Anthony Carney, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, doesn’t just wear one cape—he wears two. By day (and sometimes nights), he’s shaping the next generation of nurses as a Clinical Associate Professor at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing

. By heart, he’s delivering primary care to LGBTQ+ patients of all ages in an outpatient setting, offering treatment, trust, respect, and a place to be truly seen.

Carney has been a nurse for 11 years, but his journey started long before earning any initials after his name. “In high school, I helped care for my brother after he sustained third-degree burns on his hands,” he shares. Through cleaning wounds, managing pain, and cheering his brother on day after day, Carney realized that healing wasn’t just physical—it was deeply human. That powerful early lesson set him on the path to nursing.

Today, Carney’s work is equal parts science and advocacy. “What surprises people is how much advocacy is built into my everyday work—sometimes the most powerful thing I do is help someone feel seen and respected.”

The power of being seen? It’s immeasurable. Carney remembers the moment a young transgender patient told him, “You’re the first person who’s ever used the right name for me in a clinic.” In that small but seismic moment, Carney saw just how much healing begins with simple human dignity.

It’s the small actions that create big waves. Like when he corrected a colleague who misgendered a patient—“not harshly, just clearly.” Later, the patient said it was the first time anyone had stood up for them in a healthcare setting. That’s not just nursing—that’s life-changing.

Carney’s secret weapon? A mindset he lives by: “Assume nothing, ask everything—with openness and humility.” This practice has reshaped not only his care but also the way he teaches future nurses. As one patient put it, “Every time you asked before touching me, it reminded me that my body is mine.” That profound reminder now echoes through Carney’s lessons on physical assessments for students.

When it comes to powering through the day, Carney never starts a shift without his essentials: a hot black coffee, a suspicious number of mysteriously vanished pens, and a playlist he swears speeds up his note-writing. His nursing “super skill”? A Jedi-level straight face when a student says something wildly off-base, masterfully turning it into a teachable moment.

Through it all, Carney stays grounded with his mantra: “One patient at a time, one note at a time, one student at a time.” Even outside of work, the nurse instincts never fully clock out—he often finds himself saying, “Tell me more about that” in casual conversations, like a living, breathing health history form.

For Carney, The Power of Nurses is crystal clear: “Moving from compassion to action—especially for those too often pushed to the margins.” His message to every nurse out there? “You are worthy of the same compassion you give so freely to others.”

After a long day, Carney knows the power of turning off the nursing voice and simply being human—recharging with a long walk, a good meal, and a reminder that self-care isn’t selfish; it’s survival.

His hope for the future of nursing is bold, beautiful, and necessary: “That we stop asking nurses to be martyrs and start building systems that let us thrive, not just survive.”

For Anthony Carney, nursing is more than a profession. It’s a powerful, everyday act of healing, advocacy, and, yes, the occasional fast-fueled note-writing dance party.

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