Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

59 CLINICAL LEADERSHIP SPOTLIGHT sponsibility for physician services in early 2010. He was then named COO of Lee Health in 2011 before taking on his current role in 2017. Expectations of physician leaders No matter what path physicians take, once they get to a leadership role, such as CEO, there are certain expectations in today's healthcare environment. For example, Dr. Antonucci said one of the biggest challenges for physician leaders, especially those just beginning their leadership role, can be learning to work as a team member. "In a clinical scenario, as a physician, you're the one with the answers, you have the solutions, you make the diagnosis, you prescribe the treatments," he explained. "In healthcare leadership, you've got experts in human resources, you've got experts in IT, in other areas, and you have to tap into them and recognize you don't have all the answers. Your job as a physician leader is to ask the right question so those answers can come forward." He said he believes it's important for physician leaders to acknowl- edge members of the leadership team who are not physicians are crit- ical because they bring expertise to the table physicians don't have. "It works best when everyone is transparent about what they know, what they don't know, and can come to decisions collaboratively through open and transparent discussion," said Dr. Antonucci. Dr. Weingart agreed. He said physician leaders should have the ability to create and communicate a vision for the organization and feel comfortable managing people who are outside the physician's domain expertise. n Top nursing priorities for spring 2021: 6 CNOs weigh in By Gabrielle Masson S ix nursing leaders shared with Becker's in March what their No. 1 priority is for this spring. Robert Rose, RN. Chief Nursing Executive, Central Mar- ket at Atrium Health (Charlotte, N.C.): My No. 1 priority is "resetting" the workforce as we come out of this pandemic. We have multi-model plans surrounding our workforce, from enhancing recruitment from those that left the profession and/or went to travel, to focusing on those that have been with us through this pandemic. We need to ensure our nurs- ing leaders are aware of trauma-informed leadership and the emotional toll this pandemic has had on our caregivers. In addition, we've created a provider and teammate support group for those on our team who have had COVID-19. This support group is facilitated by our spiritual care and employ- ee assistance program professionals. The pandemic has had such an effect on not only our pa- tients but our staff. Nursing has been on the front lines since the beginning, and, as leaders, we need to respond in differ- ent ways and have the tools to respond differently. When I meet with my nursing leadership, I do a "check-in" centered around them — not necessarily their work, but just how they are doing. With this pandemic, we need to ensure our work- force is healthy physically, mentally and emotionally. Jean Surguy, RN. Vice President and Chief Nursing Offi- cer at Mile Bluff Medical Center (Mauston, Wis.): We are like many others in healthcare — now that our COVID-19 vol- umes are decreasing, we are seeing staff retiring. COVID-19 took a lot out of everyone and they are reprioritizing their life. We are a small, rural hospital and some of our staff have worked here more than 20 or 30 years. We are losing a lot of experience and it will not be easy to replace all of them. On the bright side, it gives some staff the opportunity for some upward mobility since we don't have a lot of turnover in lead- ership positions. Loren Corbin. Chief Nursing Officer at Hillsdale (Mich.) Hospital: After the upheaval, stress and exhaustion from the pandemic, we will be concentrating on employee en- gagement throughout our facility. Jay Sundheimer, RN. Chief Nurse Executive at Presby- terian Rust Medical Center (Rio Rancho, N.M.): Help- ing staff recover from trauma experienced over the last 12 months. Caregivers experienced significant stress and faced death more often and in more settings than many have in their entire careers. The compounding moral in- jury facing the staff when the public cannot adequately relate makes the real possibility of attrition, burnout and caregivers leaving their profession a reality. Recovery, support and self-care are top priorities, in addition to re- covering from the very real financial stress the pandem- ic has caused. Suzi Russell, MSN, RN. Chief Nursing and Patient Safety Officer at Singing River Health System (Ocean Springs, Miss.): The biggest priority for me as CNO is sta- bilization of the nursing workforce. COVID-19 has caused staff turnover at the highest rate ever seen in our system. This has increased burnout, losses in quality and patient satisfaction. We are now having to rebuild the nursing de- partment one staff member at a time, and the process is going to be a long process. Shelley Wilson, RN. Chief Nursing Officer at Henry Community Health (New Castle, Ind.): Patient safety is always our top priority. Outside of that, my next priority for spring 2021 is staffing: staff well-being, recruitment and retention. n

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