Whether you know Nurse Blake from his Facebook videos, podcast, live shows, or cruises, he’s the most popular nurse influencer on social media and a force to be reckoned with!

Well, at least helping the nursing community and making nurses laugh. And he’s doing that a lot.

He’s also, though, providing lots of educational opportunities for them as well.

Having graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2014, Nurse Blake, 31, has wanted to be a nurse since he was a kid. Born and raised in Orlando, Florida, he’s lived in many other states with his husband, Brett Donnelly. But now they’ve settled back where Nurse Blake came from in Orlando.

Nurse Blake talked with Minority Nurse about everything from how he started nursing to what he’s up to now.

Check back next Tuesday for Part 2 of our Q&A Blog Series with Nurse Blake.

How did all this come about? Now you’re a nurse influencer, but how did this start?

So, I was working in Houston, Texas, back in 2017. I was working in a critical care unit, and after I left my shift, I was driving home and had my first panic attack. Even before the pandemic, in nursing, we’ve suffered because of many of the same issues with staffing and lack of support, etc. I thought to myself that maybe nursing wasn’t for me.

I hadn’t been a nurse for four years at that point. I just felt alone and couldn’t do everything I wanted for my patients because there was so much red tape, policies, and documentation. So I needed an outlet to share my story as a nurse, and that’s when I started my Nurse Blake Facebook page.

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And I realized, through everyone commenting and watching my videos, that I wasn’t alone and that nurses all over–no matter what specialty they’re in, how long they’ve been in nursing–go through the same thing.

When I saw that, through my videos, I helped other people keep going, and it helped nursing students get through school. I kept doing them.

As much as I love caring for and helping patients, I also love caring for and helping nurses. So it’s just kind of grown over the years, and I love bringing nurses together. I think that’s one of my favorite things about the live events and shows I do. It’s just so cool seeing large groups of nurses come to laugh and have the best night ever.

But it wasn’t like you thought you’d be a nurse or become a nurse influencer, and then I’ll go into comedy.

Yeah, I never thought I’d be doing comedy or anything on stage in front of thousands of people. In 2019, I started doing little live events. I would throw a party in Salt Lake City, which I thought was a little party, but then 2,000 people would show up, and there would be a long line of people trying to get in.

I teamed up with some MLB Baseball teams where we hosted “Nurse Nights.” I did a Nurse Night at the Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park, and it was the largest event they’ve had there in Red Sox history. We had 9,000-10,000 nurses that came out. Then I realized that nurses didn’t only want to connect online. They want to connect in person. So, in 2019, I started doing little shows here and there in small, 300-seat theatres.

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And then it kept growing and growing, and now I’m doing sold-out shows in 2,000-seat theatres and casinos. It’s pretty crazy and wild. I’m just so lucky to be surrounded by so many awesome nurses. I never, ever thought that my path would lead me here.

But I tell nurses that nursing can lead you in many different directions. So many times, we get stuck on one path. Like I’m going back to school to get my MSN, or I want to become a nurse practitioner. Sometimes we’re so focused on that idea that we miss other opportunities. Just keeping my mind and heart open kind of led me here.

Have you had experience being on stage before?

Being from Florida, I worked at Disney World because everyone works at Disney. I worked as Peter Pan at The Magic Kingdom while starting nursing school. That experience did help, especially doing meet and greets before or after my shows.

Check back next week for part 2 of our Q&A Blog Series with Nurse Blake and learn if he always wanted to be a nurse and what he did after nursing school.

Michele Wojciechowski
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