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A Pioneering Spirit: Leaders as Framers in Turbulent Times
Will it always be like this? A critical care nurse leader was recently asked this question by one of her novice nurses in the...
A Pioneering Spirit: What new graduates need from nurse leaders
Many nursing students are graduating and will be transitioning into practice. The good news is that jobs for new graduates are more plentiful today,...
An encouraging word
Has a compliment ever made your day? Perhaps it was just what you needed to hear to raise your self-confidence a notch or to...
An ounce of prevention
Engage in practical training through Project Firstline.
A lifetime of working with patients with serious burn injuries truly ingrained in me the importance of infection...
Any nurse can do it: Sustaining change when volunteering overseas
Arriving back in Ethiopia for the third time after having left only four months earlier, I had many questions. Had the Ethiopian nurses managed...
Benefits of feedback for nurse leaders
Viewing feedback as a gift enhances career growth.
Takeaways:
Without feedback, beginning nurse leaders’ careers can be derailed
Constructive feedback can lead to significant performance...
Beyond thank you: The powerful reach of meaningful recognition
“I recognize that voice, that voice belongs to someone who is such a dream to me. was a shining light and made an...
Boosting your influence
Jessie was excited to be appointed as chair of the professional practice council in her hospital. She envisioned being able to quickly engage staff...
Bringing nursing orientation back to life
Our hospital systems’ journey to obtain Magnet® recognition led to an excellent opportunity: the chance to revamp and improve our nursing orientation program as part...
Building a sense of community on nursing units
Jeff Rawson, a new nurse graduate, works on a behavioral health unit. His manager believes his transition is going well—until Jeff asks to transfer...
Building a strong shared governance foundation
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them...
Building Your Communication Skills
In her Harvard University Division of Continuing Education Professional Development website blog, Marjorie Lee North, a consultant for political candidates, physicians, and lawyers, offers...
Building Your Communication Skills – Part 2
The second installment of Marjorie Lee North’s Harvard University Division of Continuing Education Professional Development website blog, focuses on putting what you learned in...
Building Your Communication Skills Part 3
Marjorie Lee North, a consultant for political candidates, physicians, and lawyers, presented these ten tips in her blog on the Harvard University Division of...
Carefronting: An innovative approach to managing conflict
Nick Chase is an emergency department (ED) charge nurse. He and Michelle Stanley have worked together for the past 3 years. Their relationship has...
Caring for older lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender adults
Current discussions on the unique health issues of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations have prompted the healthcare professions to reexamine their mission...
Change maker
Dori Healey is passionate about patient safety, public service, and volunteering.
President-elect for American Nurses Association (ANA)-Idaho, Dori Healey, MSN-RN, MBA-HA, CPPS, takes every opportunity...
Choosing the right conversation
It’s 7:10 A.M. Maggie, the night-shift charge nurse, is waiting to give report to Julie, the charge nurse on the next shift. After a...
Choosing your political battles
Mary*, a new manager in the operating room, prides herself on being a strong advocate for her staff, quickly acting on every issue with...
Civility starts with you
Over the last decade, civility has become a hot topic. I got involved with it in 2000, when more than 700 nurses told the...
Collaboration: The key to healthcare transformation
Transforming health care is a complex challenge that can best be met through a coordinated response from academia and clinical practice. Working together, chief nursing officers (CNOs) and...
Collective genius as a tool for engagement and improvement
When bedside caregivers are engaged in their work, patient outcomes are improved, the patient experience is enhanced, and staff satisfaction is high. Most nursing...
Confronting conflict with higher-ups
Conflict in the workplace is a fact of life, and dealing with it is never easy. Sometimes it seems easier to ignore it and...
Constructive feedback and disciplinary action
The thought of telling someone that he or she is not doing a great job provokes anxiety for many of us. Most of the...
Creating high-performance interprofessional teams
Kate Summer, a nurse case manager on a telemetry unit, is leading an initiative to reduce the 30-day readmission rate of older patients with...
Dealing with difficult people
Jackie Jacobs is a charge nurse in a busy intensive care unit. She prides herself on being able to get along well with almost...
Empowering nurses to transform health care globally: A United States-Haiti nursing partnership
Since the Magnet® Vision was published in 2008, it has inspired actions by nurses at Lehigh Valley Hospital (LVH), a Magnet-recognized academic community hospital...
Enhance your self-awareness to be an authentic leader
In 2013 alone, U.S. organizations spent more than $15 billion on leadership development activities. Although much of these expenses focus on external programming, including...
Face your fears and forge ahead
Cathleen Wheatley steps up to a challenge.
Cathleen Wheatley, DNP, RN, CENP, is president of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston Salem, North Carolina,...
Fostering soft skills is a must for nurse leaders
It’s uncommon for nurse leaders to have to coach employees on clinical skills, but quite common for nurse leaders to coach and even use...
From our readers: Do we really know who our patients are?
Both nurse leaders and educators need to teach and model not only day-to-day nursing skills but the importance of connecting with their patients. In...
From our readers: How a ‘45-year-old STEMI’ showed me the human side of nursing
I worked as an emergency medical technician-paramedic for almost 8 years in a rural area before I became a registered nurse. Just before I...
From our readers: How mentorship affects retention rates of new nurses
You likely vividly remember the day you learned you were officially a licensed professional registered nurse. You were excited to be able to apply...
From our readers: My first code—A retrospective report of a premature promotion and a...
The elevator’s walls were covered in bronze and silver raised metal squares that gave the appearance of a magic eye puzzle and smelled of...
From our readers: Nurses leading from the middle
Nurse leaders are needed at all levels of the organization, especially in "the middle," which is commonly used to describe mid-level management positions. Middle...
From our readers: Resolving the forces of bias and duty in caring for incarcerated...
In the nurses’ station of the 39-bed med-surg unit I double-checked my patient’s 2:00 PM medications against the pharmacy sheet and then started down...
From our readers…Balancing the power in favor of patients
Ms. Sims, a bedside nurse featured by Leah Curtin earlier this year inspired me to write this article. At the behest of others, Ms....
From our readers…Caring for the world by recycling supplies
I became aware of the acute lack of essential medical supplies when I participated in medical missions work in the Philippines and Honduras. Basic...
From our readers…Do veteran nurses really eat their young? Observations of an ‘older’ new...
After working successfully for more than 20 years as a graphic artist and structural designer, I decided to enter nursing school at the age...
From our readers…Hunger advocacy for nurses
Since the mid-1990s, the number of hungry people worldwide has been steadily increasing. Currently about 925 million people worldwide are hungry—about 1 in 7...
From our readers…Strengthening nursing networks
Have you ever wondered what happened to the student who studied with you for that beginning med-surg test or the instructor who helped you...
From our readers…What bedside nurses can teach nursing leaders
Five years ago, while working in leadership I had a pivotal conversation with my superior regarding the need to "stop thinking like a bedside...
Frontline nurses and transformational leadership
A key to quality and safety
In 2011, the Institute of Medicine called for nurses in all settings and levels of care to be prepared...
Gaining confidence in public speaking
EVA, a professional practice coordinator, and her team of clinical educators are thrilled to learn that their abstract on an iLead in Nursing initiative (Innovation in LEadership...
Heavy Reading: Inside Nursing
Diversity, equity, and inclusion can’t be authentically incorporated into curricula when faculty assign textbooks that harm those whose health they seek to protect.
For instance,...
How to avoid biased thinking
Jessica, a Millennial (Generation Y) nurse working on a medical-surgical unit, recently completed her first year of practice. Ralph, her manager, is pleased with...
How to create “sticky” messages to influence others
Nursing has been ranked as the most trustworthy of all professions for the past decade, except for firefighters after 9/11. Being perceived as trustworthy...
How to get off the anger-go-round
One of the most complex emotions, anger is a normal response to certain situational triggers. It’s associated with physiologic changes, including increases in heart...
Implementing purposeful daily leadership rounding: A broader approach to measuring quality
Patient satisfaction has long been one way that hospitals measured quality, albeit indirectly. The surgical services division of Rush University Medical Center, an academic...
Imposter syndrome: When you feel like you’re faking it
Colleen Jackson recently was promoted to a clinical manager position on her unit. At first, she was thrilled with the opportunity to advance her...
Informal leaders and cultural change
Informal leaders are crucial to the success of a change involving the nursing team, yet they are often overlooked. A literature search of nursing...
Introverts can be nurse leaders, too
Natalie Sanchez recently was promoted to a nurse manager position. So far, she thinks, things are going well. She is starting to feel comfortable...
Lead to succeed through generational differences
Chelsea enters the unit chewing gum and texting on her new smart phone. Deb stands there, waiting to get report. Minutes pass as Chelsea...
Leading at the bedside and beyond
A typical definition for a leader is one who has the ability to influence. Florence Nightingale, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King readily come...
Leading the journey: Engaging staff in process improvement through visual management
The pressure is always on in busy clinical settings to improve efficiency, capacity, and patient flow. Strategic process improvement that engages the entire staff...
Leading through failure
I have served as a nurse corps officer in the United States Air Force for 27 years. One of my most useful leadership lessons...
Leading through loss: Lessons for healthcare leaders
One of the most painful experiences for any parent is the death of a child. The family is deeply affected by the loss, and...
Learning from mistakes
Today’s healthcare organizations need to improve patient safety, which includes effectively communicating information to nurses about safety incidents and how to address them. After...
Making the workplace healthier, one self-aware nurse at a time
From the disruptive physician throwing instruments or treating nurses with contempt to coworkers or nurse managers "eating their young," some people and behaviors in...
Mindful Awareness
Tip 3 of 6 Mindfulness Exercises You Can Try Today
This exercise is designed to cultivate a heightened awareness and appreciation of simple daily tasks...
Mindful Listening
Tip 4 of 6 Mindfulness Exercises You Can Try Today
This exercise is designed to open your ears to sound in a non-judgmental way, and...
Nine principles of successful nursing leadership
There is an extraordinary quality of spirit that prompts one to aspire to lead. These nine principles will help you tap into that spirit...
Not just “eating our young”: Workplace bullying strikes experienced nurses, too
Even though nursing is a profession of caring and compassion, bullying exists in many forms in it. Bullying threatens teamwork, morale, communication, and, most...
Nurses in a children’s classroom: Showcasing nursing as a career choice
We would like to share our experiences as yearly participants in our local Hillsborough County Great American Teach-In (GATI). GATI, an annual November event...
Nurses’ essential role in supporting professionalism
Key takeaways
- Most nurses behave professionally and ethically.
- A tiered approach to intervention when unprofessional behavior occurs offers the opportunity for self-directed, nonpunitive change...
Nursing Story Slams: Creating a Space for Nurses To Tell Their Stories
Storytelling is essential to increasing health literacy, empathy, curiosity, and engagement — and who has better stories than nurses? That is why three years ago, we...
One-on-one meetings: The stitch in time that saves nine
Remember the last time you had a loose button? Maybe you thought about stopping to sew it on, but never did. Then the button...
Practicing emotional intelligence may help reduce lateral violence
It’s been a stressful day at work — nothing new. Your patient fell, an I.V. line became occluded right when you were ready to...
Principled leadership and the imperative for workplace civility
Civility is not situational. What a leader must manifest all day, every day, is civility, because civility is—or at least should be—an expectation and...
Recovery lessons from the Sandy Hook trauma
Children are people with small hearts and big emotions that often come from the people around them, particularly family members. As a pediatric nurse...
Releasing our attachments to the past
Jake, a critical care nursing director, works for a large healthcare system that has invested heavily in testing the use of robots to support...
Safeguarding patients: The courageous communication solution
Preventable medical errors account for 440,000 deaths each year and are the third leading cause of death in the United States. According to The Joint Commission,...
Scope and standards-of-practice documents: Guiding you to leadership success
Starting a new job in a new specialty can be a daunting experience. I recently transitioned to a new role as a nurse administrator....
Scrapbooks capture nurses career milestones
For nurse graduates, starting their first staff position is an exciting time, but it can also be a time of apprehension. Many have heard...
Springing into action: How one procedural area kept working during COVID-19
As COVID-19 hit Georgia in early March 2020, Emory University System made the difficult decision to stop all surgeries and procedures unless they were...
Squashing the communication triangle
In the infamous and deadly Bermuda Triangle, things seem to disappear, never to be seen again. In the communication triangle, the opposite is true:...
Stopping the pain: The role of nurse leaders in providing organizational resources to reduce...
As articles ranging from those in American Nurse Today ("Civility starts with you") to The New York Times ("When the Nurse is a Bully")...
Taking the first steps to serving on a board
Nurses have a singular perspective on patient care and community health. With our training and experience, we can inform and improve healthcare decisions in...
Ten tips for transitioning from home care nurse to nurse manager
Sarah made the transition from inpatient hospital nurse to home care (HC) nurse 6 years ago. She enjoys her practice and likes helping the...
The little things we do
In December 2001, the graduating class of New York University’s College of Nursing asked me to give a speech during their pinning ceremony. As...
The Most Important Leadership Competencies, According to Leaders Around the World
In a March 2016 article published in Harvard Business Review, certified executive coach Dr. Sunnie Giles explores the top 10 leadership competencies identified by...
The pandemic and early career nurses
Find support, shape the profession via input, action.
During the peaks and valleys of the now 15-month COVID-19 pandemic, nurses remain the bedrock of competent...
The Power of Introverts
Are you an introvert? If so, you may think you don’t have the right personality to be a nurse leader. Susan Cain, the author...
The power of Lean Six Sigma
Lean and Six Sigma are well-established quality improvement tools. Combining the two creates a synergistic effect, boosting effectiveness. In the hospital where I work,...
The power of the positive
Being positive in a negative situation is not naïve. It’s leadership. — Ralph S. Marston, Jr., author and publisher of The Daily Motivator website
Nurses may encounter...
The selflessness and dedication of military nurses
Thirty years ago, Brigadier General Sarah Wells began the tradition of gathering nurses together to place flowers on the graves of nurses who served in...
Thinking it through: The path to reflective leadership
Reflective leadership is a way of approaching the work of being a leader by leading one’s life with presence and personal mastery. Learning to...
Thoughtful feedback loop: A nurse’s approach to personal and organizational improvement
As a nurse, your partnership with another in the Thoughtful Feedback Loop gives you the power to exponentially increase the rate at which you...
Too young to be a nurse leader?
Marla Johnson began her career on an oncology unit after graduating from a BSN program 4 years ago. She achieved certification and regularly takes...
Uplifting nurses
Associations respond to member needs in a pandemic.
In 2020, what kept me up at night was nurses’ well-being and how they’ve been dealing with...
Viewpoint: Adding respect to freedom of speech
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The right to freedom of speech is a common topic in the news, but the reporting often doesn’t include a full discussion of...
Viewpoint: Lessons learned from nurses in rural Uganda
It’s still dark outside our tiny pup tent, and the air feels humid after the sudden torrential downpour the evening before. The melodies of...
What followers want in their nurse leaders
Why would anyone want you to lead them? That’s a question nurses rarely ask themselves before they take on leadership positions. But it’s an...
When caregiving ignites burnout – New ways to douse the flames
Most nurses enjoy taking care of others — it’s what drew them into their profession and provides satisfaction throughout their careers, to varying degrees....
Why disruption can be a good thing
Seventy-two seconds into liftoff, a defective mechanical part set off a string of events that caused the Challenger space shuttle to tear apart as...
Why timing is crucial in leadership
For the last 2 years, Karen, the manager of a critical care unit, has been laying the groundwork for her unit to apply for...
Most Recent Content
For Nurse Practitioners
Do Vitamins, Plants Help Uterine Fibroid Risk or Treatment?
A research team out of Poland recently undertook a comprehensive examination of published data to determine the role that vitamins and diet might play...