John Nance

John Nance

Keynote Speaker: Air Safety Analyst, Veteran Air Force Pilot, Healthcare Safety Advocate

John Nance Biography

John J. Nance, a native Texan who grew up in Dallas, holds a Bachelor's Degree from SMU and a Juris Doctor from SMU School of Law, and is a licensed attorney in Texas. Named Distinguished Alumni of SMU for 2002, he is also a decorated Air Force pilot veteran of Vietnam and Operations Desert Storm/Desert Shield, and a Lt. Colonel in the USAF Reserve. Nance is well-known for his involvement in Air Force human factors flight safety education, and as one of the civilian pioneers of Crew Resource Management (CRM). He has piloted a wide variety of jet aircraft, including most of Boeing's line and the Air Force C-141, and has logged over 15,000 hours of flight time in his commercial airline and Air Force careers. He served as a Boeing 737 Captain for Alaska Airlines and a flight officer for Braniff International Airlines. Nance is an internationally recognized air safety analyst and advocate, best known to North American television audiences as Aviation Analyst for ABC World News and Aviation Editor for Good Morning America.

Nance has made numerous appearances on national shows such as Larry King Live, PBS Hour with Jim Lehrer, Oprah, NPR, Nova, the Today Show, and many others. His editorials have been published in newspapers nationwide, including the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. He has long been listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law, and Who's Who Among Emerging Leaders in America.

He has authored 22 major books, including "Why Hospitals Should Fly," which won the James A. Hamilton ACHE Book of the Year in 2009, and its sequel, "Charting the Course," co-authored with Kathleen Bartholomew. His novels "Pandora's Clock" and "Medusa's Child" were adapted into successful television mini-series.

Nance is one of America's most dynamic professional speakers, presenting on topics such as teamwork, risk management, motivation, coping with competition, and healthcare reform. He and Kathleen Bartholomew (co-author and healthcare expert) deliver vital programs on Quality and Patient Safety to hospital boards, physicians, and hospital management nationally and internationally. He is a pioneering advocate of applying the lessons from aviation safety to revolutionize patient safety and performance in healthcare.

Nance is a founding board member and on the executive committee of the National Patient Safety Foundation. He resides in Friday Harbor, Washington and continues to be a key thought leader in American Healthcare, focusing on patient safety and healthcare reform. His work emphasizes the importance of transforming healthcare into a system that prioritizes patient safety and team collaboration, advocating for significant cultural and clinical changes within healthcare institutions to improve overall outcomes and patient safety.

Contact a speaker booking agent to check availability on John Nance and other top speakers and celebrities.

John Nance Speaking Topics

The Lessons Learned

In the aftermath of the international healthcare emergency caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic, few if any hospitals large or small have escaped having to deal with major systemic stress. In most cases, in addition to unleashing major unexpected financial challenges, the seismic challenges to clinical staff and all support services has spawned untold examples of how people rose to the occasion (or didn't), and how bedrock procedures and strategies were changed on the fly (and in some cases abandoned) to get the job done. All of this occurred against the backdrop of a massively challenged, frightened, and often polarized civilian population whose lack of collective knowledge and understanding of the factual science often made the hospital's job infinitely more difficult. There has been created, in other words, a major anthology in terms of how your institution dealt with all aspects of the Covid-19 challenge. Moreover, every salient aspect of that anthology (including the clinical, scientific, procedural, human, and financial history) holds untold lessons. Those lessons, if captured and examined appropriately, will light the way to far more realistic systemic and professional knowledge of how high reliability, just culture, patient safety, and the highest level of care are really achieved, especially in your institution!

Survival and Leadership in the Healthcare Revolution

For: All Leaders involved in healthcare, and specifically Hospital/Clinic/Healthcare System C-Suite Chiefs, Directors, Staff Vice Presidents, Managers, Department Heads (Clinical and Non-Clinical), Medical Executive Members, and Members of the Board of Directors/Trustees.

This wide-ranging and comprehensive full-day (8 hours) of dynamic training and coaching for healthcare leaders of all levels consists of a carefully selected mix of energized didactic lectures, Socratic discussion, highly-relevant and challenging exercises, and enterprise coaching for immediate improvement of safety, quality, communication, and teamwork creation.

Encapsulated in the curriculum are the same presentation elements and voluminous takeaway techniques that have been so highly effective in John Nance’s bi-annual segments in the Intermountain ATP Course in Salt Lake City, as well as his twice yearly segments in the Leadership Series conducted by Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.

John Nance’s background in law, system safety and human factors, national broadcasting and journalism - in addition to his quarter century in medicine - inform a wide range of useful insights regarding both the serious risks and potential remedies for being unprepared to respond appropriately to sentinel events.

Survival and Leadership in the Healthcare Revolution – ½ Day

For: All Leaders involved in healthcare, and specifically Hospital/Clinic/Healthcare System C-Suite Chiefs, Directors, Staff Vice Presidents, Managers, Department Heads (Clinical and Non-Clinical), Medical Executive Members, and Members of the Board of Directors/Trustees.

This wide-ranging half-day (4 hours) of dynamic training and coaching for healthcare leaders of all levels consists of a carefully selected and hard-hitting mix of didactic presentation and Socratic discussion, and enterprise coaching for immediate improvement of safety, quality, communication, and teamwork creation. Encapsulated in the curriculum are the same presentation elements and voluminous takeaway techniques that have been so highly effective in John Nance’s bi-annual segments in the Intermountain ATP Course in Salt Lake City, as well as his twice yearly segments in the Leadership Series conducted by Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.

John Nance’s background in law, system safety and human factors, national broadcasting and journalism - in addition to his quarter century in medicine - inform a wide range of useful insights regarding both the serious risks and potential remedies for being unprepared to respond appropriately to sentinel events.

Surviving the Affordable Care Act Earthquake: How to Incite the Changes You Need — In Time!

Whether we measure it in terms of reimbursement, patient safety, service quality, market share, or provider satisfaction, there's no question that the landscape of healthcare delivery is being as violently reshaped as if a great earthquake were roiling the terrain. And though we hate to admit it, when your once-familiar world has been upended, it is very hard to be calm and methodical enough to ferret out the right path to survival - especially if those steps are non-traditional. That is why tough and confusing times demand voices and influence from outside the institution - calm, incisive voices that can dramatically boost the urgency of the wakeup calls needed to spark a Renaissance.

The greatest threat to any healthcare institution right now is failing to infuse the appropriate sense of urgency in your people, physicians included. Providing that energizing wakeup call is precisely what this keynote is designed to do: To spark, inspire and incite the cultural and clinical, financial changes you need to surf this tsunami. It is, in other words, designed to be a powerful aide to your efforts to get your "army" marching in the right direction, and for the right reasons.

The Bottom-Line Benefits of Team Leadership Training: Proven Pathway to Minimizing Errors & Maximizing Quality

As of the first months of 2014, a multiplicity of new studies have begun validating up to fifty percent reductions in Wrong Surgeries (wrong site, wrong medication, wrong patient, retained object) throughout hospitals and healthcare settings. The engine of change in virtually all these results is a steadily and universally applied program of Team Leadership Training for the entire medical team involved in any form of surgical intervention at the patient's beside, in the OR, the cath lab, ER, or the physician's office. Going far beyond the basic exposure to Team Steps and aviation's Crew Resource Management, Team Leadership Training creates proven and professional Collegial Interactive Teams, but must be built on complete cultural change.

This lecture lays the groundwork for why this is such a powerful and certain way to improve the performance of not just surgical interventions, but virtually all medical interactions. The hallmark of a mature Collegial Interactive Team is a leader who knows how to bring out the best performance and best participatory ownership in each member of the team. A trained CIT leader - often a physician - knows how to eliminate all communication barriers by making it completely safe for any member to speak up, and by creating and maintaining an atmosphere of mutual respect, constant learning, and non-hierarchical interchange. While these principles, techniques, and methods have never been taught in medical schools, nursing schools, or traditionally used in medicine, the dramatic and positive effects of appropriately inculcating such team leadership go directly to the bottom line, inclusive of significant improvement in morale.

John Nance Videos

John Nance Near Miss
Why Humans Can’t Be Perfect | John Nance | TEDxSanJuanIsland

How do I book John Nance to speak at my event?

Our experienced booking agents have successfully helped clients around the world secure speakers like John Nance for speaking engagements, personal appearances, product endorsements, or corporate entertainment since 2002. Click the Check Schedule button above and complete the form on this page to check availability for John Nance, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to discuss your upcoming event. One of our experienced agents will be happy to help you get speaking fee information and check availability for John Nance or any other speaker of your choice.

How much does it cost to book John Nance for a speaking engagement?

Speaking fees for John Nance, or any other speakers and celebrities, are determined based on a number of factors and may change without notice. The estimated fees to book John Nance are $10,000 - $20,000 for live events and $10,000 - $20,000 for virtual events. For the most current speaking fee to hire John Nance, click the Check Schedule button above and complete the form on this page, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to speak directly with an experienced booking agent.

What topics does John Nance speak about?

John Nance is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics such as Business, Business Leadership, Authors, Health, Healthcare, Human Resources, Teamwork & Teambuilding, Business Growth, Inspirational, Motivational, Communication, Fitness, Leadership, Adventure, Law, Government, Strategic Leadership and Corporate Culture.

Where does John Nance travel from?

John Nance generally travels from Seattle, WA, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances.

Who is the agent for John Nance?

AAE Speakers Bureau has successfully secured keynote speakers like John Nance for clients worldwide since 2002. As a full-service speaker booking agency, we have access to virtually any speaker or celebrity in the world. Our agents are happy and able to submit an offer to the speaker or celebrity of your choice, letting you benefit from our reputation and long-standing relationships in the industry. Please click the Check Schedule button above and complete the form on this page including the details of your event, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536, and one of our agents will assist you to book John Nance for your next private or corporate function.

What is a full-service speaker booking agency?

AAE Speakers Bureau is a full-service speaker booking agency, meaning we can completely manage the speaker’s or celebrity’s engagement with your organization from the time of booking your speaker through the event’s completion. We provide all of the services you need to host John Nance or any other speaker of your choice, including offer negotiation, contractual assistance, accounting and billing, and event speaker travel and logistics services. When you book a speaker with us, we manage the process of hosting a speaker for you as an extension of your team. Our goal is to give our clients peace of mind and a best-in-class service experience when booking a speaker with us.

Why is AAE Speakers Bureau different from other booking agencies?

If you’re looking for the best speaker recommendations, paired with a top-notch customer service experience, you’re in the right place. At AAE Speakers Bureau, we exclusively represent the interests of our clients - professional organizations, companies, universities, and associations. We intentionally do not represent the speakers we feature or book. That is so we can present our clients with the broadest and best performing set of speaker options in the market today, and we can make these recommendations without any obligation to promote a specific speaker over another. This is why when our agents suggest a speaker for your event, you can be assured that they are of the highest quality with a history of proven success with our other clients.


John Nance is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics including Business, Business Leadership and Authors. The estimated speaking fee range to book John Nance for live events is $10,000 - $20,000, and for virtual events $10,000 - $20,000. John Nance generally travels from Seattle, WA, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Afterburner, Garrison Wynn and Jason Young. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling John Nance for an upcoming event.

Speaker profile last updated by AAE Talent Team on 04/11/2024.

John Nance Speaking Topics

  • The Lessons Learned

    In the aftermath of the international healthcare emergency caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic, few if any hospitals large or small have escaped having to deal with major systemic stress. In most cases, in addition to unleashing major unexpected financial challenges, the seismic challenges to clinical staff and all support services has spawned untold examples of how people rose to the occasion (or didn't), and how bedrock procedures and strategies were changed on the fly (and in some cases abandoned) to get the job done. All of this occurred against the backdrop of a massively challenged, frightened, and often polarized civilian population whose lack of collective knowledge and understanding of the factual science often made the hospital's job infinitely more difficult. There has been created, in other words, a major anthology in terms of how your institution dealt with all aspects of the Covid-19 challenge. Moreover, every salient aspect of that anthology (including the clinical, scientific, procedural, human, and financial history) holds untold lessons. Those lessons, if captured and examined appropriately, will light the way to far more realistic systemic and professional knowledge of how high reliability, just culture, patient safety, and the highest level of care are really achieved, especially in your institution!

  • Survival and Leadership in the Healthcare Revolution

    For: All Leaders involved in healthcare, and specifically Hospital/Clinic/Healthcare System C-Suite Chiefs, Directors, Staff Vice Presidents, Managers, Department Heads (Clinical and Non-Clinical), Medical Executive Members, and Members of the Board of Directors/Trustees.

    This wide-ranging and comprehensive full-day (8 hours) of dynamic training and coaching for healthcare leaders of all levels consists of a carefully selected mix of energized didactic lectures, Socratic discussion, highly-relevant and challenging exercises, and enterprise coaching for immediate improvement of safety, quality, communication, and teamwork creation.

    Encapsulated in the curriculum are the same presentation elements and voluminous takeaway techniques that have been so highly effective in John Nance’s bi-annual segments in the Intermountain ATP Course in Salt Lake City, as well as his twice yearly segments in the Leadership Series conducted by Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.

    John Nance’s background in law, system safety and human factors, national broadcasting and journalism - in addition to his quarter century in medicine - inform a wide range of useful insights regarding both the serious risks and potential remedies for being unprepared to respond appropriately to sentinel events.

  • Survival and Leadership in the Healthcare Revolution – ½ Day

    For: All Leaders involved in healthcare, and specifically Hospital/Clinic/Healthcare System C-Suite Chiefs, Directors, Staff Vice Presidents, Managers, Department Heads (Clinical and Non-Clinical), Medical Executive Members, and Members of the Board of Directors/Trustees.

    This wide-ranging half-day (4 hours) of dynamic training and coaching for healthcare leaders of all levels consists of a carefully selected and hard-hitting mix of didactic presentation and Socratic discussion, and enterprise coaching for immediate improvement of safety, quality, communication, and teamwork creation. Encapsulated in the curriculum are the same presentation elements and voluminous takeaway techniques that have been so highly effective in John Nance’s bi-annual segments in the Intermountain ATP Course in Salt Lake City, as well as his twice yearly segments in the Leadership Series conducted by Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.

    John Nance’s background in law, system safety and human factors, national broadcasting and journalism - in addition to his quarter century in medicine - inform a wide range of useful insights regarding both the serious risks and potential remedies for being unprepared to respond appropriately to sentinel events.

  • Surviving the Affordable Care Act Earthquake: How to Incite the Changes You Need — In Time!

    Whether we measure it in terms of reimbursement, patient safety, service quality, market share, or provider satisfaction, there's no question that the landscape of healthcare delivery is being as violently reshaped as if a great earthquake were roiling the terrain. And though we hate to admit it, when your once-familiar world has been upended, it is very hard to be calm and methodical enough to ferret out the right path to survival - especially if those steps are non-traditional. That is why tough and confusing times demand voices and influence from outside the institution - calm, incisive voices that can dramatically boost the urgency of the wakeup calls needed to spark a Renaissance.

    The greatest threat to any healthcare institution right now is failing to infuse the appropriate sense of urgency in your people, physicians included. Providing that energizing wakeup call is precisely what this keynote is designed to do: To spark, inspire and incite the cultural and clinical, financial changes you need to surf this tsunami. It is, in other words, designed to be a powerful aide to your efforts to get your "army" marching in the right direction, and for the right reasons.

  • The Bottom-Line Benefits of Team Leadership Training: Proven Pathway to Minimizing Errors & Maximizing Quality

    As of the first months of 2014, a multiplicity of new studies have begun validating up to fifty percent reductions in Wrong Surgeries (wrong site, wrong medication, wrong patient, retained object) throughout hospitals and healthcare settings. The engine of change in virtually all these results is a steadily and universally applied program of Team Leadership Training for the entire medical team involved in any form of surgical intervention at the patient's beside, in the OR, the cath lab, ER, or the physician's office. Going far beyond the basic exposure to Team Steps and aviation's Crew Resource Management, Team Leadership Training creates proven and professional Collegial Interactive Teams, but must be built on complete cultural change.

    This lecture lays the groundwork for why this is such a powerful and certain way to improve the performance of not just surgical interventions, but virtually all medical interactions. The hallmark of a mature Collegial Interactive Team is a leader who knows how to bring out the best performance and best participatory ownership in each member of the team. A trained CIT leader - often a physician - knows how to eliminate all communication barriers by making it completely safe for any member to speak up, and by creating and maintaining an atmosphere of mutual respect, constant learning, and non-hierarchical interchange. While these principles, techniques, and methods have never been taught in medical schools, nursing schools, or traditionally used in medicine, the dramatic and positive effects of appropriately inculcating such team leadership go directly to the bottom line, inclusive of significant improvement in morale.

John Nance Videos

John Nance Near Miss
Why Humans Can’t Be Perfect | John Nance | TEDxSanJuanIsland

John Nance News

  • How do I book John Nance to speak at my event?

    Our experienced booking agents have successfully helped clients around the world secure speakers like John Nance for speaking engagements, personal appearances, product endorsements, or corporate entertainment since 2002. Click the Check Schedule button above and complete the form on this page to check availability for John Nance, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to discuss your upcoming event. One of our experienced agents will be happy to help you get speaking fee information and check availability for John Nance or any other speaker of your choice.
  • How much does it cost to book John Nance for a speaking engagement?

    Speaking fees for John Nance, or any other speakers and celebrities, are determined based on a number of factors and may change without notice. The estimated fees to book John Nance are $10,000 - $20,000 for live events and $10,000 - $20,000 for virtual events. For the most current speaking fee to hire John Nance, click the Check Schedule button above and complete the form on this page, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to speak directly with an experienced booking agent.
  • What topics does John Nance speak about?

  • Where does John Nance travel from?

    John Nance generally travels from Seattle, WA, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances.
  • Who is the agent for John Nance?

    AAE Speakers Bureau has successfully secured keynote speakers like John Nance for clients worldwide since 2002. As a full-service speaker booking agency, we have access to virtually any speaker or celebrity in the world. Our agents are happy and able to submit an offer to the speaker or celebrity of your choice, letting you benefit from our reputation and long-standing relationships in the industry. Please click the Check Schedule button above and complete the form on this page including the details of your event, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536, and one of our agents will assist you to book John Nance for your next private or corporate function.
  • What is a full-service speaker booking agency?

    AAE Speakers Bureau is a full-service speaker booking agency, meaning we can completely manage the speaker’s or celebrity’s engagement with your organization from the time of booking your speaker through the event’s completion. We provide all of the services you need to host John Nance or any other speaker of your choice, including offer negotiation, contractual assistance, accounting and billing, and event speaker travel and logistics services. When you book a speaker with us, we manage the process of hosting a speaker for you as an extension of your team. Our goal is to give our clients peace of mind and a best-in-class service experience when booking a speaker with us.
  • Why is AAE Speakers Bureau different from other booking agencies?

    If you’re looking for the best speaker recommendations, paired with a top-notch customer service experience, you’re in the right place. At AAE Speakers Bureau, we exclusively represent the interests of our clients - professional organizations, companies, universities, and associations. We intentionally do not represent the speakers we feature or book. That is so we can present our clients with the broadest and best performing set of speaker options in the market today, and we can make these recommendations without any obligation to promote a specific speaker over another. This is why when our agents suggest a speaker for your event, you can be assured that they are of the highest quality with a history of proven success with our other clients.
BOOKING INFORMATION REQUEST
JOHN NANCE

We are happy to assist you with your interest in booking a speaker or celebrity for your event, your organization, and the type of talent you would like to secure, and an agent will be in touch shortly.

Fill out the form below to or call us at 1-800-698-2536 if need immediate assistance.

Tell us about your event!

We respond to most inquiries within 4 hours. Under special circumstances, it may take up to 24 hours.


This website is a resource for event professionals and strives to provide the most comprehensive catalog of thought leaders and industry experts to consider for speaking engagements. A listing or profile on this website does not imply an agency affiliation or endorsement by the talent.

All American Entertainment (AAE) exclusively represents the interests of talent buyers, and does not claim to be the agency or management for any speaker or artist on this site. AAE is a talent booking agency for paid events only. We do not handle requests for donation of time or media requests for interviews, and cannot provide celebrity contact information.