Bio

Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA – HEALTH DESIGNER™

Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA is an award-winning broadcast journalist, international speaker, academic author (VR, AR, MR), freelance writer, producer, consultant, health educator, advisor and multi-media host.

She is founder of BarbaraFicarra.com (thehealthdesigner.net), where healthy meets design, and she explores the intersection between design, home, health, tech, art, and food. Barbara has a passion for design and she helps inspire and empower individuals to design a healthy and happy life and home—and she helps them live their best lives. Barbara is an on-air health & lifestyle expert, and she is known as a health designer™ — she designs ways for people to live a healthier life and empowers individuals to design their own healthy lifestyle and home. She offers practical advice for consumers to take charge of their health and she is passionate about improving lives of individuals.

She is a Producer, Development Coordinator,Content Creator at CNN— Warner Media.

Barbara has appeared  on-air for NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, FIOS and WMCN networks and a frequent guest to radio including: Working Mom Magazine Radio, Greater Media Radio, Health, Wealth and Wisdom Radio, Cayman Islands News, to name a few.

She is published and quoted in popular magazines, and a contributor to many health sites including HuffPost, Latin Trends Magazine, Redbook, Real Simple Magazine, TEDBlog, Dr. Oz, KevinMD, and HIMSS. Barbara has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and a Master’s degree in public administration with a specialty in health care. She is on the advisory board at Sharecare Inc., and an advisory board member at the University of San Francisco for the Master of Science Program for Health IT.

She began her career in media as executive producer and host for the award-winning radio show, Health in 30 ®. A healthin30.com website is coming soon. At healthin30, you’ll find it a place to go for simple, jargon-free health news and information. It’s the intersection of health and science with trusted information. Get a jump-start now —go to https://bit.ly/3eKbFya to sign up for our free updates to help you live smarter, healthier & better.

She has dedicated her career to helping people live healthier lives, in and out of the hospital. Barbara is an administrative hospital & nursing supervisor for the department of patient care.

Barbara is a member of the Association of Health Care Journalists, and a member of Sigma Theta Tau International, the Honor Society of Nursing, and the Academy of Judges for the Sharecare Awards in Association with the Emmys®

My passion is to bring you inspiration and to empower you to design a healthy and happy life you adore. I share healthy design practices for your home and life to help transform it into a positive and vibrant space.

Barbara is a leader in the health care industry and has dedicated her work to the following areas:

  • Award-winning broadcast journalist, health educator, freelance writer, international speaker and producer.
  • Founder barbaraficarra.com | thehealthdesigner.net
  • Founder of heathin30.com
  • On-air health & lifestyle expert
  • Multi-Media host
  • Producer, dev. co. at CNN—NewsCo—Turner|Warner Media
  • President of Barbara Ficarra Productions, LLC
  • Contributor to HuffPost, KevinMD, Latin Trends Magazine,  and other sites.
  • Administrative nurse (hospital/nursing) supervisor for the department of patient care at a trauma II university medical center.
  • Former senior director of clinical affairs for Numera Inc., telehealth company.
  • Advisory board member at Sharecare.com.
  • Advisory board member for Health Informatics for the University of San Francisco School of Nursing and Health Professions.
  • Member of Sigma Theta Tau International
  • Member of the Academy of Judges for the Sharecare Awards—in association with the Emmys®
  • Member of the Association of Health Care Journalists

To contact Barbara, please tap or click here.

Bio-Expanded 

Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA, is a registered nurse, an award-winning broadcast journalist, health expert, lifestyle & HEALTH DESIGNER™, freelance writer, producer and international speaker.  

Barbara is the founder of BarbaraFicarra.com, a lifestyle destination site that helps people live a happier, bolder, healthier and more stylish life. She explores the intersection of design, health, tech, and art. Barbara helps design ways to help people live healthier lives and empowers people to design their own healthy lifestyles. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of Healthin30.com, which offers health news and advice from a nurse’s perspective and publishes posts from experts in the health care.

She is a Producer, Development Coordinator,Content Creator at CNN— Warner Media.

Barbara is recognized as a leader in the health care industry and she is on the front lines of health care as a registered nurse. She is a leading voice in health focusing on consumer engagement and empowerment, and she offers practical advice for consumers to take charge of their health. Focusing on health and wellness, she delivers her trademark brand of advice, which is simple, useful and trustworthy information to help empower people to design their healthiest life and feel their best.

Barbara is a contributor to many health sites, is frequently quoted and featured by numerous media outlets, and her TV appearances include: FOX News, NBC, ABC, CBS, FIOS, and WMCN. Barbara contributes to radio at Working Mom Magazine Radio, Greater Media Radio, Health, Wealth and Wisdom Radio, Cayman Islands Radio News, to name a few.

She is published in Latin Trends Magazine, Practice Fusion, TED Blog, HIMSS and has been featured and quoted in Redbook Magazine, Real Simple Magazine as a medical contributor and PharmaVOICE, She is a guest blogger for many health sites including, TheHealthCareBlog, KevinMD, Healthcommentary, DrGreene, and HIMSS, Getbetterhealth, and Healthworkscollective.

She is a health educator at Sharecare and is on their editorial and advisory board. Sharecare is a health and wellness engagement platform founded by Dr. Mehmet Oz and Jeff Arnold (founder of WebMD).

Barbara is an advisory board member at the University of San Francisco for the Master of Science Program for Health Information Technology. Barbara is former Senior Director Clinical Affairs for Numera Inc.

Barbara is an international speaker. She presents on the latest trends in health and health care issues focusing on professional development, healthy living and wellness, patient and consumer engagement and empowerment, social media, digital technology, including mhealth-mobile health, health apps, gamification, telemedicine, telehealth, leveraging her experience as former Senior Director of Clinical Affairs at Numera. She has presented at the Cleveland Clinic, Scripps, the Cancer Treatment Centers of America, HIMSS So Ca, and HIMSS Arkansas, PIAA in Amsterdam, Ivey Global Health Care Conference in Canada, Cayman Islands Health Care Conference, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, e-Patient Connections Conference, Novartis, and BlogHer to name a few. As a leading voice in health care, Barbara offers practical advice focusing on healthy living, wellness, patient engagement and empowerment, health care social media, health IT, digital technology, (mHealth-mobile health, gamification, telemedicine), and doctor|nurse team.

Barbara began her broadcasting career in radio as creator, host and executive producer of the award-winning Health in 30® radio show, which brought listeners the latest health information and empowered listeners to take charge of their health.

Barbara received a Broadcast Journalism Award of Excellence for Health in 30® from the American College of Emergency Physicians. The winning program, “Ins and Outs of the ER,” explained what patients should expect in the ER and explored the challenges created by crowding. In 2011, Healthin30.com was voted Best Health Blog by Healthline. In 2016 Barbara is named one of the top five women in healthcare with her websites.

Barbara has offered expert advice to a variety of organizations and individuals in health care, including New York Times Health,Time Warner and Novartis. 

She was a board member for the former National Association of Medical Communicators and served on the Academy of Judges for the International Health and Medical Media Awards. She was invited by Microsoft to judge a series of innovative technology entries for the Imagine Cup 2012. She served as faculty for the American Medical Association’s Medical Communications Conferences, has taught classes in media broadcasting, and is a team member for one of TEDMED’s 20 Great Challenges, Improving Medical Communication.

Barbara is also experienced in video production as host and executive producer for Web/TV creating content surrounding the nursing and medical profession. She is president of Barbara Ficarra Productions, LLC, and she is a consultant, mentor, moderator on panels and webinars, writer and TV and Radio personality. She is also an administrative supervisor at a large university medical center, where she covers multiple medical and surgical units, critical care, oncology, cardiology, orthopedics, the psychiatric unit, women’s and children’s services and the emergency trauma department. She is multifaceted in her clinical experience, ranging from oncology to general medicine and surgery.  She is a hospital leader, clinical and administrative manager; she supervises various aspects of patient care; and is a coordinator, problem solver and resource for staff, physicians, patients and families. She always encourages patients and their families to be proactive and take charge of their health.

Barbara is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International, the Honor Society of Nursing, and a member of the Association of Health Care Journalists.

For more information, please visit Barbara’s portfolio and click here to contact Barbara.

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