Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1311160
42 NURSING SPOTLIGHT aging baby boom workforce retiring at higher rates year over year, and a lack of sufficient numbers of PhD-prepared nurses working in academia and supporting higher enrollments. I also believe that CNOs will be laser-focused on creating the practice environment that enhances retention of top, talented clinical nurses, and we will put a greater emphasis on the influence of effective nursing leadership in reaching that goal. In addition, I fully expect that nurses will be seen more as individuals with talents and experience than ever before — not just a number on a team, but rather a professional with specific, unique, talents that are highly sought aer in competitive markets. Finally, I anticipate that nursing innovation will blossom, given the exposure of the "innovation/solutionist superpower" within nurses during the pandemic. Philanthropy will grow exponentially in sup- port of nursing innovation as a result. Carol Koeppel-Olsen, MSN, RN. Vice President of Patient Care Services at Abbott Northwestern Hospital (Minneapolis): During the COVID-19 pandemic nurses have been working in difficult physical and emotional conditions, which may lead to significant turnover aer the pandemic resolves. Nurses have a commitment to serving others and will persevere until the crisis is past; however, when conditions improve, many nurses may decide to pursue careers outside acute care settings. A possible turnover, coupled with a service economy that has been devastated, may result in large numbers of former service workers seeking stable jobs in nursing. Hospitals will have to be nimble and creative to onboard an influx of new nurses that are not only new to the profession but new to healthcare. Tactics to onboard these new nurses may include the use of retired RNs as mentors, instructor-model clinical groups in the work setting, job shadowing and aptitude testing to determine the best clinical fit. Jacalyn Liebowitz, DNP, RN. Senior Vice President and System Chief Nurse Officer of Adventist Health (Roseville, Calif.): Over the next five years, I see nurses providing more hospital-based care in the home using remote technology. Based on that shi, we will see lower-acuity patients move into home-based care, and higher-acuity care in hospitals will increase. With that, hospital beds will be used at a different level. My bold prediction is that we will not need as many beds, but we will need higher acute care in the hospitals. Nurses will learn differently. As we are seeing now, nurses have not been able to train in the traditional way. ey are already using more remote technology to educate, onboard and orient to their roles. It looks and feels vastly different, and nurses need to be comfortable with that. As for patient care, I think data that can be gleaned from wearable biometrics, and the use of artificial intelligence will help predict patient care on a patient-by-patient basis. Nurses will work with AI as part of their thought process, instead of completely focusing on their own judgment and assessment. I also believe we are going to face a nursing shortage post-COVID for a few reasons. Due to the emotional and physical toll of responding to a pandemic, some nurses will decide to retire, and another group will leave based on the risks that go hand-in-hand with the profession. As for patient care, we are going to collaborate differently. ere will be more video conferencing regarding collaboration around the patient. And I think in the future we will see that the full continuum of care will include a wellness plan. Debi Pasley, MSN, RN. Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer of Christus Health (Irving, Texas): I believe the demand for nurses will become increasingly visible and newsworthy throughout the pandemic. is could drive increases in salaries and numbers of qualified candidates seeking nursing as a profession in the medium and long term. e shortage will, however, continue to be a factor, leading to more remote work options to both supplement nursing at the bedside and substitute for in-person care. Denise Ray, RN. Chief Nursing Executive of Piedmont Healthcare (Atlanta): Nursing schools will need to focus on emergency man- agement and critical care training utilizing a team nursing model. While nursing has become very specialty-driven, the pandemic has demonstrated gaps in our ability to adapt as quickly utilizing a team model where nurses lead and direct care teams. By implementing a team model and enhancing education in the areas of emergency management and critical care, nursing can adapt quickly to the ever-changing environment. Also, communication with patients and families will take on different dimensions with wider use of tele-therapeutic communica- tion. Nurses will be leaders and liaisons in the process, connecting physicians, patients and patient families virtually. Nurses will play a key role in integrating patient family members as true patient care partners — making sure they have the information they need to serve an active caregiving role for their family members during and aer hospitalization. We'll also see more nurses becoming advanced nurse practitioners, playing an expanded role in all healthcare settings. n Nurses and EHR burnout: 3 findings from KLAS By Jackie Drees A mong nurses experiencing burnout, about 37 percent attribute it in some capacity to the EHR or other IT tools affecting their efficiency and ability to deliver quality care, according to a KLAS Research report published in September. For its "Nurse Burnout 2020" report, KLAS surveyed 37,440 nurses about their feelings of burnout. Of the report partic- ipants, only 24.6 percent said they are experiencing one or more symptoms of burnout from work. When asked about contributors to their burnout, here's what 21,831 nurses told KLAS about how the EHR and other IT tools added to their feelings of burnout. • EHR or other IT tools hurt my efficiency: 3,462 (15.9 percent) • EHR or other IT tools inhibit my ability to deliver quality care: 2,804 (12.8 percent) • Lack of EHR or other IT tools training or proficiency: 1,816 (8.3 percent) Among the most cited factors for burnout were a chaotic work environment (44 percent), too much time spent on bureaucratic tasks (37.6 percent), lack of teamwork (25.6 percent) and lack of shared values with organization leadership (21.3 percent). n