Becker's Hospital Review

57 FINANCE CMO / CARE DELIVERY The backbone of healthcare: 3 CNOs on what COVID-19 has taught us about nursing By Mackenzie Bean, Gabrielle Masson and Anuja Vaidya T he COVID-19 pandemic has under- scored the crucial role nurses play in the U.S. healthcare system, bringing a spirit of strength, ingenuity and courage to their work. In recognition of National Nurses Week, which was celebrated May 6-12, Becker's asked nurse executives to share what the pan- demic has taught us about nursing and what lasting effects it may have on the profession. eir responses are below. Editor's note: Responses were lightly edited for length and clarity. Wilhelmina Manzano, RN, senior vice president, chief nursing executive and chief quality officer at NewYork-Presby- terian (New York City): "e truth about the value of nurses was further affirmed. We know that nurses are the backbone of American healthcare, and oen its heart and soul. In these unprecedented times, nurses answered the call of duty with great bravery even at personal cost, putting themselves at risk to alleviate suffering and save lives. ree words: Strength. Dedication. Compas- sion. We have seen how nurses can contrib- ute in so many critical ways, adapt to chang- ing and complex clinical situations, and take the lead in the fight against COVID-19. "e COVID-19 pandemic will impact nursing as a profession in the future. It has shown us that we need to build our inten- sive care unit capacity, which of course ex- acerbates the current shortage of nurses, especially in critical care and emergency room nursing. e 'glass half-full' perspec- tive points to the possibility of seeing a great influx of people into nursing. It also begs the question of how we are preparing our future nurses to ensure clinical competencies that will meet the needs of the 'new normal' so that we can continue to deliver safe care. Fi- nally, there is no question that we need to continue to invest in nursing, nursing edu- cation and leadership to ensure that health- care and patient care remain in very capable hands and we can sleep peacefully at night." Trish Celano, MSN, RN, senior vice pres- ident, associate chief clinical officer and chief nursing executive at AdventHealth (Altamonte Springs, Fla.): "This pandem- ic has shown the strength of our nurses as they continue to walk in their calling. It takes dedication and courage to selflessly show up for others, especially in such try- ing times. Each nurse may choose this career for different reasons, but we believe nursing chooses them because of who they are." David Marshall, DNP, RN, senior vice president and chief nursing executive at Cedars-Sinai (Los Angeles): "Part of our culture at Cedars-Sinai is a commitment to innovation. Our nurses have shared their ingenuity in tackling some of the big-pic- ture problems, helping to puzzle out how we would use every available inch of space in the event of a surge and how we would dramatically increase how many ICU pa- tients we could serve. Over the years, we've won awards and designations for our ability to test and implement new procedures, but what truly inspires is how these ideas are born. Trace them back to the beginning, and you will find a nurse or cluster of nurs- es who just wanted to make their patients' lives better, increase their comfort and protect their safety. "At the same time we are implementing these innovations, we are dealing with the uncer- tainty inherent in this kind of unparalleled crisis. Many of us are juggling new respon- sibilities as a result of these changes while managing the understandable anxieties and problems that arise at work and in our daily lives. Hopefully, we can sustain the inno- vations and face what will almost certainly be a changed business." n 5 ways to safeguard clinician well-being amid the COVID-19 pandemic By Anuja Vaidya H ealthcare workers will be the ones to bear the brunt of the long-term physical and mental effects of the coronavirus pandemic, and there needs to be a comprehensive strategy to protect their well-being during and after the pandemic, three physicians wrote in a perspective piece published by The New England Journal of Medicine. Victor J. Dzau, MD, Darrell Kirch, MD, and Thomas Nasca, MD, from the Na- tional Academy of Medicine's Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience, wrote the article. They suggested five organizational and national strategies to protect clini- cian well-being: 1. Integrate the work of chief wellness officers or clinician well-being pro- grams into organizational decision-making bodies during the crisis. 2. Establish anonymous reporting mechanisms that allow clinicians to advo- cate for themselves and their patients without fear of retribution. 3. Work to maintain and grow existing well-being programs. 4. Provide federal funding to care for clinicians who experience physical and mental health struggles post-pandemic. 5. Allocate federal funding to set up a national tracking program to mea- sure clinician well-being and track the outcomes of interventions to improve well-being. n

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