Today in Nursing Leadership

Using a panel discussion format, this session will describe the improved nursing and patient outcomes associated with a synergistic ambulatory leadership team, including a Chief Nursing Officer (CNO), Staff Development Specialist/Educator (SDS/Educator), Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS), and Nurse Scientist (NS). Professional roles, associated nurse and patient outcomes, and critical team interactions will be examined, with plenty of time left for questions.

Compassion fatigue contributes to role dissatisfaction, turnover, low morale and engagement, safety and satisfaction concerns. Within the past 2 years, this institution’s nurse leader turnover was over 50%. Nurse leaders performed a daily gratitude exercise, experiencing statistically significant results-80% had an increase in compassion satisfaction and turnover decreased to 3.4%. Gratitude is beneficial in increasing compassion satisfaction and decreasing turnover in this population.

In alignment with American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) strategic initiatives, the AONL Workforce Committee and subcommittees identified best practices and innovations to help strategize and manage the complexities of the nursing workforce. The goal of the AONL Workforce Compendium is to bring these best practices and innovations together to be shared widely, to support and empower nurse leaders in attaining, retaining, and sustaining environments where nurses want to work and feel like they belong.

The Chief Nursing Officer sets the vision for professional practice recognizing they are leading peers, and setting the context of collaboration and respect. Hear from a System Chief Nurse Executive what the role of the CNO is in fostering professional governance as a way to actually exercise that accountability for practice quality, knowledge, and competence of professional nurses.

Clinical nurses are at the core of professional governance and their understanding of professional practice and leadership in professional governance is essential. Hear from two clinical nurses who have served as presidents of their professional governance organization as they reflect on the role of the clinical nurse in leading the profession of nursing, taking ownership and accountability.

Leadership is an essential component of successful professional governance. This podcast with two leadership experts discusses leadership behaviors necessary for nurses to have ownership and accountability for nursing practice. While shared governance focused on more on structure, professional governance is grounded in the leadership needed by individual nurses through the highest levels of executive practice, leading peers through professional governance structures as well as taking accountability in individual nursing practice.

There is a shift happening in the profession of nursing from the historic shared governance to professional governance. This conversation with two experts on professional governance discusses the foundations of professional governance, where it's going, why it's important in the future and how it differs from shared governance. Professional governance reminds nurses of the authentic power they have been given as professionals to determine nursing practice.

Evidence suggests mentorship increases nurse manager competencies, self-efficacy, engagement, and safety outcomes. Yet less than 7% have formal mentorship programs, and many are promoted based on clinical success rather than leadership ability. 60% or more have less than four years’ experience and are leaving positions within two years. Consider the cost of learning through trial & error for a nurse manager vs providing the proper framework, tools, and ongoing support to remain effective.

The role of the front-line nurse leader is one of the most difficult and expansive in healthcare. Learn how one health system is realigning leadership roles to support the critical nature of the nurse leader leading to more meaningful work, while simultaneously creating opportunities for entry level non-clinical leadership to support the work of nurses to create an inclusive and collaborative work environment.

Associate nurse graduates can often find themselves locked out of employment. In this panel discussion, learn more about disparities in opportunities for nursing students who are not advantaged by race or socioeconomic status with regard to nursing education and employment; and how Beth Israel, Deaconess Medical Center recognized this and came up with an innovative solution to address the issue.