(Photo by Rowan Daly; Courtesy Full Scope PR)
Blake Lynch, known to his millions of fans across the globe as Nurse Blake, is an Orlando native and nursing graduate from the University of Central Florida who has amassed a huge online following thanks to his light-hearted, comical look at being a nurse in the U.S. health care industry.
In less than a decade, Lynch has gone from 12-hour nursing shifts to being an online comedian who has accumulated 1 million followers each on TikTok and Instagram, 204,000 on YouTube and 1.8 million on Facebook. His journey from ICU nurse to social media influencer began in 2017 when Lynch found himself needing an outlet.
“I was stressed out, burnt out and I started developing a lot of anxiety, and I had one of my very first panic attacks driving home from work,” Lynch says. “I was about four years into my career and I needed a way to share my story, to let me laugh and vent. So, I started creating videos on Facebook.”
Lynch started getting attention for his videos almost immediately, first with family and friends and then from other nurses.
“We connected and they understood what I was going through,” he says. “It made me realize I wasn’t alone and it helped me, and continues to help me, so I continue to do them.”
Lynch’s first viral video, an infomercial parody for a product he calls a Scrub Romper, was published on Facebook on May 19, 2017 and has more than 3.7 million views.
“There was this viral story where these guys, like these frat boys, created a male onesie, like a male romper,” Lynch recalls. “I was like ‘shit, that looks so comfortable,’ so I ran to my closet and literally got scissors and pins and cut up an old pair of scrubs and made a onesie, everyone calls it a ‘scrumper,’ and I danced ridiculously in the video.”
The video attracted so much attention that local news outlets started to reach out to Lynch.
“I didn’t realize what going viral meant until that happened,” he says. “It was so cool to see the response from nurses watching it in breakrooms and professors showing it to their classes.”
Lynch’s online persona has allowed him to create a successful brand that has become a full-time business with more than a dozen staff members. It has taken him on the road with two worldwide tours — 2022’s “PTO Comedy Tour” and the “Shock Advised Comedy Tour,” which he is still currently on with dates scheduled through the end of the year, including local stops at the King Center in Melbourne Dec. 3 and Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater Dec.5.
“What’s so cool is whenever I do a show in a city, just seeing the diversity and nurses and specialty backgrounds all together, and they come in big groups of 20 or 30 people,” he says. “Seeing that keeps me going and giving nurses a night out to just come and drink and have a good time, which they absolutely deserve.”
His Nurse Blake persona has also opened doors for Lynch to author a children’s book, publish a quarterly magazine, build a popular line of merchandise and create NurseCon at Sea, something Lynch pursued because of his past experiences with nursing conferences.
“I realized while in nursing school that nursing conferences suck; they are so boring, so bland and so stale,” Lynch says. “I wanted to create a conference that is about giving nurses a better education experience, letting them find a balance between fun and professionalism.”
NurseCon at Sea, the ultimate nursing conference aboard a cruise ship, is now in its third year. The annual event takes about 3,500 nurses on the open water to attend educational courses all while celebrating with theme nights and parties.
Lynch is now taking what he learned creating NurseCon at Sea and is expanding it to a five-day, four-night landlocked Nursing Conference that will premiere at the Loews Sapphire Falls Resort at Universal Orlando Sept. 22-26. While the initial conference will be in Orlando, it will move to a new city each year.
“I think NurseCon Orlando hits a different audience,” Lynch says. “Not everyone has a passport or likes to go on cruises, so we are reaching a different audience with this one. People can also bring their families if they want. They can’t participate in the conference but they can be there at the resort and go to the parks.”
Lynch adds that there will be a heavier focus on education at NurseCon Orlando.
“We are offering a lot more workshops and hands-on experiences than we can on a cruise ship just because of space,” he says. “For the first time we are having an expo hall and having exhibitors. While you are going to get similar things that you do at NurseCon at Sea, this is going to be a more unique experience.”
NurseCon Orlando will offer more than 40 CNE hours taught by 13 instructors, and will include courses in pharmacy, pediatrics, mental health, nursing practice and more, as well as training-focused escape rooms and simulations.
“Any health care professional is welcome to attend but mostly it’s for all nurses,” Lynch says. “What we found is that so many nursing conferences are so specific, they segment nurses and put them into silos. At NurseCon we believe that no matter how long you have been a nurse or what specialty you’re in, we can all learn from each other. Our audience is so loving and so diverse.”
The conference is also bringing plenty of fun and parties to the week with live game shows like “Nurse Feud!” and “Password,” a Disco Rodeo Party (think Beyonce’s “Cowboy Carter”), a Night at the Carnival, a drag show featuring “RuPaul’s Drag Race” queens Nina West and Coco Montrese, and, of course, a live performance of Nurse Blake Live! featuring Lynch.
“We will have DJs and dancers, it’s all very interactive,” Lynch says. “If you want to come just for the parties, then come for the parties; if you just want to come for the education, just come for the education. It’s all up to you.”
Lynch is approaching the conference with a renewed excitement and energy. Earlier this summer, Lynch posted to his social media accounts that he was taking a month away to work on his mental wellbeing.
“I’m 33 now,” Lynch says. “When I was 15-18, my parents put me through conversion therapy, and I didn’t realize that that trauma would affect me later in life, in my 30’s. I’ve been able to joke about it but it really hit my mental health in a way that it has never impacted me before a few years ago.”
Lynch checked himself into the Beachway Therapy Center in West Palm Beach in July, taking 30 days away from social media and touring to work on his mental health.
“I have such a great team around me now,” he says, “that I finally trust everyone to keep this train moving while I stepped away because my own train was off the tracks and I needed to get realigned. … I was receiving counseling every day, all day. I was having 7–8-hour group sessions, individual sessions; it was the best thing for me because I have been so addicted to working that I was in just a very dark place and just those 30 days disconnecting I was able to realize who I am and what I want. Taking those 30 days off was the best thing I could have done.”
Whether it is through his nursing conferences, the tours or his viral videos, Lynch says that his goal isn’t to be at a certain point in life five or 10 years from now, rather it is to help nurses and nursing students throughout their nursing journey for however long this ride continues.
“I don’t know where Nurse Blake is going to be two years from now, I don’t know where NurseCon is going to be five years from now. But right now, I am having fun and I’m enjoying it,” Lynch says. “Those who interact with Nurse Blake and attend NurseCon seem to be enjoying it, so as long as I’m enjoying it and they’re enjoying it, I’ll keep doing it.”
NurseCon Orlando will be held at the Loews Sapphire Falls Resort at universal Orlando Sept. 22-26. For pricing, course listings, schedules and to register, go to NurseConEvents.com.
Nurse Blake is bringing “The Shock Advised Tour” to the King Center for the Performing Arts in Melbourne Dec. 3 and Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater Dec. 5. Tickets are available at NurseBlake.com.
