Ep. 51 - Careering with Purpose: Insights from Clinician to Coach

In this episode of the HPNA Palliative Perspective Podcast, we welcome Doug Wubben, a health care professional with a diverse background in nursing and coaching.

Doug brings extensive experience as an Oncology Case Manager and Goals of Care Educator, roles that have shaped his deep understanding of person-centered communication and interprofessional collaboration. Currently, he works as a Life & Leadership Coach, supporting clinicians as they navigate the personal and professional challenges of caregiving roles.

In this episode, Doug shares insights from both his clinical practice and coaching work, offering a unique perspective on how we can address empathic distress, acknowledge and learn from a culture of mistakes, and build meaningful process improvements. He reminds us of the value in slowing down, making space to feel, and cultivating the most important compassion of them all—for ourselves.

Doug Wubben, RN, BSN, PCC Doug Wubben, RN, BSN, PCC is a Life and Leadership Coach and High Reliability Specialist at the VA Hospital in Madison, WI. His career has been anything but linear—spanning roles as a caregiver, organic farmer, local food advocate, nurse, and now coach—giving him a rare lens on how humans grow through change and optimize life transitions. With 14 years in nursing and a deep commitment to end-of-life care, Doug has led countless goals-of-care conversations and trained hundreds of clinicians to approach them with clarity and compassion. Today, he’s helping health care professionals turn their care inward—teaching them how tending to their own well-being unlocks deeper, more sustainable care for others.

Brett Snodgrass, DNP, FNP-C, ACHPN®, FAANP Dr. Brett Snodgrass has been a registered nurse for 28 years and a Family Nurse Practitioner for 18 years, practicing in multiple settings, including family practice, urgent care, emergency departments, administration, chronic pain and palliative medicine. She is currently the Operations Director for Palliative Medicine at Baptist Health Systems in Memphis, TN. She is board certified with the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. She is also a Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and an Advanced Certified Hospice and Palliative Nurse. She completed a Doctorate of Nursing Practice at the University of Alabama – Huntsville. She is a nationally recognized nurse practitioner speaker and teacher. Brett is a chronic pain expert, working for more than 20 years with chronic pain and palliative patients in a variety of settings. She is honored to be the HPNA 2025 podcast host. She is married with two daughters, two son in laws, one grandson, and now an empty nest cat. She and her family are actively involved in their church and she is an avid reader.