Hi, I'm Karina, a Registered Nurse and Filmmaker from Minnesota.

In nursing, shift change is the moment when we pass along the story: what happened, what matters now, and what may happen next.

We learn to understand people through those stories, not simply as a list of diagnoses or lab values, but as whole human beings shaped by everything happening around them.

The idea behind Shift Change Media is to bring important nursing stories forward, change the way people see them, and make sure something meaningful is carried on from our experiences.

Living in a time where things seem increasingly artificial and disconnected, my greatest hope is that our humanity will bring us back together.

Photo credit: Mark Gambol, MG Pictures, ltd.

Photo credit: Michael Kraabel, Kraabel.net

A Nurse's Perspective Behind the Camera

So much of the work we do as nurses is invisible. We learn what will make our patients and their families feel safe, heard, less alone. We recognize when no words will make things better, and simply offer our presence. We carry our own emotions quietly so we can remain present for others. These moments may be difficult to explain from the outside, but they matter.

As nurses we carry enormous responsibility, yet sometimes it's hard to feel fully seen or understood.

Part of what draws me to this work is the opportunity to tell these stories with the depth they deserve.

How I Work

Nursing has taught me how to listen closely, build trust, and connect with people during vulnerable moments. Those skills matter in every interview, especially when someone is sharing something personal, emotional, or difficult.

My clinical background also allows me to work thoughtfully in hospitals and other sensitive care environments. I understand the need for privacy, discretion, flexibility, and respect for the patients, families, and care teams around us. I can follow the clinical context, understand what nurses are describing, and recognize when a moment calls for sensitivity rather than another question or another take.

Most importantly, I know nursing from the inside. I have done the work, I still do the work, and I remain closely connected to nurses. I understand the language, the pressures, the humor, and the parts of the job that are difficult to explain to someone who has never been there. That perspective helps me tell these stories honestly and protect the people who put their trust in me.

Photo credit: Michael Kraabel, Kraabel.net

Photo credit: Mark Gambol, MG Pictures, ltd.

About Me

I never set out to become a filmmaker. Like many of the most meaningful things in my life, filmmaking found me.

I began my career in marketing, and I was good at it. But even as I built a successful career, I found myself quietly longing to do work that felt more deeply connected to people. In my early thirties, I finally decided to do something about it and enrolled in an accelerated BSN program. Just as a pandemic began to rage around us, I started nursing school.

I knew nursing would be meaningful. What I did not anticipate was how profoundly the people I met along the way would change me. Nurses are some of the most remarkable humans I have ever known. I've learned from them, been challenged by them, and become a better version of myself because of their daily actions to leave the world a little better than they found it.

The longer I work in nursing, the more I see stories all around us. Stories of skill, courage, humor, grief, resilience, and care that deserve to be told. Shift Change Media is how I intend to tell them.

When not beind the camera, I'm at the bedside caring for patients on a busy step down unit, training for my next ultra marathon, or traveling the country in a vintage motorcoach with my better half Michael and our incredibly energetic orange cats, Alice and Arnie.

Photo credit: Mark Gambol, MG Pictures, ltd.

Get in touch: karina@shiftchangemedia.com

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