The COVID-19 pandemic has created both a crisis and an opportunity in nursing leadership.
There are no parts of the world that have not been touched by the pandemic and undeniably
this has placed significant stress on the nursing workforce. Nursing leadership is
under tremendous stress to provide the staff and resources to care for what seems
a relentless demand.
No longer can we continue to discuss the need for effective nursing leadership. The
time to make changes is now. There must be a call to action to ensure nursing leaders
at all levels of management have not only the competency and expertise to move and
lead organizations. These leaders must have a seat at the table. Nursing leaders need
to be able to not only create and participate in health policy decisions. They must
also be able to manage healthcare team members throughout the healthcare organization.
Of critical importance is the leadership provided to those nurses at the bedside.
Inconsistencies in the educational preparation of nurse leaders and lack of consistent
training have, in part, impacted our responsibility to lead. The 21st century and
beyond means we must educate and mentor a new cadre of nurse leaders. In a recent
published study it has been argued for nurses’ potential to assume a far more significant
role in designing and developing health services. The time is ripe for a nurse-led
and revolutionary change of focus to address long-term conditions, infectious and
non-infectious diseases, and the "diseases of despair"(1). Nursing leaders must envisage
and articulate the vision to achieve these goals and then work together to create
the preferred future. Leaders need the necessary competencies to ensure that the nursing
workforce can position itself to address the vision.
There must be a paradigm shift in nursing leaders’ education and mentoring, with a
radical re-visioning of the qualities and skills needed for nurse leaders to take
nursing forward into the 22nd century and beyond. The shift is necessary because the
rapid changes that we are witnessing within the healthcare environment will continue.
Leaders must be able to drive a rapidly change process plan to ensure success effectively.
Researchers(2) described how healthcare workers react to change and found for many
change creates psychological uncertainty as to what the proposed change means to them
personally and their practice. The immediate reactions to change were categorized
as either indifference or passive resistance to change. The response to change is
a concern for nursing in all spheres and emphasizes the power of the status quo. However,
participation in or support for reform occurred when the health care practitioners
implemented the changes or when the changes included their constructive feedback.
When changes are well-conceived and well communicated(2), the chances of adoption
are high. Educating nursing leaders on how to facilitate and adapt to a rapidly changing
healthcare environment is essential. These leaders can then enable the change process
with their staff and colleagues more effectively.
Leadership in a New World Order
Although there is diverse and meaningful literature on leadership, there are some
unique attributes to consider in developing nursing leaders. First, we must consider
this within a social-ecological framework. Socio-ecological models increase the understanding
of the dynamic interrelations among micro, meso, and macro factors. Leadership cannot
be viewed in a vacuum – it must be considered within the social, political, cultural,
and economic context within which it is enacted. COVID-19 has underscored that we
cannot consider health care external to a broader societal context. The lessons have
been brutal but a wake-up call to assess nurses' role and function in a global context(3).
Nursing leaders have long struggled to cast off oppression and suppression of their
value, particularly within the health care environment. Physicians historically have
been men and women nurses. Nurses practiced in a situation in which they were often
oppressed, undervalued, and their practice was restrictive. The medical model, combined
with sexism and gender-based roles, has influenced many healthcare organizations'
nursing leadership behaviors(4). There are also hierarchical issues within our profession
and our narrative have privileged the voices of the status quo and in some instances
perpetuated structural racism(5).
As health care complexity has increased, the need for effective, well prepared nursing
leaders has never been more urgent. The practice of promoting the "great clinical
nurses" into management is no longer a viable model. Healthcare organizations' success
in meeting fiscal, patient satisfaction, and quality of care goals is mainly dependent
on nursing leadership's leadership competencies. To promote competency in nursing
leaders and to build infrastructures that encourage the creation of expertise, nurse
leaders need to embrace evidence-based approaches(6), as well as a range of other
skills and qualities.
Nurse leadership in healthcare organizations is accountable and responsible for many
patients' outcomes, including patient satisfaction. When nursing leaders have the
authority and resources, they need to manage their respective units with accountability.
Thus, when held accountable by senior management, the nurse leader needs autonomy
and means to achieve the identified goals. Nurse leaders must be able to create and
communicate a vision for their areas of responsibility. They need to build positive
relations with those they lead and adopt plans and actions to achieve mutual objectives
to be successful(7).
In some employment settings, the nurse leader may need to leverage nursing's importance
with senior management. The leverage is particularly essential when the nursing leader
uses transformation leadership with an environment that appreciates nurses. Their
contributions to patient outcomes are evident. Along with better patient outcomes
can also come a more efficient fiscal operation. Thus, the nursing leader needs to
ensure senior leadership "gets" the value of supporting nurses with the autonomy and
resources to help the organization achieve its vision(7). Nursing Leadership during
COVD-19
COVID-19 creates the urgent need for nursing leaders who can advocate for their staff.
There must be trust and confidence between the frontline nurses and nurse leaders.
The communication must be frequent and continuous with a back-and-forth dialogue.
Ensuring there are regular structured communication avenues such as shift huddles,
so the staff has an awareness of employer action and updates related to COVID-19.
Safeguarding staff so they are properly educated to manage COVID-19 patients, particularly
having sufficient personal protective equipment and understand how to minimize exposure
to the virus, is essential. The nursing leader also needs to facilitate staff having
appropriate rest breaks while on duty. Given the high level of stress for both patients
and staff, nursing leadership's www.eerp.usp.br/rlae
Anders RL, Jackson. D, Davidson PM, Daly JP. 3 attention to listen and be supportive
of staff is critical. The establishment and maintenance of a caring relationship with
the nursing staff cannot be understated.
Challenges to maintaining resilience in the face of the ongoing death of patients
are difficult. Moral distress and burnout from prolonged exposure to COVID-19 patients
and family are challenges nursing leadership needs to be aware of. Nursing leaders
need awareness of their staff and understand what pro-active steps need to be taken
to address such. Eventually, as the population becomes vaccinated and the demands
of caring for COVID-19 patients decrease, nursing cannot go back to operating as before.
Nursing leadership needs to learn from the current pandemic and apply these lessons
moving forward to future proof our profession and future populations.