In celebration of National Nurses Day, ComingSoon is debuting an exclusive trailer for Nurse: Empathy Heals, the upcoming documentary movie about the healthcare crisis. The film is expected to launch on streaming platforms this September. It will also be screened at select film festivals this fall.
“While people may think they know what nurses do, Nurse: Empathy Heals reveals the emotional challenges nurses face on a daily basis when caring for their patients. The documentary reveals nurses’ stories of compassion and empathy, the grief that doesn’t disappear, and the catharsis that comes from being heard. Through these personal stories, which reveal moments of doubt, faith, grief, joy, and fierce love, the film celebrates nurses as the heroes they truly are,” reads the official synopsis.
Check out the exclusive Nurse: Empathy Heals trailer (watch more trailers):
What happens in the Nurse: Empathy Heals trailer?
The video introduces the Nurse Narratives Initiative, showcasing the different personal stories of real-life nurses in the community. It features nurses recounting how they survived the hardest periods of their careers, including natural disasters and a global pandemic. The trailer highlights the emotional realities of nursing in a post-pandemic healthcare system, emphasizing the human cost of caregiving and the power of empathy in supporting patients.
“Nurses show up every day, bringing a level of courage and compassion that is almost superhuman,” Dr. Jennifer Hitt, Executive Director of the Tennessee Center for Nursing Advancement at ETSU, added. “Through this film and the many other stories collected through the Nurse Narrative Initiative, we hope to not only advance empathy in the healthcare profession, but to honor and support our nurses by making their voices heard.”
Nurse: Empathy Heals is a documentary directed by Tennessee-based filmmaker Chusy of Plan A Films, with Ballad Health CEO Alan Levine serving as its executive producer. It is part of the Nurse Narratives Initiative (NNI), a collaboration led by East Tennessee State University (ETSU) that brings together ETSU’s StoryCollab, College of Nursing, Tennessee Center for Nursing Advancement, and the ETSU Research Corporation, with support from Ballad Health.
“The healthcare workforce crisis is a call to better support the people who make care possible,” Levine said in a statement. “We must recognize the emotional weight nurses carry every day and the empathy that keeps them showing up for their patients and one another. Nurse: Empathy Heals tells those stories with honesty and bravery. Ballad Health is proud to support a film that reflects what we already know: nurses are the heart of the healthcare team, and their well-being has to be at the center of how we sustain this profession.”