"Constant attention by a good nurse may be just as important as a major operation by a surgeon”, diplomat Dag Hammarskjöld once observed -- and that may be more true today than ever before. For most of us, nurses are essentially the face of the healthcare system: the person you’ll see the most of while you’re in it, who will monitor your vitals, administer medications, hold your hand when you’re in pain or scared, answer all the questions you forgot to ask the doctor.

So in this episode, we take a look at the role of that unsung hero of healthcare -- the nurse -- at an industry level. Iman Abuzeid, CEO and co-founder of Incredible Health (a hiring platform for nurses), and a16z general partners Julie Yoo and Jeff Jordan discuss with Hanne Tidnam how the scope of the job is changing today and why; what’s driving the looming nursing shortage crisis, and ways we can help solve it; what it’s like to build a new marketplace platform in healthcare; and how best to introduce innovation into the healthcare system overall.