Nurse Leader最新文献

The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the impact of the 28-Day Food and Fitness Program on the physical and mental well-being of health care workers. Social determinants of health significantly impact an individual’s overall well-being and quality of life. Access to nutritious foods and physical activity is crucial to positive physical and mental well-being. The urgency for hospital executives, administrators, and leaders to prioritize the physical and mental well-being of health care workers has become increasingly evident with unprecedented rates of burnout, stress, and turnover following the COVID-19 pandemic. This 8-week prospective cohort study followed 65 multidisciplinary health care workers from a single Santa Monica, California, hospital, who voluntarily signed-up for a 28-day Food and Fitness Program in the spring of 2022. Participants completed body composition testing pre- and-post-intervention, and were surveyed using the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) scale at baseline, 28 days (4 weeks), and 56 days (8 weeks). Pre- and-post-intervention data showed nonsignificant decreases in variables such as weight and body mass index with increases in lean body and skeletal muscle mass. Mean scores for all 3 subcategories of the ProQOL numerically improved from baseline, but did not reach statistical significance. Preliminary results support use of the 28-Day Food and Fitness Program to improve caregiver physical and mental well-being, but further research is needed to quantify impact more reliably.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for real-time support of health care workers after a stressful event occurrence. Code Lavender has been used in several hospitals for this purpose for over a decade. With the evolution of health care to include large health care systems comprised of several hospitals and clinics, one intercity health care system determined there was a need to implement a Code Lavender across all of its in-patient hospitals simultaneously. This article describes how this organization accomplished this and may serve as a resource for other health care systems interested in establishing their own version of Code Lavender.

Leadership in the nursing profession plays a key role in upholding social justice and eradicating anti-Black racism. Recognizing that racism is a leading factor shaping health inequities is vital to strategies developed to ameliorate adverse health processes and outcomes. Taking proactive steps to prepare nurse leaders to develop and implement system improvement strategies that tackle internal and external system processes and structures that propagate structural racism and other forms of discrimination in health care systems must be prioritized. It would be advantageous for nursing leaders to take a humanistic mindset to effectively diversify the nursing workforce especially for those racialized as Black or brown and desire leadership roles. To advance these efforts, the purpose of this paper is threefold. First, the authors elucidate the ways that anti-Black racism interrupts efforts to advance health equity. Second, factors that contribute to a lack of racial diversity in nursing and nursing leadership are illuminated. Finally, astute strategies to counter anti-Black racism are provided along with reflective questions to facilitate the process.

Shiftwork disrupts nurses’ sleep patterns, leading to sleep deprivation. Consequently, nurses experience fatigue and reduced alertness, which impact their job performance, physical and mental health, and patient safety. This study investigated the difference in fatigue and sleep quality between day and night shift clinical nurses and administrative supervisors. Significant differences were found between day and night shift clinical nurses in quality and patterns of sleep, perceptions of the severity and effects of fatigue, and work-related fatigue, but not with administrative supervisors. Furthermore, more night shift nurses and supervisors recalled a fatigue-related error, falling asleep at a red light, missing their exit, and having a car accident when driving home compared to those working day shift. In the interest of patient safety, it is imperative that nurses prioritize their sleep, and leaders must take proactive measures to mitigate fatigue.

Nurse leaders practice across an exceedingly complex and dynamic healthcare landscape, requiring the highest levels of ethical reasoning, engagement, and leadership skills to guide decision-making. Nurse leaders shape the organizational climate and conditions supporting ethical practice and must identify ethical dilemmas, explore individual perspectives through multiple lenses, and make strategic decisions consistent with personal, professional, and organizational values. This manuscript educates nurse leaders on the critical adaptive competency of strategic ethical reasoning to guide just and ethical decision-making for their organizations and communities. We recommend nurse leaders use ethical reasoning to drive strategic decision-making and cultivate ethical practice environments.

The Workforce Pipeline Development Program, established at a local children’s hospital, is a quality improvement initiative to address diversity in nursing, offering career-planning opportunity to underrepresented teens and young adults. The program strategy includes targeting local schools to bring in nursing assistant and medical assistant students for pediatric clinical training with possibility for employment, thus increasing the likelihood of achieving a diverse workforce and better balancing the workforce with the patient populations served. At the children’s hospital, 87.6% of registered nurses report being White, whereas the patient population is only 58.3% White.

As a consequence of today’s current health care environment, ambulatory nursing leaders face the growing issue of workplace violence. The duty to maintain and protect a culture of safety for staff, providers, and patients in health systems necessitates that nursing leaders are prepared to address this problem in their areas of responsibility. The ambulatory setting requires nurse leaders to possess multifaceted competencies to serve in principal roles that address such challenges. An effective leadership compass is critical to guide transdisciplinary outpatient health care teams toward meaningful workplace violence prevention. Proficiencies required include broad clinical practice knowledge, effective change management, and strategic management abilities. The capacity to create, adapt, and apply integrative solutions across a wide range of clinic settings is essential. This article details a synergistic nursing leadership approach intended to both prevent and mitigate disruptive and violent patient behaviors in the ambulatory health care setting. The development of a series of expandable divisional and organizational strategies incorporating patient empathy, customer service, preparedness, and an intervening response model, highlights the importance of staff preparation and training, and interdisciplinary leadership collaboration.

Transforming healthcare delivery is multifaceted, complex, and necessitates challenging mindsets and changing skill sets. To effectively navigate this environment, nurse leaders should continuously identify their own development needs and partner with others to create impactful opportunities for growth. One healthcare system established a Center for Nursing Excellence (CNE) to intentionally invest in nurse leader development and nurture their professional growth. The programs guided nurse leaders to rediscover their agency, resulting in professional transformation.

Within the acute care setting, the chief nursing officer is often the member of the C-suite whose time is most sought after. Large spans of control, matrixed relationships, and the need for clinical input into strategic and operational decision making contribute to this demand. An assessment of the author’s calendar provides insight into opportunities for greater sharing of the workload, consideration for alternative calendar scheduling models, and a plan for less work commitment outside of work hours. This work informs other nurse executives in pursuit of maximizing presence, prioritizing the workload and the achievement of better work–life blend.