Episode #184. Inside the Smart Room: How AI Is Transforming Nursing at the Bedside, with Brittany Cyriacks, Clinical Informatics Program Director at UCHealth

Summary

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Risk Never Sleeps Podcast: Episode #184

"Inside the Smart Room: How AI Is Transforming Nursing at the Bedside,"

Guest: Brittany Cyriacks, Clinical Informatics Program Director, UCHealth
Host: Ed Gaudet
Date: January 7, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode explores the rapidly evolving intersection of artificial intelligence (AI), nursing, and bedside care. Host Ed Gaudet speaks with Brittany Cyriacks, Clinical Informatics Program Director at UCHealth, about how new technologies—including ambient AI, computer vision, and virtual command centers—are revolutionizing both patient safety and the nursing experience. Cyriacks offers an insider’s perspective on the transformation happening inside the “smart room,” shares her professional journey, and gives practical advice for nurses considering careers in informatics.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Brittany’s Role and Background

• UCHealth’s Virtual Health Center
  • Services 14 hospitals across Colorado and affiliates in Nebraska and Wyoming with a centralized “command center.”
  • Supports both inpatient (acute care) and outpatient programs.
• Bridging Operations and Technology
  • “I really get to be the interpreter between [operations] and then really getting to know the technology over the last seven years...I spend a lot of time almost in a consultant role, a lot of times between the clinicians and the tech side just to bridge that gap.” (01:41)
• Origins in Nursing
  • Started as a nurse in the pulmonary unit and spent 10 years in operations before moving into informatics.

Driving Patient Safety and EHR Standardization

• Single Instance of Epic EHR
  • “We are very fortunate that every hospital runs the same instance of Epic, which really makes our command center efficient and successful.” (02:58)
• Workflow Automation Challenges
  • Discussed integrating identity and access management with workflow and the challenges with medication scanners and authentication systems (e.g., tap and go cards).
  • “It can be challenging. It's a workflow. You're integrating identity and access management with workflow. And it's hard.” (03:24 — Ed Gaudet)

The Smart Room & Future of Nursing Workflows

• AI Empowering Nurses at the Bedside
  • “I’m really looking forward to that smart room of the future—what we can do with computer vision and ambient technology, and taking it a step further with maybe even some agentic AI to really be that agent for the nurse while they're in the room and just allow them to provide that care and use technology and design it to just really make it streamlined.” (04:22)
  • Described scenarios where AI prompts and even drafts communications for nurses, tracks pain management, and supports protocol adherence in real-time.
• Reducing Clinician Fatigue
  • “We’ve tried to build these checklists and EPIC and fire alerts to the nurses and we're fatiguing them and we're telling them stuff they already know…Why can't we tell them and do it for them?” (05:33)

The Promise of Patient-Centered AI Agents

• Patient as Active Participant
  • Envisioned agents that also advocate for patients, reminding clinicians (and patients) of allergies, recent drug reactions, and care preferences.
  • “You can imagine the patient having their own advocate as well, participating…So you've got the clinical side has agents and the patient advocate now has an agent…” (06:40 — Ed Gaudet)

Personal Story and Career Path

• Early Health Experience and Motivation
  • Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 10, which led to frequent interactions with healthcare providers and shaped her desire to build rapport with patients.
  • “I can talk to a brick wall... It just lends itself nicely to making people feel comfortable at their most vulnerable.” (08:01)
• Transition to Informatics
  • Driven by success helping new nurses “understand and feel like they could achieve success” and by thriving in ambiguous, innovative environments.

Nursing Culture & Advice for Clinicians

• Empathy in Healthcare
  • “You gotta be in the weeds for sure with them, you know, and feel it... How can you empathize with people if you haven't actually done it, done the work or the pain or been through the challenges?” (10:48 — Ed and Brittany)
• Imposter Syndrome and Identity
  • “Now, I mean, you like in IT you have imposter syndrome kind of big time. Because everyone's like, you're not a real nurse. And I'm like, I'm a nurse's nurse…” (10:19)

Leadership & Innovation

• Advice for Younger Self and Leaders
  • “Just knowing, like, not to be the smartest person in the room. I like to remain relatable and I like to make sure people know they can challenge me. When you're in innovation, you really need to just make sure everybody feels like every idea is a good idea.” (12:01)
  • “That ego... check the ego at the door.” (12:55)
• Patient-First Philosophy
  • “It's not about me, it's about the patient. I think that's a great thing.” (13:03)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Informatics as a Career Risk:

  • "Getting into clinical informatics was a big risk ... There was a solid six months that I was like, yeah, if this doesn't get any better, I gotta go back to what I was doing. It was really hard. So that was a big risk, and I'm glad I took it." (13:45)

• On Teaching and Real-time Support:

  • “How can we teach them in the moment, provide them the resource in the moment and keep that quality of care for the patient? ... I’m really excited for these tools because, to be honest, we’ve tried to build these checklists and EPIC ... and we're fatiguing them watching the same alerts.” (05:33)

• On Staying Humble and Curious:

  • “If I don't know an answer, I'll go find it for you. But just really making sure, you know, you go to an interaction to learn something.” (12:38)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:42 – Brittany’s introduction and hybrid role between clinical operations and informatics
• 02:32 – Evolution of UCHealth’s EHR and tech stack
• 03:42 – Standardizing tools and virtual nursing post-COVID
• 04:22 – The vision for smart rooms and agentic AI at the bedside
• 05:33 – Reducing EHR alert fatigue and streamlining clinician workflows
• 06:40 – Patient-centered AI advocacy
• 07:31 – Brittany’s personal motivation rooted in her experience with diabetes
• 08:36 – The importance of empathy and communication in healthcare
• 10:19 – Addressing imposter syndrome as a nurse-turned-informaticist
• 12:01 – Leadership lessons and fostering innovation
• 13:36 – Riskiest career decision: moving into informatics
• 20:03 – Off-topic: Family, sports, and fantasy football
• 24:08 – Advice for nurses aspiring to informatics or IT careers
• 25:42 – Value of on-the-job clinical experience prior to informatics roles

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Advice for New Graduates & Nurses Interested in Informatics

• “Do the Work, Know the Work”
  • “You have to do the work and know what the work is like to do well in a position like mine. If you want to make nurses' lives easier, you have to live through it. And it can't just be one or two years right in the profession.” (24:11)
• Be Engaged and Use Your Voice
  • “Get involved in extra committees, make sure your voice is heard… We're not doing anything in a silo. We really do ask for the nurses to come to the table here when we're engaging in projects.” (24:33)
• Stay Curious and Advocate
  • “Stick with it, stay engaged, do the extra raising of your hand, use your voice, advocate for the profession.” (25:42)

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Summary: Flow and Tone

This episode blends practical, forward-looking discussion on the infusion of AI into clinical workflows with personal reflection and humor. Brittany Cyriacks offers nuanced commentary in a relatable, down-to-earth tone, balancing technical vision with empathy for staff, patients, and the challenges of culture change in nursing. The friendly banter and real-world anecdotes keep the conversation both engaging and instructive for listeners in healthcare and beyond.

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Transcript

[Brittany Cyriax]

Foreign.

[Ed Gaudet]

Welcome to Risk Never Sleeps, where we meet and get to know the people delivering patient care and protecting patient safety. I'm your host, Ed Gaudet.

[Ed Gaudette]

Welcome to the Risk Never Sleeps podcast in which we learn about the people that are on the front lines protecting patient safety and delivering patient care. I'm Ed Gaudette, the host of the program, and today I am pleased to be joined by Brittany Cyriax. Did I get that right?

[Brittany Cyriax]

You got it right.

[Ed Gaudette]

Okay. Excellent, Excellent. All right. @ UC Health. So why don't we start off sharing a little bit about your current role and your organization with.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Listeners? Yeah, happy to. So I'm the clinical informatics program director for a health system in Colorado called UC Health. We have about 14 hospitals throughout the state. We have several clinics. We do some affiliate work with hospitals in Nebraska, Wyoming. So, you know, we're a medium sized organization. And we do have what we call the Virtual health center, which is a command center that services our entire system and provides support virtually for both inpatient, you know, acute care and outpatient programs. And so my role really has been to lead designing those programs and bringing those up from the ground up and kind of redesigning care models just to really help augment the bedside team and make sure that regardless of what's happening in our hospital walls, that we have this angel in the sky watching over and making sure that we're doing everything we need to do for patient safety. In my role as a clinical informaticist, I have a great deal of operational experience. I have been with my organization for over 17 years. Before I transitioned into this role about seven years ago, I was in operations in various leadership positions for 10 years. So I have a great appreciation for the business, for the patient care, for their workarounds that staff are doing, living and breathing that. And so in my role, I really get to be the interpreter between that and then really getting to know the technology over the last seven years. I can speak that language as well. So I spend a lot of time almost in a consultant role, a lot of times between the clinicians and the tech side just to bridge that gap between those two.

[Ed Gaudette]

Languages. And did you start off as a.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Nurse? I did. Started as a brand new nurse, yes. Pulmonary.

[Ed Gaudette]

Unit. Yeah. Cool, cool. And you're an EPIC shop, I.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Assume? We are now, obviously, when I started at our organization, it was just one hospital. We were on an older ehr, and then we started joining forces with other hospitals, became a system, went on to epic. And so we are now an EPIC shop. And we are very Fortunate that every hospital runs the same instance of epic, which really makes our command center efficient and.

[Ed Gaudette]

Successful. Are you an Improva shop.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Too? I. I'm assuming maybe potentially. I've.

[Ed Gaudette]

Had. Do you use cards, tap and go to on a reader to get in.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Or. Depends on the.

[Ed Gaudette]

Location. Ah, okay. So some locations are. Yeah, I used to.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Work. I'll ask our desktop guys that.

[Ed Gaudette]

Question. Okay, well, if they love Improvado, they'll. They'll love the question. If they don't love it, that might.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Be. I'll get back to.

[Ed Gaudette]

You. It can be challenging. It's a workflow. You're integrating identity and access management with workflow. And it's hard.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Right? Yes, absolutely. I mean, you could say the same thing about scanners for.

[Ed Gaudette]

Medications. Exactly. Same thing, exactly. Right, Right. Cool. And so, you know, as you look out over the next 12, 24 months, what are some of your top.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Priorities? For me, again, being in the virtual space, I'm quite excited because we've been able to really impact patient care by standardizing just the tools in the EHR alone. Haven't really needed any fancy cameras, anything like that, which is awesome from a virtual standpoint. But what is really incredible is, you know, after Covid, I went to a conference and just saw a significant amount of vendors getting into the virtual nursing space. And it blew my mind because we had gone with some legacy technology, and you could just see these other vendors have taken it way beyond our imagination. So I'm really looking forward to kind of that smart room of the future and what we can do with computer vision and ambient technology and taking it a step further with maybe even some agentic AI to really be that agent for the nurse while they're in the room and just really get the nurses out of the EHR and just allow them to provide that care and use technology and design it to just really make it streamlined. You know, we're walking in the room, we're assessing pain. Our computer flashes up on the last time we gave pain medicine, starts drafting up a response to the physician to ask for a new order, you know, then documents the pain, the reassessment, the turning we do of the patient. I really just want to focus on how we can work with these companies to develop that solution for nursing, and we're beginning those conversations, and so I'm really excited to start that.

[Ed Gaudette]

Work. Nice. Like, you can imagine you have an AI agent in your ear kind of helping you through the process. Like, we have ambient listening today for certain use cases, and. Yeah, no, that Would be great that clinicians could spend more time with patients, which is the ultimate goal. But we're not there.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Yet. Yeah, but just even imagine the patient being a part of that care because we're happy to hear out loud and say all the things that we're doing and ask all the questions out loud. And then even having that agent say, hey, saw what you did, but you missed these two steps on the protocol, like, don't forget to do that before you. And really training it to know what we should be doing again was in operations and brought on a lot of the newer nurses as what we called an educator and had to build that foundation for them. And as you know, we're having a lot of turnover in nursing and nurses just don't know what they don't know until they experience it. And so how can we teach them in the moment, provide them the resource in the moment and keep that quality of care for the patient? I'm really excited for these tools because, to be honest, we've tried to build these checklists and EPIC and fire alerts to the nurses and we're fatiguing them and we're telling them stuff they already know. I don't have time to do this. Yeah, why can't we tell them and do it for them? You know, a lot of that risk and barriers that we have with the.

[Ed Gaudette]

Ehr. No, I love that. I love that. And you can imagine the patient having their own advocate as well, participating. So you've got the clinical side has agents and the patient advocate now has an agent that says something like, oh, hey, remember you just had this NSAID issue now that you need to make sure your doctor knows about. Right. And so there's certain, obviously reactions you could have to certain antibiotics or other drugs. So that could be really interesting. I think we'll get there. I still looking forward to the day where everything is sort of done at the home or I can walk into a little box.

[Brittany Cyriax]

And. Yeah, I mean, everybody wants to be.

[Ed Gaudette]

Out. Yeah, like get my scan and my, my meds come from somewhere, who knows where. But no, it's really cool. And how did you get into this line of work? How did you get into.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Healthcare? Healthcare? Well, I mean, I am a type 1 diabetic. I was diagnosed when I was 10. We lived in Korea at the time. My dad was in the military and it was kind of a misdiagnosed situation that ended up kind of scarily for my parents. And, you know, all was well kind of after I came out of this coma. But they kind of said, you got to go back to the United States. We can't really care for your daughter here. So we moved back. And then I think just naturally having to go to the doctor as much as you do as a diabetic, you know, every three months you're checking in with your endocrinologist, making adjustments. I think that just lends itself, like you're already around healthcare. So it seems like a pretty natural transition. But also I grew up with these physicians and just everything that I went through, they were kind of a coach. And so I feel like I've really been able to make relationships with complete strangers. I always tell people I can talk to a brick wall. Really? I try and like, yeah, yeah, the same way.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah. My wife doesn't like it. You're talking to some complete stranger. Yeah, I.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Know. My husband's always like, you met someone who talks more than you? My God. Ye. So it just lends itself nicely to making people feel comfortable and their most vulnerable. So got into healthcare for that. I never thought, obviously when I got into healthcare that I'd be in it. But I really do feel like with every career path that I've taken, I really work well in the gray, especially when there's not just one right answer. And the way my mind works is breaking down a problem into bite sized pieces and finding a solution at every bite size so that people can really envision implementing step by step and make it more attainable. And so I think I've done really well in this role because of that. And that's kind of why I got into informatics after being in nursing, is because I saw how much easier I was making it for newer nurses to understand and feel like they could achieve success in a work that they're.

[Ed Gaudette]

Doing. Nice. I love that unlike any other industry, healthcare has a shared mission. That if you work in healthcare, you really appreciate no matter what side of the ecosystem you're on, whether you're on the provider side or the vendor side, it's a very unique, special place to work. And when it's personal, it adds even that next level of empathy that you don't always get. I love that. I remember when I first went into healthcare. Finally my mother knew what I did. She could understand. The only problem is every time she go to the hospital, she'd say, my son made this. My son invented this. Like, I didn't do that, mom. This one I did, but not that.

[Brittany Cyriax]

One. I know, I know. Well now, I mean, you like in it you have imposter Syndrome kind of big time. Because everyone's like, you're not a real nurse. And I'm like, I'm a nurse's nurse. I can tell you right now, I can remember how an NG tube in and an.

[Ed Gaudette]

Iv. I love.

[Brittany Cyriax]

That. You know, I'll jump right on.

[Ed Gaudette]

In. Yeah, we just hired somebody new for a new function. I'm like, he's a player's coach, if you know what that.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Means. Like.

[Ed Gaudette]

Right? Yeah.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Yeah. You gotta, you gotta be in the weeds for sure. With them, you know, and feel it. Yeah, you.

[Ed Gaudette]

Do. I mean, how can you empathize with people if you haven't actually done it, Done the work or the pain or been through the challenges? Because it's. It's hard. This is not.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Easy.

[Ed Gaudette]

Absolutely. And I come from a family of nurses and I watch what they do and I mean, that's God's work right there. I don't know how you stand on your feet all.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Day. Yeah, the steps. Gotta get the steps.

[Ed Gaudette]

In. Oh, yeah, yeah. You know, that's funny. That's what they say. Yeah, he's talking about this. Oh, okay. So it is something.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Interesting. It is a.

[Ed Gaudette]

Thing. Yeah. I get them when I'm on the, at the events. I get the steps. I'm like, you know, well, hopefully.

[Brittany Cyriax]

You'Re going to a lot of.

[Ed Gaudette]

Events. Oh, thank you. It's so nice. Yeah, my phone yells at me. They're like, you've done more steps in three days than you have in three.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Months. You're like, don't tell me what I already.

[Ed Gaudette]

Know. Yeah, I'm feeling it, I'm feeling it. So, you know, you go back in time and you can see your 20 year old self there. What would you say to.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Her? Well, I am.

[Ed Gaudette]

20. You started working when you were.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Three. That smart pretty easily. Just knowing, like, not to be the smartest person in the room. I like to remain relatable and I like to make sure people know they can challenge me. I just think when you're in innovation, you really need to just make sure everybody feels like every idea is a good idea and have that.

[Ed Gaudette]

Conversation.

[Brittany Cyriax]

And. And so I really do. Like, you know, if I don't know an answer, I'll go find it for you. But just really making sure, you know, you go to an interaction to learn something.

[Ed Gaudette]

Is. I love that. I think that might be new. I don't think I've heard that. I.

[Ed Gaudet]

Think. No, I love that.

[Ed Gaudette]

Advice. I love that advice because oftentimes we do have to. Either we feel like we have to Be the smartest person in the room. Or if we're not the smartest person in the room, then we feel inferior about the.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Experience. That ego, you know, check the ego at the.

[Ed Gaudette]

Door. The ego. Right. More philosophy. More.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Philosophy. I mean, just think of all the bias you bring in and stuff. Like I said, when you're taking care of patients, like, the more you can ground yourself in. It's not about me, it's about the patient. I think that's a great.

[Ed Gaudette]

Thing. Yeah. And doctors, of course, have no bias or no.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Ego. No, no. No American. No American has a.

[Ed Gaudette]

Bias. That's true. All right. With the land of bias, I.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Think. Yeah.

[Ed Gaudette]

Probably. Oh, man. Okay, good. This is the Risk Never Sleeps podcast. So I have to ask you this question. What's the riskiest thing you've ever.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Done? I mean, what I could talk about professionally. I.

[Ed Gaudette]

Think I love the.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Disclaimer. Yeah, yeah. No, I. Getting into clinical informatics was a big risk because, like I said, I was an. And what I was doing before, and then I had to go work with a bunch of IT people who are a totally different breed, totally different language. There was a solid six months that I was like, yeah, if this doesn't get any better, I. I gotta go back to what I was doing. It was really hard. So that was a big risk, and I'm glad I took it. I had a mentor at the time that was like, you won't be sorry. And the whole time I was like, I'm feeling pretty sorry. But I do. I think our organization is really great and uses this role in a phenomenal way. I report directly to a chief nursing officer who's been really supportive of my growth and partnership. So I'd say professionally, and then I think personally, just becoming a mom was a huge risk. I think that's like the ultimate leadership challenge right there. And trying to coach these kids when their life is being framed in technology and still, like, as an adult, trying to learn it yourself is. There's no manual. You're literally, like, every day I'm making something.

[Ed Gaudette]

Happen. Amen. No, it's. I just became a.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Grandparent.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah. And I can't even say.

[Brittany Cyriax]

It. I know that's hard. What do they call you? What do they call.

[Ed Gaudette]

You? They didn't want. No, they wanted to call me a bunch of names, but I wanted to be called Pepe.

[Brittany Cyriax]

So. Pepe.

[Ed Gaudette]

Okay. So I had to actually sell it because they're like. My daughter's like, yeah, no, we're not. We're not calling you Pepe. I'm like, no, no, no, no. She's like, yeah, the kid will call you Pee Pee. We're not calling you Pepe. So I had to make T shirts, Brittany. With Team Pepe on.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Them. Oh, that's.

[Ed Gaudette]

Awesome. He was born and.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Given. Why aren't you wearing that on this.

[Ed Gaudette]

Podcast? I appreciate the confidence that could fit into a 1T or a 2T even. And of course, I had to decorate it with a little gr. Dead.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Stuff. Yeah. Okay.

[Ed Gaudette]

Nice. I got a little dead. He's already got some dead bibs, so he's a little bit of a dead. He's like six. Six months now. Seven months.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Yeah.

[Ed Gaudette]

A. It's so.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Cool. Sounds like you're enjoying.

[Ed Gaudette]

It. We're having.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Fun.

[Ed Gaudette]

He's. Yeah. I. I become the person I hope I did never. Became the doting grandparent. I've become the, like, I take more photos of. Yeah, I know, I know. I know it sounds awful to say, but it's like, I hope I don't become one of those people that is always, like, you know, posting about food on Facebook or posting about my dog or my grandkid on Facebook. And now.

[Brittany Cyriax]

I know you have an Instagram page for just posts of you and.

[Ed Gaudette]

Your. I don't do the Instagram. I don't do the Instagram. Yeah, you don't do. No, I don't do the Instagram and Tick Tock or whatever the talk it is. I don't know what the talk. I don't.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Know. I also don't do the.

[Ed Gaudette]

Talk. Yeah, I don't. My kids all. I have three daughters. They all do the talk. And I don't get. I don't like. I don't get it. Like, I read a voracious reader. If you ever really want to read something that's so dark, in fact, it's in the title. It's in the title. Dark Aon.

[Brittany Cyriax]

It's. No, I'm not. I'm not a dark type of. You.

[Ed Gaudette]

Know. Listen to this. Transhumanism and the war against.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Humanity.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah. About. Yeah. This is like. Someone just recommended it, so of course I had to buy it. And I'm like.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Reading. I'll go ahead and get the Cliff.

[Ed Gaudette]

Notes. It's terrible. It's awful. It's like the end of the world as we know it. And I don't feel.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Fine. We don't. We don't need any more of.

[Ed Gaudette]

That. I know, Exactly. We need to move to Colorado or.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Boulder. Yes. For the.

[Ed Gaudette]

Mountains. That's for the mountain. Do you.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Ski. I.

[Ed Gaudette]

Do. Ah. I was just at Park City not to ski for a class.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Event. Yeah. And what did you.

[Ed Gaudette]

Think? Utah. Utah, right. Yeah, that's in.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Utah. It was cold there, yet it was.

[Ed Gaudette]

Great. No, it was nice. It's beautiful. I've never been to this particular lodge. It was quite nice and. But I have skied at Snowbird and.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Alta. Are you a good.

[Ed Gaudette]

Skier? I was back then, yeah. But I'm not anymore because I have jello hip or whatever you want to call.

[Brittany Cyriax]

It. It's a little risky if you.

[Ed Gaudette]

Don'T. I love. I skied all my life. Yeah. I ballet skied. Ballet.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Skied. I don't even know what that.

[Ed Gaudette]

Is. Neither did I. It was very short skis, like 1.

[Brittany Cyriax]

40S.

[Ed Gaudette]

Okay. Very short. A lot of jumps and tricks and, you know, and three 60s and spread Eagles and J's and flips and screens that I should not been doing when I was.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Younger. But I just straight up do the pizza and I do it for a couple pizza. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I do the.

[Ed Gaudette]

Pizza. The wedge. The.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Wedge. Yep. And I do it for a couple times just so I can say it's all right that I'm having a mimosa at, you know, 11. So that's my skiing. If you.

[Ed Gaudette]

Can. The excuse for the mimosa. Well, the best way to learn how to parallel. Well, first of all, I mean, you're in powder heaven. So all you gotta do is just lean a little forward and make sure you don't hit the mogul.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Field.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah. If you get a balloon and just. Yeah. And just hold it between your legs. That's the best way to learn how to.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Parallel. Everyone will look at me like I'm.

[Ed Gaudette]

Insane. Who cares? Do you care? Who cares? You're on ski.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Slopes. They're gonna be like, stay away from that girl because she'll make sure we're injured. I don't know. I'll try.

[Ed Gaudette]

It. You could be cooler. You get on a board that I can't.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Do. I did try it and I did like a 360 on the ground. Like, fractured a rib. I won't be.

[Ed Gaudette]

Back. I did. You.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Broke? Yeah. And it was during lessons. Like, I feel like they should have protected me from that.

[Ed Gaudette]

Situation. That's not good. Yeah. No, I've never been on a board. I. I just. Yeah, but. Yeah, unfortunately, no longer. But I do miss it. I have dreams about skiing. I know. That's how much I miss it. Yeah. Anyway, so. All right, let's get back to the question. Did you tell me the riskiest thing about. Yeah, you.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Did. I did. It probably wasn't a new.

[Ed Gaudette]

Answer. No, it was good. It was good.

[Brittany Cyriax]

No. Can't do it for.

[Ed Gaudette]

Everyone. No, that's right. That's right. No, you had some good answers. All right. If you weren't doing this, what would you be doing? What are you most passionate about.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Doing? If I weren't doing this.

[Ed Gaudette]

Job. Yeah, if you weren't doing this job. You have any hobbies.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Or. Oh, yeah. Well, I think I'm in a house full of boys, and I'm about to get a dog that's a boy. But if we're not cheering on the Nebraska Corn Huskers. Go, Big.

[Ed Gaudette]

Red. Go, Big.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Red. We're watching some kind of sports, playing sports, arguing about sports. I beat them a lot in fantasy football, believe it or.

[Ed Gaudette]

Not. I'm glad you qualified that.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Yeah. I do something, but my mother.

[Ed Gaudette]

Just beat me a lot. There was no fantasy football. I just got beaten a.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Lot. I beat them a lot in fantasy.

[Ed Gaudette]

Football. Yeah. Nice, nice. That's interesting that you play fantasy football. I've talked to so many people recently that play it, and I just never got my. I've been schooled now, so I kind of understand how it's.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Played.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah. I went to Vegas recently and I did a prop bet. Do you know what that.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Is? Have no.

[Ed Gaudette]

Idea. Okay. A prop bet is where instead of betting on the team, you can bet on, like, the quarterback throws X number of.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Passes. Oh.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yes. The receiver catches Y number of passes, or a running.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Back. Isn't that like a parlay? Yeah, there it.

[Ed Gaudette]

Is.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Yes. You can.

[Ed Gaudette]

Do. Yeah, yeah. You have, like, three or four, two things together, and if they hit, you win. Of course, I did not win because, you.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Know. Yeah.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah. But it was fun because you watch sports at a different.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Level. Yeah. When you're more engaged. Yeah, yeah. And I say that's the reason I started fancy football, like, a decade ago, is I realized, well, this is how we're spending a lot of our life. And so either I've got to spend time. Right. This is what they consider quality time, or find my own hobbies. And so fantasy football kind of keeps me engaged with the.

[Ed Gaudette]

Boys. That's good. Yeah. No, that's.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Good.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah. I mean, you could have had geeky kids like me, and you'd be playing Dungeon and Dragons. I'm not sure that's, like, the.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Fun. That's true. That's.

[Ed Gaudette]

True. Yeah. That's good. All right, so a couple more questions. If you're on a Desert Island. You could bring five records or albums with you. What would you.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Bring? Well, sorry, it's not gonna be Grateful Dead.

[Ed Gaudette]

Okay. There's plenty of islands out there I could be on. I don't have to be on your.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Island. Yeah, I think probably friends, because I feel like that show never gets old to me. I could probably watch it the rest of my life.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Good. Definitely. You know, I like to lift weights and, you know, the island may or may not have weights, but I need to have a workout video because if I'm going to be stranded, I'm coming back in the best shape of my life for.

[Ed Gaudette]

Sure. Yeah. This is not Muscle beach, but it's Muscle island, so you'll be.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Fine. There you go. And then, I don't know, something to keep me. Like we were talking about. I can talk to a brick wall. So I'm going to go insane without someone to talk to. So something upbeat so I'm not just talking to myself all day.

[Ed Gaudette]

Long.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Nice. You know, I don't know. I like a lot of Cardi B. Britney Spears. I'm a Britney Spears fan. Yeah, you.

[Ed Gaudette]

Know. You like.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Lizzo. She's all right. No, you know, there was a lot of hype about her, so I don't.

[Ed Gaudette]

Know. She had a couple good.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Songs. Yeah. It doesn't seem like we share a lot of, you know, similar music.

[Ed Gaudette]

Interests. But you like.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Journey? I mean, who doesn't like.

[Ed Gaudette]

Journey? Well, that there.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Is. Yeah. I like Hootie and the.

[Ed Gaudette]

Blowfish. Hootie. Yeah.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Nice. Yeah, I like older country music, so I don't.

[Ed Gaudette]

Know. Not the new.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Stuff. It's okay. Yeah, it's all.

[Ed Gaudette]

Right. You heard of Zach Brian? You know Zach.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Brian? Yeah.

[Ed Gaudette]

Yeah. You like Zach.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Bryan? I do. I just. I mean, I feel like he kind of sounds like older.

[Ed Gaudette]

Country. Yeah, you know, he does. So he's like almost like a country.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Springsteen. Yeah, that's so I kind.

[Ed Gaudette]

Of. You like.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Springsteen? I think I like. No.

[Ed Gaudette]

No. Don't like.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Springsteen.

[Ed Gaudette]

Sorry.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Wow. No.

[Ed Gaudette]

Sorry. No racing in the streets for you? No, no. Okay. All right, last question. If you're talking to a graduate, recent graduate, wanted to get into healthcare, wanted to get an IT informatics. What would advice would you give her or.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Him? Yeah, actually. And I get a lot of people reaching out to me about this work. I think when you're a newer nurse and you're kind of in the thick of it and how hard it is right now, a position like mine looks in their mind cushier than kind of what they're going through. And I really caution them that's not the case and that you really have to do the work and know what the work is like to do well in a position like mine. If you really do want to make nurses lives easier, you have to live through it. And it can't just be one or two years right in the profession. And so I think sticking with it, really getting your core foundation as a nurse together, but getting involved in those extra committees, making sure your voice is heard when we're asking you to come to the table for projects, really representing your role to the technology companies, because we don't do anything in a silo. We really do ask for the nurses to come to the table here when we're engaging in projects. And so just being engaged in that way and having control over what tools are going to impact them from their day to day. Just imagine if we can solve their problems because of the engagement and they actually want to stay at the bedside. I think at the end of the day, that's really what I'm after for the workforce, is to solve real problems for them and not only just solve problems, but create something that's a resource to them because they're not going to know everything. And it gets really scary when you're in a situation with a patient and you don't know what to.

[Ed Gaudette]

Do.

[Brittany Cyriax]

Right. And so I think just really you have to go through all that to appreciate the value that would bring and the problems that you're trying to solve. So my advice is, you know, stick with it, stay engaged, do the extra raising of your hand, use your voice, advocate for the profession and then thanking them just for the hard work and being there and continuing to.

[Ed Gaudette]

Learn. That's great advice and thank you for your time. It's really a pleasure talking to you today on the on the program. This is Ed Gaudette from the Risk Never Sleeps podcast. If you're on the front lines protecting patient safety and delivering patient care, remember to stay vigilant because risk never.

[Ed Gaudet]

Sleeps. Thanks for listening to Risk Never Sleeps for the show, notes, resources and more information and how to transform the protection of patient safety, Visit [e-mail] that's C-E N S I N-E-T.com I'm your host, Ed Gaudet. And until next time, stay vigilant because risk never.