From EMT to Nurse to CEO: Now Fred Neis Is Teaching Nurses How to Lead

Fred Neis believes so strongly that all nurses are healthcare leaders that he wrote a book about it.

Fred Neis, RN, FACHE, FAEN, Founder & Managing Partner, AdvisorRN, Founder & CEO, Rescue ID, from the Kansas City Area, is not someone afraid to challenge the status quo. 

From taking a semester off in college to discern his future to advocating for nurses to stop using the word 'patient,' Neis is used to blazing his own path. His career has spanned everything from high school EMT to paramedic to bedside nurse to CEO. 

Now, Neis is sharing his wisdom with other healthcare workers in a new book, The Disciplined Leader: Habits & Practices for the Healthcare Leaders That Get Results*, all while urging nurses to step into the leadership roles he believes they are meant for. 

'Always a Nurse'

While Neis no longer works clinically at the bedside, he tells Nurse.org that he very much still considers himself a nurse. 

"I'm always a nurse, no matter the setting," he says firmly. "Nurses occupy more and more roles that traditionally were not thought of as one for a nurse." 

Although he works more in the business and leadership space currently, Neis's background is heavily in healthcare. He graduated from high school as an EMT and then trained to become a paramedic during college during a semester off for discernment during his sophomore year. It was during that time that he became "convinced" he wanted to become a nurse and combine healthcare with a business degree. 

"My mom was a nurse, and I suspect it played a part in my decision-making," he notes. 

Clinically, he has worked as a nurse in the ICU, ED, trauma, Life Flight, and EMS. In the business world, he has served at the managerial, executive, consultant, advisor, and investor levels. 

Because Neis had entered nursing with the intention of eventually transitioning into business, he tells the story that when he decided to make the move, he didn't hesitate. 

"I tell the story, and it's true," he says with a laugh. "On a Friday, I was a charge nurse. On Monday, I was the clinical manager. Saturday and Sunday were not orientation." 

The Business of Healthcare

As the founder and managing partner of his company AdvisorRN, Neis is focused on "fusing" business and clinical expertise, strategies he presents in his book. He believes that healthcare consumers are "demanding" a new way to get care and services, and it's healthcare professionals and leaders' jobs to make that happen. 

"I think the healthcare industry generally can do a better job of using tactics and practices from other industries to deliver a better product," Neis declares. "We do a lot of using each other and staying in narrow lanes. I think it slows down innovation. When we stay in our narrow lanes, we might miss chances to see what else is out there."

Neis shares what he believes are some of the most pressing issues in healthcare right now, some of which he addresses in his book*:

Workforce

"We are not nationally short nurses," Neis says. "We have a distribution problem and arguably a reluctance to allow technology to fill some of the gaps. I think we have the technology and process capabilities today to have one nurse care for four people in an ICU."

Neis argues that nurses should "own" some of the issues involved in the workforce. 

"I think we have to do a better job of projecting a positive voice, actually get involved in solutioning, and do the hard work to test, fail fast in some cases, and do it again. We should hold ourselves and colleagues to a standard befitting our title of most trusted." 

Technology

Neis encourages nurses to embrace the future of technology. "AI, robots, VR, simulation, analytics, are coming at us fast, and we need to be part of the solutioning," he says. "Using safety as a guardrail, yet not one to use as a blocker." 

Economics

According to Neis, rising costs and payments pressing on with more risk will eventually come to a head. "Those two cannot easily co-exist and don't," he explains. 

Regulatory

"The regulations for scope of practice, unfunded mandates (EMTALA), and payer-provider relationships need a serious overhaul," he points out. 

Leadership At The Clinical Level 

While Neis says that nurses are not usually trained in how to be a leader in a business setting, the stories and strategies he shares in his book are intended to provide the practical aspects of setting discipline and tempo into their leadership style.

"I target the early career or aspiring leader in healthcare," Neis explains. "I'm committed to helping those earlier in their careers get more of the tactics that will get them results and noticed for new opportunities." 

He also advocates for solutions that will help nurses both succeed at the clinical level and thrive in leadership roles, such as:

• Increased recruiting into the profession
• Lining up education with the current and future real-world jobs
• Communication at all levels, as a team, a healthcare consumer, and a healthcare leader
• Compensation for nurses: "Compensation for nurses has been the same for a century," Neis argues. "We need to destroy our current model and build one that compensates for performance and outcomes."

In his book and businesses, Neis hopes to incorporate non-healthcare leadership strategies to transform healthcare from the inside out. 

"I think we can take pages from the playbooks of other industries and sectors, wrapping them into our style of healthcare leadership," he says. "We cannot keep doing the same things and using only what we have in the health system toolbox to get results".

Changing The Way We View Healthcare

Some of the ways Neis is looking to shake up healthcare could even be considered controversial. For instance, in a LinkedIn post, Neis explains that he made a purposeful decision to avoid using the word 'patient' in his book, a strategy he hopes nurses will follow. Neis argues that using the term 'patient,' a term that means 'to suffer or bear,' subtly reinforces an outdated power dynamic, positioning the person seeking care beneath the provider.

"We want people to be engaged individuals with agency when interacting with healthcare," Neis writes. "If we believe healthcare is about service, equity, and human connection, our language should reflect that. Replacing patient with terms like the people we care for, the community we serve, or simply a person’s name helps level the relationship and honors their humanity."

Instead of using the word "patient," Neis suggests nurses and other healthcare providers can simply use first names or a preferred title, such as 'Mr. Neis.' Changing up how we refer to those in care, he says, promotes dignity, leveling of the relationship, and strengthens brand trust.

He also adds that modern healthcare far extends beyond the walls of a hospital, further proving it's "time to evolve our lexicon." 

"Words shape culture, trust, and the experience of care," Neis notes. "They’re not patients—they’re people. And people deserve language that respects them."

Nurses, Leading the Way

No matter what happens in healthcare, Neis is adamant that all nurses are leaders. 

"A leader can have a formal title or be looked upon by peers and colleagues as someone to follow, without the title," he explains. "Nurses have fit that latter role from the day they have RN behind their name."

"Nurses have clinical experience and general know-how that's not easy to find," he adds. "We're the most trusted profession, and we didn't get that way without being seen as leaders."

 

🤔Nurses, share your thoughts in the discussion forum below.  

 

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