Works brought together 13 dynamic nurse leaders to share healthcare leadership evidence and perspectives throughout Season 9 of the top-rated The Handoff podcast. Crossing the United States and spanning nonprofit, for-profit, industry, and advocacy healthcare segments, leaders put everything on the table for consideration and conversation.

From workforce innovation and artificial intelligence to strategic integration of technology and data-driven decision making – The Handoff Season 9 tackled the topics on nurse leaders' minds today. This season embraced the idea that leadership is a behavior – not a role – and delved into the dynamics involved in adapting and thriving as a modern nurse leader. This post explores key themes and insights that stood out this season.

Leading Self

Aligning with the National Academy of Medicine’s The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Equity (2021), nurse leaders at all levels and roles spoke to leading self, others, healthcare organizations, and impacting organizations beyond healthcare. Each domain is key, beginning with leading oneself. The American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) identifies the “leader within” as the base of their Nurse Leader Core Competencies Model, anchoring all other leadership competencies. Every guest this season shared different ways they develop and care for the leader within themselves.

Lean into Adaptability and Courage

Kelly Larrabee-Robke, DNP, RN, MBA, MS, clinical technology and innovation leader, now Vice President and Chief Nursing Informatics Officer at Seam Technologies, highlighted the dynamic and ever-changing aspect of nurse leadership, calling it the “nursing leadership kaleidoscope.” She highlighted the many different perspectives on and dimensions of leadership, emphasizing the importance of adaptability and continuous learning. As the team, organization, and situations change, leaders’ roles and behaviors evolve too. She added that self-awareness and courage are key to adapting and evolving with confidence.

Prioritize Personal Wellness

Tara Kinard, DNP, MSN, MBA, RN, CCM, ACM-RN, CENP, Associate Chief Nursing Officer of Duke University Population Health and Duke University School of Nursing Clinical Associate, emphasized the crucial role of personal wellness in effective nursing leadership, noting that it took an unfortunate backseat during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kinard made the case that authentic and human-centered leadership is deeply rooted in personal wellness and reflective practice. Leaders who prioritize their well-being, especially if they have personal traumatic experiences, can start work better equipped to support teams. Wellness routines are evidence-based, and Kinard shared several wellness strategies and their benefits when leaders employ them consistently. On reflection, Kinard said, “Reflecting on personal experiences and challenges can lead to greater self-awareness and growth. It’s important for leaders to take time for self-reflection to understand their strengths and areas for improvement.”

Adopt a Leadership Reflection Practice

Maurice “Mo” Brownlee, DBA, MBA, MSN, AGNP-C, AAHIVS, a board-certified HIV specialist and the Founder and President of Wellness Homes of Chicago, also highlighted the importance of a leadership reflection practice. He has developed a novel community care model for vulnerable populations in Chicago. His practice can have a “church lady” and a “vibrant drag queen” side-by-side thanks to his multi-focused practice that looks and feels much like a home environment. As we take care of varied populations, we may have biases – known or unknown.He encouraged that “reflective practice is essential in leadership. Dr. Brownlee noted that practice involves taking the time to look inward, understand your experiences, and learn from them in order to grow and become more effective leaders.

Leading Others

Set in a strong foundation of personal leadership, guests shifted focus externally – to leading others. This work initiates systems leadership yet is still more intimate and up-close. Larrabee-Robke set the foundation with a challenge in episode one, “Even as a leader, we’re a member of the team, but the leadership dynamics of the team and the behaviors really fortify efforts and act as traction for success…It’s about how we interact and engage with the team.”  Throughout the season guests shared their best approaches for modern nursing teams.

Support Teams through Change & Collaboration

Nick Escobedo, DNP, RN, OCN, NE-BC, Methodist Hospital’s Associate Chief Nursing Officer, accentuated this stating, “A leader is anyone who takes responsibility to recognize the potential in people and ideas and has the courage to develop that potential.” Emphasizing the multidisciplinary nature of healthcare, Escobedo discussed supporting individuals through change and building collaborative environments fostering patient care innovation and continuous process improvement. With a proven track record of developing emerging leaders, he showcased ways to recognize and develop potential in others to create the future of healthcare, indicating this leadership skill is “about providing the support and opportunities [others] need to thrive and succeed.”

Share Personal Stories to Build Connection

Sonna Harding, DNP, RN, HCA Florida Twin Cities Hospital Chief Nursing Officer at the time of recording and now the HCA Florida Ocala Hospital Chief Nursing Officer, balanced strength and vulnerability in sharing how personal stories can transform team culture and patient care. As many nurses learn through narratives and storytelling, Harding encouraged leaders to lean into the power of personal stories to build a cohesive and compassionate culture. Our stories humanize healthcare, fostering trust among teams and with patients and families. An organizational culture of storytelling can inspire change, motivate team members, and align everyone with institutional values and goals. This communication strategy – often overlooked while readily available to most nurse leaders through a variety of data and survey responses as well as personal experiences – quickly builds connections for strategic system change. It is a powerful tool in leading teams, encouraging a more supportive and collaborative work environment and leading to more empathetic and personalized care.

Invite All Disciplines for Nursing Workforce Planning

Johnna Smith, DNP, RN, Chief Nurse Executive at Southern Illinois Healthcare (SIH) St. Joseph Memorial Hospital, discussed the importance of involving all disciplines in workforce planning to create comprehensive, flexible, and effective models to retain and support team members. Developing others spurs reciprocal leadership contributing to creative solutions to workplace challenges, exponentially transforming processes, projects, and partnerships. SIH utilizes huddle boards and idea generation, working within a culture where “no idea is a bad idea.” In an often-rural geographic location where the organization must develop robust workforce pipelines and retention strategies, Smith said, “supporting early-career nurses through mentorship programs and professional development opportunities is crucial. We need to invest in our future leaders by providing them with the tools and guidance they need to thrive.” Smith and her team have co-developed numerous programs to cultivate new talent and lead others in professional growth.

Leading within Healthcare

Beyond leading themselves and leading their teams, the nursing experts we interviewed this season are leading within the nursing profession and healthcare in general. We were inspired by the numerous leading-edge practice approaches we heard, including the latest trends in care model transformation and technology innovation and integration to propel work and care forward – many as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Project ANEW

Tracy Breece, MSN, NI-BC, CPHIMS, Executive Director of Nursing Informatics, and Cheryl Denison, BSN, RN, Integration Director of Clinical Applications, shared Mercy Health’s Project ANEW – a large scale, multiyear effort focused on improving nursing efficiency and electronic health record satisfaction through workflow optimization and documentation reduction. Through embedded leadership perspectives, end-user engagement and conversations, and novel collaboration “contracts,” Mercy Health is creating a more effective and satisfying work environment contributing to maintaining and enhancing patient outcomes. Mercy Health is also an industry frontrunner in this space – openly sharing their successes and lessons learned as they are “getting rid of stupid stuff” to benefit other healthcare systems and the communities they serve.

Ambulatory and Community Care Model

While the Mercy Health team focused on acute care models of care, Dr. Mo Brownlee shined a light on a novel ambulatory and community care model. Brownlee shared successful initiatives that have improved access to care and health outcomes for vulnerable populations, and he challenged divergent thinking about community care that still carries stigma. “Equity in healthcare means dismantling the systemic barriers and stigma that affect marginalized populations. We must ensure that everyone has access to the care they need, regardless of their background or circumstances.” This also means that healthcare teams need to reflect the populations they are serving and must be “culturally competent and sensitive to the needs of diverse patient populations.” Brownlee and team are breaking the molds and creating care models and environments that truly meet the quintuple aim.

Integrating Equity into Healthcare Leadership

As the quintuple aim emphasizes the importance of health equity, Tracy Gosselin PhD, RN, FAAN, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Chief Nurse Executive, provided a comprehensive look at the integration of equity into healthcare leadership. She challenged all leaders to commit to addressing disparities and ensuring fair treatment for all patients. Key strategies include creating inclusive workplace cultures and using data to drive equity for individuals as well as populations, tracking outcomes to ensure interventions are effective. Gosselin, a healthcare workplace violence researcher, noted, “Ensuring the safety and well-being of both patients and staff is a fundamental aspect of equitable healthcare practices.”

Ensuring Patient and Clinician Safety

Ann Louise Puopolo, BSN, RN, former VP of Enterprise Patient Safety at CVS Health, Chair of the RLDatix Customer Advisory Board, and Vice-chair at Tufts Medical Center Board of Directors’ Committee on the Quality of Care, agreed with Gosselin’s view on workplace violence, adding this new headwind is a novel focus for safety and risk management colleagues. Developing cultures of safety is multifactorial today and creating safe workplaces also “means fostering an environment where staff feel safe to report issues without fear of retribution.” Within healthcare, nurse leaders are champions of patient safety and care quality. Leaders can not only utilize large amounts of data to support patients and organizations, but as malpractice cases or serious adverse events occur, leaders can appropriately share learnings to prevent future harm, which is harder to track and evaluate, but is still helpful. Open communication, transparency, and collaboration are key in achieving and maintaining high standards of care.

Allowing Nurses to Thrive

Brooke Baldwin, DNP, RN, NE-BC, Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Executive, OHSU Healthcare and Associate Dean, Clinical Affairs, OHSU School of Nursing, provided an opportunity to reimagine nursing as a profession in which people thrive, which has not been the headline lately. “The pandemic has fundamentally changed nursing leadership, requiring us to rapidly adapt to unprecedented challenges and rethink how we approach care delivery.” She emphasized the importance of flexibility and innovation in adapting to new healthcare demands and expectations, laying out OHSU nursing’s strategic pillars. Baldwin highlighted demonstrating the value of nursing within the broader healthcare system through consistent and transparent communication, ensuring nursing has a voice at the most influential healthcare tables. And, as much as nursing has learned and adapted over the last five years, Baldwin emphasizes “the future of nursing leadership requires continuous learning, adaptation, and a commitment to support our professionals through ongoing investment in their development and creating environments that foster growth and innovation.” The journey of reimagining nursing is continuous and requires constant reevaluation.

Ethically Adopting Healthcare AI Technologies

Several expert guests spoke to the power of integrated and collaborative technology to propel healthcare forward. Michael Cary, PhD, RN, FAAN, Tenured Associate Professor and Elizabeth C. Clipp Term Chair of Nursing at Duke University School of Nursing, discussed ethical considerations necessary to ensure organizations develop and use artificial intelligence technologies responsibly. A national expert at the intersection of healthcare, technology, and equity, Cary shared perspectives on ways AI can perpetuate and deter inequities – just like the clinicians and people the technologies learn from. He highlighted how academic and practice organizations can partner to prepare the workforce for the AI era. As this field is rapidly progressing and is already ubiquitous in everyday life and in healthcare settings without many clinicians realizing it, nurse leaders need to understand foundational pieces of the technology to continue to shape healthcare policies inside and outside of traditional healthcare settings. “A collaborative approach to AI implementation is essential. We need multidisciplinary teams, including healthcare providers, technologists, and policymakers to design and deploy AI tools effectively,” Cary emphasized as he explained how healthcare AI touches people throughout their health journeys – wherever that occurs – and reminds nurses and nurse leaders they are there, too, and have an ethical obligation to patient care, even in AI efforts.

Leveraging the Power of Healthcare Data & Analytics

Mike Jones, DHA, MBA, RN, NI-BC, NEA-BC, PMP, CPHIMS, FACHE, a Regional Director at CommonSpirit Health, pinpointed the integration of data and technology in healthcare and its impact on patient outcomes and operational efficiency. Nurse leaders have access to a tremendous amount of healthcare data and need analytics to help identify trends, optimize resource allocation, and improve patient care processes. “The future of healthcare lies in effectively leveraging data and technology to improve patient outcomes and operational efficiency.” Just as nurses are partners with clinical interprofessional team members, nurse leaders are partners with technology colleagues; it is a strategic partnership to improve patient care. From privacy concerns, interoperability issues, securing data systems, and more, nurse leaders transform technology in ways only they can. As such, clinical technology leaders also need a human-centered leadership approach to help diverse teams embrace their spheres of control during rapid healthcare delivery improvements.

Leading Beyond Healthcare

Several guests spoke to the importance of skill shifting not only to support healthcare but to lead beyond healthcare, as well. As the world changes, leaders need to change. From finance and accounting to mergers and acquisitions to understanding the foundations of artificial intelligence, nursing leadership looks quite different today than it did 50, 25, or even five years ago. As a result, nurse leaders are reskilling and upskilling in formative spaces that can benefit institutions and organizations without any healthcare connection. As healthcare leans into equitable access and care and health-related social needs or social contributors to health, nurse leaders can leverage tremendous systems thinking and knowledge to help ensure all the community pieces are connected. “Patients” are patients everywhere and in every setting, so leaders who look both upstream and downstream of care get the benefit of not only supporting beyond historical healthcare spaces but also transforming what healthcare looks and feels like for everyone in the future, bringing that networked knowledge back to the boardroom for strategic decisions.

Guiding Questions for Nurses to Think Beyond the Waiting Room

Dr. Larrabee-Robke spurred listeners with questions to think beyond healthcare: 

• [A] patient is seen in our care area, but where has that patient been before they got [here]? Where are they going after? 
• What information needs to flow seamlessly between places in order to ensure that the patient receives the best care not just now but when they leave? 
• How do we ensure that information and data transpires while they are receiving care in other areas comes back to us? 

Dr. Gosselin also shared this sentiment, highlighting, “How are we layering the work that really serves our [communities] across the lifespan and across their journeys? It’s about looking at populations, whether we do that by geocoding state-level databases or national databases, understanding what our data tells us, and starting there” to change care everywhere. Dr. Cary and Dr. Jones both pointed out our healthcare technologies extend beyond our traditional settings, and we need to leverage them in partnership with others. 

Smith reminded listeners that we often overcomplicate our healthcare partnerships, especially when we think about our communities and our academic partners. But when we keep our focus on what’s important, partnerships leapfrog our work and care forward. Dr. Brownlee shined a spotlight on the role of community engagement in creating effective healthcare solutions, ensuring they are culturally appropriate and meet the specific needs of the population – rather than the needs we, in healthcare, tend to think the population needs. He inspired listeners to advocate for equity and drive systemic change as “it’s our responsibility to be vocal about the need for equitable care and to take concrete steps to address disparities.”

Bringing it All Together

Overall, The Handoff Season 9 episodes take a broad view of healthcare leadership and trends. 

• Larrabee-Robke encouraged individuals to embrace self-awareness and courage in leadership to innovate and transform healthcare delivery. 
• Escobedo highlighted recognizing and developing the potential in people as well as ideas to drive collaborative leadership. 
• Kinard prioritized personal wellness and reflective practice to enhance leadership effectiveness. 
• Gosselin integrated equity into healthcare leadership through understanding and utilizing population health data and began drilling into leadership responses to workplace violence and incivility. 
• Cary stretched leadership perspectives on ethical use of artificial intelligence to prevent biases and advance health equity. 
• Harding used storytelling as a leadership strategy to build connections, convey important messages, and shape healthcare culture for effective care. 
• Breece and Denison highlighted ways to improve workflow efficiency by eliminating redundant documentation and engaging end users in care model transformation. Brownlee challenged the status quo of healthcare equity in community care, advocating for person-centered innovation. 
• Puopolo championed patient safety and quality care through data-driven decision-making, focusing on the return on investment through nurse-engaged risk management. 
• Smith inspired through staff-engaged problem-solving to retain the nursing workforce and strengthen unique academic-practice partnerships. 
• And Jones epitomized human-centered leadership that leverages data and technology to build strategic healthcare partnerships and enhance patient outcomes. 

‍The Handoff podcast Season 9 provides a wealth of insights into the complexities and challenges of nursing leadership. Guests touched on common themes of adaptability, data-driven decision-making, workforce innovation, ethical use of technologies, communication, and advocacy in equitable care. It is evident nurse leaders have myriad priorities within the dizzying and complex industry. As the healthcare landscape continues to evolve, the 13 expert guests support leaders striving to make a positive impact in their organizations and beyond. Listeners can find The Handoff podcast Seasons 1 through 9 online and all podcast platforms. The Handoff Season 10 begins August 2024 with a full lineup of expert nurse leaders spurring healthcare forward.

Be Our Guest

Calling all nurse leaders! If you’re interested in being featured as a guest on The Handoff, send us an inquiry at thehandoffpodcast@trustedhealth.com. We welcome episode feedback and topic ideas at that address as well. And, don’t forget to subscribe to The Handoff to make sure you never miss an episode.

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References

• American Organization for Nursing Leadership. (2022). AONL Nurse Leader Core Competencies. Chicago, IL: American Organization for Nursing Leadership.
• National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2021). The future of nursing 2020-2030: Charting a path to achieve health equity. The National Academies Press