Why Nurses Need to Build Responsible AI Tools Now, With Sharonda Davis

Oct 8, 2026

23:32

Nursing Health IT Digital Health & Health Tech Health Policy Public Health

Episode Description

Can a nurse who doesn't code still build an AI tool that shapes federal policy?

On this episode of the Love n' Leary Nursing Podcast, hosts Marion Leary, PhD, MPH, RN, and Rebecca Love, RN, MSN, FIEL, sit down with Sharonda Davis, MSN, RN, health tech strategist and futurist, and a PCU nurse at a Level I trauma hospital who built Nurses Voice Matters, an AI-enabled platform that helped nurses submit public comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on how AI should be reimbursed in clinical care.

The three talk about why Sharonda shifted her stance on AI after sitting through the CMS workshops, how she built a working comment platform using Claude Code, ChatGPT Codex, and GitHub without a software background, and what she means by responsible AI, from resource use to patient privacy to a prompting discipline grounded in clinical reasoning. They also get into FHIR, the standard that lets outside tools talk to Epic and other EHRs, and what it opens up for nurses who want to build small tools for the problems that eat their shifts.

Sharonda, who comes from more than a hundred years of nurses in her family, makes the case that nurses have to be the ones writing the tools, writing the comments, and shaping the standards that will decide how AI shows up at the bedside. If you've been waiting for permission to start, this episode is it.

Listen to the Love n' Leary Nursing Podcast at nurse.org/news/love-n-leary-nursing-podcast or search Love n' Leary Nursing Podcast on all podcasting players.

Article: Why Nurses Need to Build Responsible AI Tools Now, With Sharonda Davis

Jump Ahead:

00:58: Welcome and guest introduction.
02:20: What drew Sharonda in: the workshops on CPT codes and AI reimbursement, and why they made her rethink her position on AI in healthcare.
03:18: Introducing Nurses Voice Matters, the platform Sharonda built for nurses to submit public comments.
05:30: Why the platform worked for nurses: it prompted them to put their actual clinical skills and knowledge into the comment.
07:50: "Prompt from a problem": Sharonda's rule for using AI responsibly, plus water consumption and getting called out by Gen Z at home.
11:10: How she built it without coding: Claude Code, ChatGPT Codex, GitHub. The earlier nurse prompt hub, shadow AI tracking, and why Nurses Voice Matters was deliberately the safer build. 50 clicks, 30 submissions, and why she held back on promotion.
14:03: Rebecca on nurse-led innovation and integrity, and why Sharonda should see herself as a forefront voice in this space.
16:10: Sharonda's background: founding NurseBlock, five years in Atlanta's blockchain community, and more than 100 years of nurses in her family.
19:22: FHIR, Epic, Oracle Health, and the open door for nurses to build EHR-integrated tools. "If it's irking you at work, build it."
22:13: Sharonda's final thanks: "keep trying, eventually something has got to give."

Guest links:

Connect with Sharonda on LinkedIn
Nurses Voice Matters on GitHub
eCQI Resource Center - FHIR: Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources
Society of Nurse Scientists, Innovators, Entrepreneurs & Leaders: SONSIEL.org

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