Nursing Leadership: The Role You Play & The Opportunity for Innovation

By Terri Hinkley, EdD, MBA, BScN, RN, CAE

Chief Executive Officer, AMSN & MSNCB

Most of us probably envision our bosses, our bosses’ bosses, etc., when we think of the word leadership. For most, leadership references a person, one with formal authority.

To lead, however, is a verb. And anyone can lead. There is no requirement for holding a formal management role as a leader, but these two words have become almost synonymous over time.

I think we can all consider a time we had a manager that we would not characterize as a leader, and conversely when we were led by someone who was not in a formal leadership role.

The leadership role of nurses was a central message in the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report “Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century (IOM, 2001). The IOM reiterated this message in the latest Future of Nursing (FON) report, "The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equality" (NASEM, 2021).

The report notes, “Nurses as a professional group manifest many of the characteristics of strong leadership—including courage, humility, caring, compassion, intelligence, empathy, awareness, and accountability—that are essential to leading the way on health equity (Shapiro et al., 2006).” (NASEM, 2021, p. 277).

As I was reflecting on the chapter on nurse well-being in the FON report, I was thinking about the opportunities for clinical nurses to lead in their places of work. Many of the examples I reflected upon were opportunities for nurse-led innovation.

Nurses can’t get proper breaks, not even to go to the restroom in a timely manner. You’re not able to eat a proper meal because you’re grabbing something quick you can inhale before heading back to work. You’re dehydrated because you don’t have time to drink, or you’re worried that you’ll have to use the restroom, and there’s no time for that.

Oftentimes there aren’t healthy food options at work, and you’re exhausted from trying to keep up with daily life outside of the workplace, so maybe you didn’t have time to grocery shop or to prepare a meal to bring to work. You know you should exercise, but that exhaustion I mentioned above prevents you from having the energy to do so, or time just won’t allow for it in your schedule.

Flipping between days and nights leaves you so drained and tired. Maybe you can’t sleep during the day when you’re on the night shift. The list goes on and on.

Leadership, though, is finding solutions despite the obstacles. And I know you are all leaders. I know it because you’re nurses. You lead in many aspects of your professional and personal lives. You advocate for others on a daily basis.

So, this is my challenge to all of you...

Think about one challenge you face in being able to care for your own well-being. I’m sure there are several, but I want you to choose just one. Think about the barriers to being able to address that challenge.

Is it your workload, your schedule, your home situation, or a combination of many factors? Now brainstorm solutions. Look around;

• What are others doing?
• What analogous situations or workplaces can you examine to help you identify potential solutions?
• What would enable you to be successful?
• Who can help remove the barriers?

Innovation sounds like a big deal. It sounds like you have to completely redesign something. At its core, innovation involves looking for new solutions.

Perhaps you advocate for the cafeteria to be open during the night, or perhaps an order-ahead service from the cafeteria that will deliver food to your unit before they close? If that doesn’t work, can you advocate for healthy food options in a vending machine?

You get the idea.

TH

Reader note: After taking a look at what Dr. Hinkley wrote, and thinking on it for a bit, will you take the challenge?

Tell us in the comments: What would be one innovation you would propose, to help ensure a better practice environment for you and your colleagues?