Nurses are not a cost to the system; they are the system’s greatest source of value.

In this episode, Dr. Olga Yakusheva, an internationally recognized economist and professor at Johns Hopkins University, discusses the true economic value of nursing and how reframing nurses as human capital—rather than labor costs- can transform healthcare outcomes and financial sustainability. She shares her personal story of caring for her mother, which inspired her to dedicate her career to quantifying the value nurses bring to patients, organizations, and societies. Dr. Yakusheva introduces the Nursing Human Capital Value Model, explaining how investing in nurses directly improves outcomes, reduces burnout, and strengthens healthcare systems. She also explores how AI can relieve nurses of administrative burdens, allowing them to focus on the human connection at the heart of care.

Tune in and learn how reimagining the economics of nursing can reshape healthcare for good!

About Dr. Olga Yakusheva:

Dr. Olga Yakusheva is an internationally recognized economist and professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. As a leading expert on the economic value of nursing, her research bridges healthcare and economics to demonstrate how nurses generate measurable value across patient outcomes, financial performance, and organizational sustainability. Her work has been featured in top journals, including JAMA and The Review of Economics and Statistics. Dr. Yakusheva is the lead author of the Nursing Human Capital Value Model and the Value-Informed Nursing Practice and Leadership Model, frameworks that are transforming how healthcare systems understand and invest in nursing. Her research has influenced global conversations about workforce strategy, nurse staffing, and the role of human connection in delivering high-quality care.

Things You’ll Learn:

• The Nursing Human Capital Value Model reframes nurses as vital assets who generate value and revenue, not as costs to be minimized.
• Investing in nurses—through staffing, education, and support—directly improves patient outcomes and healthcare efficiency.
• The economic framework of outcomes over cost is flawed because it ignores how better investment in nursing drives those very outcomes.
• AI has the potential to reduce nurses’ administrative workload, allowing them to spend more time on meaningful patient care and mentorship.
• True transformation requires including nurses in every innovation and policy discussion—nothing about nurses without nurses.

Resources:

• Connect with and follow Dr. Olga Yakusheva on LinkedIn.
• Follow Johns Hopkins School of Nursing on LinkedIn and discover their website!
• Read the latest articles of the International Journal of Nursing Studies  here.
• Read Dr. Yakusheva’s article Value-Informed Nursing Practice Can Help Reset the Hospital-Nurse Relationship on JAMA.
• Find out more about Dr. Yakusheva’s article The Nursing Human Capital Value Model here.