Welcome to The Bossy Nurse Podcast, a show about nurse creators, innovators, risk-takers, and the ideas that shape their success.
In this episode, Marsha Battee speaks with Rosa Hart, BSN, RN, SCRN, about turning stroke care, podcasting, and a love of conversation into a nurse-led media platform that educates patients, spotlights healthcare voices, and helps nurses speak up.
Key takeaways
- Rosa shows how nursing expertise can become a platform for patient education, advocacy, podcasting, and public health storytelling.
- Her path from classical voice training to neuro ICU proves that skills from one chapter can shape the next.
- Podcasting becomes a way for Rosa to educate stroke survivors, spotlight healthcare leaders, and help nurses trust their voices.
- Rosa encourages nurses to stop waiting for permission and recognize the expertise they already have from clinical experience.
Show notes / what you’ll hear
- How Rosa’s unconventional childhood shaped the way she connects with people today.
- The unexpected moment that helped move Rosa from music into nursing.
- Why stroke care became the foundation for Rosa’s work in education, advocacy, and media.
- How one creative outlet in Louisville opened the door to bigger podcasting opportunities.
- What Rosa learned from turning patient education into an award-winning podcast.
- Why nurses may be more ready to create content than they think.
- How Rosa approaches podcasting without making the process feel overwhelming.
- What healthcare professionals often misunderstand about sharing their expertise publicly.
- Why Rosa believes nurses do not need to wait for permission to speak up.
- The story behind Rosa’s book, Speak Up, Start Now, and the message she hopes nurses take with them.
Resources mentioned
- The Lou Review — Rosa’s podcast highlighting Louisville, Kentucky, including local food, businesses, nonprofits, and community stories.
- Stronger After Stroke — a Norton Healthcare podcast featuring stroke survivors, caregivers, and medical specialists discussing life after stroke.
- Nurse Rosa’s INsights — Rosa’s nurse-led healthcare leadership and innovation podcast.
- Aging Like a Pro — a University of Miami McKnight Brain Institute podcast focused on healthy aging, brain health, and quality of life.
- Speak Up, Start Now by Rosa Hart — Rosa’s book encouraging nurses and healthcare professionals to use their expertise and voice.
- Blessings in a Backpack — mentioned by Rosa as a national organization that started in Louisville and helps provide food for children over the weekend.
- Hope Health Clinic — mentioned by Rosa as an example of a volunteer clinic serving people who may be uninsured or underinsured.
- Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs — mentioned during Rosa’s discussion about resources that can help patients access medications.
- Rapid Response RN Podcast Host Sarah Lorenzini — mentioned by Marsha as a related episode about navigating podcasting and patient-care storytelling.
Where to find Rosa online
Guest Bio: Rosa Hart, BSN, RN, SCRN
Rosa Hart is a stroke certified registered nurse with the American Association of Neuroscience
Nurses, podcaster, and internationally recognized leader in health communication, digital
engagement, and nursing innovation. As the founder of Rosa Hart Media Consulting, she helps
healthcare organizations, startups, and nonprofits elevate their visibility through strategic
storytelling, podcast production, and social media amplification.
She is the author of Speak Up, Start Now, and delivers keynotes nationwide that empower
nurses to use their voice for advocacy, professional influence, and improving community health
literacy. Her work sits at the intersection of healthcare, communication, and innovation, with a
mission to amplify messages of hope and improve quality of life through trusted,
evidence-informed content.
She built authority for a leading health system by producing a widely respected neuroscience
podcast and now hosts both Nurse Rosa’s Insights, Stronger After Stroke, and Aging Like a Pro
where she translates complex medical science into meaningful, accessible conversations that
empower patients, caregivers, and clinicians.
Meanwhile she serves on the NextGen Advisory Council for the American Nurses
Association and the Midwest Advocacy & Communications Subcommittees for the
American Heart Association, championing cardiovascular health equity, policy engagement,
and the advancement of nursing leadership.
Timestamps
- 00:00:00 — Rosa shares why believing in people and helping them remember their purpose matters.
- 00:00:22 — Rosa talks about growing up in Clarksville, Tennessee, being homeschooled, and living on a farm.
- 00:06:15 — Rosa explains how singing, church choir, and classical voice training shaped her early life.
- 00:07:40 — Rosa shares how anatomy, pregnancy, and her grandfather’s heart attack helped shift her interest toward nursing.
- 00:09:27 — Rosa describes starting as a nurse’s aide in neuro ICU and working with stroke patients from the beginning.
- 00:10:48 — Rosa explains how saying yes to opportunities led her from bedside nursing into podcasting and media.
- 00:17:55 — Rosa shares when Stronger After Stroke launched and how it became an award-winning podcast.
- 00:23:39 — Rosa explains why she created Nurse Rosa’s INsights and how it opened new conversations in healthcare.
- 00:46:23 — Rosa talks about her book, Speak Up, Start Now, and why nurses should trust their experience as expertise.
