On a recent episode of the All One Nurse Podcast, I had the honor of sitting down with Ebony Gonzales, registered nurse, Marine Corps veteran, informatics nurse, educator, leader, and founder of The Nurse Preceptor LLC. Our conversation explored her journey through nursing, leadership, and entrepreneurship, and the heart behind her mission to support novice nurses and strengthen the preceptor experience.
What stood out most was this: mentorship is not optional in nursing, it is essential. From the bedside to leadership to innovation, nurses need guidance, encouragement, structure, and support to thrive. Ebony’s story reminds us that when we invest in nurses early, we are shaping the future of healthcare itself.
Below are the five key lessons on innovation and leadership I learned from Ebony Gonzales, RN.
1. Why Mentorship Matters in Nursing
One of the strongest themes from our conversation was the transformative power of mentorship and preceptorship. Ebony spoke candidly about how a preceptor can shape, strengthen, or sometimes hinder a new nurse’s transition into practice. She emphasized that new nurses do not enter the profession wanting to fail—they need support, direction, emotional safety, and context for what they are learning.
This aligns with the American Nurses Association (ANA), which describes mentorship as a supportive relationship in which an experienced nurse guides the development of a less experienced nurse. The ANA notes that mentorship creates meaningful opportunities for growth and career advancement.
Similarly, the National League for Nursing (NLN) views mentoring as a deliberate strategy for professional development and healthy work environments across the career continuum.
In other words, mentorship isn’t just encouragement—it’s a professional investment.
2. The Difference Between Task Training and True Development
Ebony highlighted a challenge many nurses recognize: the gap between teaching tasks and developing judgment. When preceptors focus solely on routines—what to do and when to do it—without explaining the why, new nurses may complete tasks without building critical thinking.
This insight is especially important in a healthcare environment shaped by technology, policies, time pressures, and increasingly complex patient needs. New nurses need more than checklists. They need coaching that builds reasoning, reflection, and confidence.
One of Ebony’s most powerful reminders was simple: always ask why. That mindset helps nurses move beyond compliance into understanding—and beyond survival into growth.
3. Nurse‑Led Innovation Begins with Seeing the Gap
Ebony’s work is a beautiful example of nurse‑led innovation. She noticed a recurring gap in how novice nurses and preceptors were being supported, and instead of ignoring it, she built something to address it. Her journal and business were born out of real clinical observation, patient safety concerns, and a desire to equip nurses better.
This is what innovation in nursing often looks like. It isn’t always flashy. Sometimes it begins with one nurse asking:
Why does this keep happening? How can we do this better?
Globally, major nursing organizations continue to emphasize leadership, development, and innovation as essential to strengthening health systems. The World Health Organization (WHO) highlights nursing leadership and policy development as critical to global health, and the International Council of Nurses (ICN) identifies leadership development as central to advancing the profession.
When nurses create tools, educational resources, systems, or businesses that improve practice and support transitions, that is nurse‑led innovation in action.
4. Data Matters, but So Does Discernment
Another valuable takeaway was Ebony’s perspective on informatics and bedside care. She described technology as a tool that supports decision‑making—but never replaces clinical judgment. Data can reveal trends and confirm what a nurse is observing, but it is only as useful as the person entering it and the clinician interpreting it.
In a world increasingly driven by electronic records and automated prompts, nursing still requires human discernment. Assessment matters. Listening matters. Critical thinking matters. Patients are never just data points.
5. Listening to Patients Still Matters
Ebony shared a vulnerable story from early in her career about a medication moment she never forgot. That experience shaped how she teaches nurses today: listen to the patient, pause, and verify.
Her story underscores a truth every nurse knows: patients often tell us what the chart does not. Their voice, their body language, their concerns, and their lived experience can protect them when something is off. This is the human side of healthcare we can never afford to lose.
Meet Ebony Gonzalez, MBA-HCM, BSN, RN, NI-BC
Ebony Gonzales is a nurse with more than 15 years of experience across acute care, nurse management, and informatics. She is a Marine Corps veteran and the founder of The Nurse Preceptor LLC, a platform designed to support novice nurses and the preceptors who guide them. She also created the Vade Mecum Journal, a guided resource that helps new graduate nurses navigate their first year with clarity, confidence, and reflection.
Her perspective is both practical and visionary. She understands what it means to lead, what it means to teach, and what it means to stay connected to the realities of bedside nursing.
Conclusion
My conversation with Ebony Gonzales was a powerful reminder that the future of nursing will not be shaped by knowledge alone. It will be shaped by mentorship, courage, reflection, leadership, and innovation.
When we support new nurses well, we strengthen patient care. When we develop preceptors well, we build healthier cultures. And when nurses turn lived experience into tools and solutions, innovation becomes more than a buzzword—it becomes a calling.
Ebony’s work is proof that one nurse can identify a gap and create change that reaches far beyond one unit, one role, or one organization.
Call to Action
In what ways has your own preceptor experience influenced the way you lead, teach, or mentor nurses coming behind you?
If you could redesign the preceptor experience based on what you lived through as a new nurse, what would you change first?
I’d love for you to listen to this episode of the All One Nurse Podcast and reflect on what mentorship and innovation mean in your own nursing journey.
Ebony is expanding her work to support not only new nurses, but also the preceptors responsible for training them introducing a more structured, competency-based approach to orientation.
Contact form for those interested in a pilot: https://www.thenursepreceptor.com/contact/
Share the Impact
Share this newsletter and episode with a fellow nurse, nursing student, educator, or leader who needs this encouragement.
Resources Referenced
- American Nurses Association — Mentorship Resources and Leadership Guidance
- National League for Nursing — Mentoring Toolkit
- World Health Organization — Nursing Leadership and Strategic Direction Resources
- International Council of Nurses — Leadership Centre Resources
Listen & Take the Next Step
🎧 Episode: Mentorship in Motion — Ebony Gonzalez, RN
🟣Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mentorship-in-motion-ebony-gonzalez-rn-the-nurse/id1755700754?i=1000727355254
🟢Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/episode/12kVxtqghkYSU9LpMEx2VO?si=q3VjUdCvSb26RZ3ExgSr7Q
🌐 Explore → Resources, mentorship, and tools: All One Nurse Linktree –https://linktr.ee/allonenurse
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