Catching up with Medely’s Chief Nursing Officer and co-founder, Angie Nasr, during National Nurses Week
It’s National Nurses Week, and we got to sit down with our Chief Nursing Officer and co-founder, Angie Nasr, to discuss her career, what she’s excited about at Medely, and her journey to better healthcare staffing. Angie has taken several leaps in career, but she’s never lost sight of who she is serving. Every leap has been in service of nurses and the best possible patient care and outcomes. Today, she and her team work to build a better way to connect per diem and assignment nurses and allied health professionals with surgical centers, hospitals, clinics, and facilities in need.
In our conversation, Angie, a former NICU nurse and Director of Nursing, talks about her path to co-founding Medely, how she sees Medely making a difference in the lives of nurses every day, and how Medely, the leader in healthcare staffing and workforce management technology, will continue to grow in the future and further its mission.
Medely’s Talent Marketplace has over 300K nurses and allied health professionals. The innovative solution empowers nurses and health professionals to work how they want and gives healthcare facilities the flexibility, control, and transparency to fill shifts and build a modern, sustainable workforce. Learn more about Medely here.
Check out our full conversation with Angie to learn more about Medely’s CNO and celebrate National Nurses Week with us:
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your background?
Angie Nasr: “I am a registered nurse, and I graduated from Loyola University in Chicago with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. I took my first job at UC Irvine in the NICU. After transferring to UCLA, I was soon worn out from working nights, weekends, and holidays and looked for a job that better fit my preferred schedule. I signed with an agency to pick up shifts until I figured out my next move.
“I ended up taking a job in an outpatient surgery center, my first time working with adults. I was thrown into the fire, which is a great learning experience, and was soon made the Director of Nursing. The doctors and facility leaders expressed great confidence in me and my abilities, although I felt somewhat unsure I was prepared to take on this elevated role, but it made me learn really fast, and I am a very resourceful person by nature. I knew how to leverage our resources.
“Additionally, I reached out to other Directors of Nursing (DONs) and other healthcare leaders in my network to draw on their expertise and insights. Over several years, I moved onto larger facilities and really learned the ropes at multiple outpatient surgery centers. But, I always had an issue with how to adequately staff for our cases. I continually had to call other nurses that I knew of to work shifts and cases we couldn’t cover for staffing.”
Making the transition
Q: What was one of the most significant issues with finding staff?
AN: “Time. Because every second you’re on the phone or trying to connect is the time taken away from your cases and your patients.”
Q: As you discovered the need for better methods using technology, how did you help Medely launch? What was it like in the beginning?
AN: “It was a transition and labor of love, for sure. My co-founders and I worked for a year to launch Medely. I still had my full-time job and would work nights and weekends setting up the clinical operations infrastructure. I was screening and onboarding nurses to the tech platform and marketplace during my lunch hour. I would perform all of the in-person interviews for the nurses and allied health professionals after work to ensure they were competent, experienced nurses. The work was hard, but it was so rewarding to see the vision become a reality.
“At first, we started with positions in surgical services, primarily circulating, PACU, and pre-op RNs, as those were the most in-demand. Soon after, we expanded to surgical techs and several other positions in the ambulatory surgical center (ASC) setting.”
Finding inspiration
Q: Who inspires you?
AN: “I would say my mom. She came here from a foreign country and worked my entire childhood. I remember mom always being such a hard worker, even to this day. No job was too big or too small for her, and she taught me the value of being an independent woman.”
Looking ahead to the future
Q: What’s your favorite thing about Medely?
AN: “My favorite thing about Medely is just seeing this dream come to fruition, and that facilities now have a way to book someone easily. It’s something we never had at our fingertips. Before, I would have loved to sign up for this tech app and dive right in. That’s a huge opportunity to have that on-demand workforce. Of course, I love how to customize it, build a Favorites list, and book short or longer-term jobs.
It really allows healthcare professionals to come into a facility and bring new ideas, culture, and practices with them.
Q: Can you tell us a story that made you know that Medely was making a difference?
AN: “Medely has been a game-changer for nurses like Josh who aspired to further his education while maintaining financial stability. For Josh, Medely’s unique scheduling flexibility empowered him to pursue his academic goals in pharmacy school while still earning income through his nursing skills. With the ability to customize his work hours around his class schedule, he successfully utilized his nursing profession to provide knowledgeable care to his patients and finance his tuition expenses, turning his educational dreams into reality.”
Q: What change can companies like Medely make in the lives of nurses?
AN: “Medely has been and continues to be a positive change in the lives of nurses by providing them with increased flexibility, control over their schedules, and access to diverse job opportunities.
The Medely platform allows nurses to choose shifts that best suit their personal needs, whether they’re balancing family responsibilities, pursuing further education, or seeking additional income. This flexibility enhances their work-life balance and reduces burnout.
“Medely also widens the scope of job opportunities for nurses by connecting them with a variety of healthcare facilities, including ASCs, hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and urgent cares. This diversity enables nurses to explore different work settings, gain valuable experience, and discover career paths that align with their interests and professional goals.
“And finally, Medely provides streamlined processes for scheduling, payment, and feedback, which can improve job satisfaction and overall work experience for nurses.
By empowering nurses with greater autonomy and flexibility in their careers, Medely contributes to their professional development, financial stability, and overall well-being.”
Q: Where do you see Medely heading into the future?
AN: “Our vision for Medely will continue to evolve as a technologically-advanced workforce management platform.
We will continue to focus on the customer experience and provide a simple way for facilities to book nurses and allied health professionals. And, health professionals get to earn more while experiencing the freedom and flexibility they deserve.”
Angie had a long journey from working as an RN looking for a flexible work-life balance to a Director of Nursing quickly learning the ropes, to the Chief Nursing Officer of one of the largest on-demand healthcare platforms, but she never lost sight of who she was serving. The nursing community, and ultimately their patients, were always at the center of her work to create something better and not settle for the ways things have always been done.
She sought out to create an economic empowerment engine for nurses, and today, Medely helps thousands of healthcare professionals instantly access high-paying healthcare jobs with the freedom and flexibility to work when and where they want.
This National Nurses Week, we’re excited to celebrate her and all of our nurses who gain experience by working on their terms and taking the dive, growing in their skills and becoming leaders, always with their patients’ best care in mind.
Learn more about Medely and how to work on your terms, or book vetted professionals at your facility in minutes. Sign up for your free account here!
