Nurse Blake Lynch talked about his experiences as being a nurse

Nurse Blake Lynch visited North Dakota State University on Sept. 16 at the Sanford Health Athletic Center. Blake Lynch, who goes by the stage name Nurse Blake, grew up in central Florida and attended the University of Central Florida where he graduated in 2014 with his Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Since then he has worked in multiple medical facilities all over the United States.

Lynch’s main theme for the event was describing what a nurse is and can be. He discussed how nursing is a flexible job and ever-changing as there are so many job possibilities for nurses. He encouraged the audience to not only push themselves to be better nurses but to push and support their peers into becoming the best nurses and community members they can be.

To start there was a video compilation of his popular nursing comedy videos. Lynch then ran into the center and started to ask the crowd about their nursing background as there was a mixture of nursing students and actual nurses in attendance. 

Lynch then went on to give a description of himself and how he got into nursing. He grew up with both of his parents in the healthcare field so nursing just always felt like a natural fit for him. Lynch described the different types of nursing students, nursing classes, the different struggles of each course, types of nurses (fun, policy enforcers, “hot mess”, the always cold one, etc.) and the different nursing jobs. He did this all while engaging the audience to discuss which student/nurse they were with.

Lynch talked about and showed videos on nurses who are doing extra work for their communities and the healthcare field off of the clock. He brought light to Nurse Amy, who works in a hospital in Seattle, Washington as a Registered Nurse. Nurse Amy spends her spare time giving homeless people in the Seattle area fresh meals, toiletries and information on resources that they can use to improve their lives.

He also discussed Nurse Lisa, an Emergency Room nurse from Massachusetts who was attacked and almost killed by one of her patients. After her attack, Nurse Lisa went on to advocate for healthcare workers rights and safety. Lynch encouraged the audience to try and do more for their communities as well. 

Lynch himself first started to gain attention back in 2013 when he started the organization Banned4Life, which fought to lift the life ban on gay and bisexual men on donating blood put in place by the FDA. After two years of advocating and two different votes on the rule, the FDA lifted the permanent ban. As Lynch described his organization, Banned4Life, he discussed how it opened his eyes on the change he can make in his community outside of nursing

He also shared information on his new campaign, Nurses Support Their Young, which is all about bringing togetherness in the nursing community and encouraging nurses of all experience levels. Lynch encouraged the audience to incorporate their passions outside of nursing and the healthcare field into their jobs mentioning that everyone and anyone can be an innovator. 

Lynch also took multiple moments throughout the event to remind the current nursing students to find passions outside of school and to enjoy their college experiences mentioning that he became more successful in life and in school when he did more passion projects and activities. He made sure to express that the audience should celebrate every win and accomplishment they achieve in order to be more successful and happy. He stated that his goal of the event was not only to entertain but to inspire the audience to do good in their community and in the world. He ended the event by reminding the audience to, “Always try to remember why you became a nurse and the type of nurse you want to be.” 

Attending the event was NDSU student, Aubrey Nelson, who will be starting the nursing program in the spring. When asked about her thoughts on the event and on Nurse Blake Lynch, she responded with: “He was very funny, charismatic and really knew how to engage with the audience. I think people who aren’t nurses or haven’t started the nursing program yet would still enjoy watching his videos and going to his events since he can be very relatable for other reasons as well.”

Lynch started making nursing-related YouTube videos in 2017 and gained overnight popularity with local news stations all over the country showing his videos. Within the two years from his first video, he has gained over 444,000 followers on Instagram and over 754,000 on Facebook.