrate the work nurses do while giving them something real to take back to the unit.
Can Chris speak to the nursing shortage with actual data?
Yes. He has presented on the nursing staffing crisis and workforce strategy with industry data partners, and he lives the vacancy and agency-cost math daily. Sessions can include current workforce context tailored to your region or setting.
What formats work for hospital teams with rotating shifts?
Chris offers repeated shorter sessions across shifts, single keynotes with recorded access for night staff, and virtual formats — whatever gets the message to the whole team, not just day shift.
Give Your Nurse Leaders a Session That Respects Their Reality
Tell Chris about your nursing event and audience. You’ll get a straight answer on fit, availability, and customization.