Becker's Hospital Review

42 WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP POPULATION HEALTH roles, provide them with some re-orientation, and get them re- assigned to our hospitals to assist in caring for the rapidly grow- ing COVID-positive patients. While we had some early misses on providing resources exactly where they were needed when they were needed, as this extraordinary crisis evolved, we very quickly engaged hundreds of nonclinical nurses to return to the bedside to provide direct care or assistance and support for the other direct care nurses in our acute care units. If there was just one piece of advice that I would share with other women leaders it would be to show up. Leaders need to be present and be vis- ible when they are asking staff to put aside their personal fears and their very real concerns for their own family members, to come in to work and care for patients during a time of crisis. If you are asking them to come in for patients, you need to come in for them. You need to round with them oen, ask them what they need, listen to them, be honest when you don't know the answers to their questions, and thank them (and thank them, and thank them) for being the amazing people they are. Diane Kelly, DNP, RN, executive vice president and COO of Greenwich (Conn.) Hospital and senior vice president of Yale New Haven Health System: I believe the best healthcare and working environment is based on a team concept that sup- ports working together collaboratively and respectfully with a shared purpose. is belief was proven to me tenfold over the past few months. I witnessed amazing collaboration at all levels of the Yale New Haven Health System with the single purpose of safety for both patients and staff. is was again emphasized as YNHHS further collaborated with the state of Connecticut to reach beyond our respective communities. MaryEllen (Mel) Kosturko, BSN, RN, senior vice president and chief nursing officer of Bridgeport Hospital: Presence. In all aspects of the word: daily gratitude during morning safety huddle, 30-minute daily interactive Zoom communications with my broad nursing leadership team, rapid decision-making with senior staff, and sharing on Zoom calls with our health sys- tem. Visibly on the floor rounding with the staff and ensuring not to ask them to do anything I would not do. is allowed me to adapt to the changing environment, engage with my team, and make informed decisions to deliver the best possible out- comes for the safety of our staff, patients and families. Francine LoRusso, RN, vice president and executive director for heart and vascular services at Yale New Haven Transplan- tation Center and Medicine Services: Navigating the uncertain- ty of the COVID-19 crisis has required an intense focus on our ability at Yale New Haven Health to coalesce as an integrated and seamless health system, thereby providing extraordinary patient outcomes. To do so successfully, the ability to trust your people to do the right thing has been paramount. e level of engagement, unleashed energy and creative innovation demonstrated by our multidisciplinary teams daily has been truly inspirational. We have thrived through this shared human experience be- cause we are so grounded in our Yale New Haven Health core mission, vision and values. at is what makes us truly special; capitalizing on our unique relationships, transparent authentic communication, harnessing individual talents, close coopera- tion and collaboration. My one piece of advice is that by leading with heart and empa- thy, learning to recalibrate and reframe along the way, we will continue to be successful. All the while recognizing and mitigat- ing the fears of our brave and valuable staff, leaders, providers, as well as ensuring and acknowledging their achievements. n More women have lost healthcare jobs than men By Kelly Gooch F rom February through April, more than 1.5 million health- care jobs were lost as the COVID-19 pandemic spread, af- fecting more women than men, a June 16 study of federal data by the Kaiser Family Foundation revealed. The foundation examined data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics June 5. The data shows unemployment among women who normally work in hospitals rose from 1.4 percent to 3.7 percent from May 2019 to May 2020. The increase for men who normally work in hospitals was similar over the same period (0.8 per- cent to 3.2 percent), according to the analysis. But data shows unemployment among women who normally work in healthcare settings that aren't hospitals climbed from 3 percent to 11.2 percent from May 2019 to May 2020. That compares to unemployment among men who normally work in nonhospital healthcare settings, which increased at a lower rate, from 1.7 percent to 6.8 percent. Overall, healthcare employment has started to rebound. Healthcare added 312,400 jobs in May, primarily in ambulatory healthcare services, compared to 43,000 healthcare jobs lost in March and 1.4 million healthcare jobs lost in April. Still, job losses at hospitals continued, though there were far fewer in May than in April. Hospitals lost 26,700 jobs last month, compared to the 134,900 positions they lost in April. n Banning salary history job interview questions benefits Black Americans, women By Molly Gamble S alary history bans limit employers' ability to ask appli- cants about past earnings, and effectively halt residual pay gaps from persisting, which is shown to benefit all applicants — but women and African Americans, especially. Researchers at Boston University found that after states imple- mented salary history bans, pay for job switchers increased 5 percent more on average than for comparable job changers in states not covered by such a ban. The gains were more pronounced for Black Americans and wom- en, who saw increases of 13 percent and 8 percent, respectively. Salary history bans may benefit these groups more than oth- ers because they make it harder for employers' salary offers to perpetuate any past pay inequities a worker may have expe- rienced due to discrimination, James Bessen, the study's lead author and an economist at Boston University School of Law, told The Wall Street Journal. n

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