Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1491534
18 NURSING SPOTLIGHT ANA's new president: What healthcare leaders get wrong about resiliency By Paige Twenter J ennifer Mensik Kennedy, PhD, RN, the newest president of the American Nurses Association, twitches when she hears the word resiliency. "For work environments where nurses don't have a say in their mandatory overtime, they're short staffed, there's not enough resources. We say, 'Well, you just need to be more resilient.' Well, you shouldn't have to," Dr. Mensik Kennedy told Becker's. "How can we justify the fact that we let them go through bad stuff? No one should have to go through bad stuff or bad things or experience that thing to get a pat on the shoulder and say, 'Oh, thank you, you're resilient.'" Dr. Mensik Kennedy has been a part of the ANA for more than a decade, but on Jan. 1, she became the organization's president aer replacing Ernest Grant, PhD, RN, who has been at the helm since 2018. She has more than 25 years of leadership experience in healthcare, including her most recent role as director of Oregon Health & Science University's nursing school in Portland. Becker's caught up with Dr. Mensik Kennedy to talk about her priorities for the year, her angst about the word "resiliency," solutions for the ongoing nursing shortage, whether APRNs should have more responsibilities and thoughts on the rise of workplace violence. Editor's note: Answers have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity. Question: With so many differing agendas from chief nursing officers and various requests from nurses across the nation, how are you prioritizing it all on your fourth day on the job? Dr. Jennifer Mensik Kennedy: I think what we see is we've had a lot of very long- standing issues. And a lot of the issues that we're dealing with today are the same ones we've dealt with for decades. It really is about going back and looking at what's going to make a difference in the lives of the nurses who are providing our direct patient care, and really what's going to be best for the community and patients in the public. From a prioritization perspective, that's how I filter through what should be worked on. Q: So what's at the top of the list after the filtering? JMK: I would say, pretty much together in a way, is clinician well-being along with staffing in the work environment. is is not just hospitals but really all settings in which nurses and advanced practice nurses practice. I think that a lot of times we default to thinking about hospitals, but so many nurses don't work in hospitals. We really do need to ensure that everyone can be taken care of well and safely with quality in every venue that care is provided. Q: With clinician well-being, what specifically are you focusing on? JMK: It does need to be more than just resiliency training or, "How do we make nurses more resilient?" We had issues in the work environment where there were areas that were understaffed, didn't have the proper resources, and the COVID-19 pandemic really shone a light and helped people realize how bad it was. We could see better when we were really struggling, where all those areas were. Going back and saying, "We just need to make staff more resilient," or, "ey just couldn't handle it," is kind of the whole wrong perspective. Or, "How do we make people stronger to deal with bad stuff?" isn't the solution alone. It really is about providing support, counseling, mental health awareness, allowing individuals to be able to take time off and take care of themselves. Nurses are notoriously bad about taking care of themselves and will take care of others, so they get to that point where they burn themselves out because they're doing so much for everyone else. We really do need to go back and provide training, education and resources for clinicians to be able to take care of themselves and to help them with their well-being. Q: Do you see a problem with the word "resiliency"? Do you flinch a little bit when you hear that word? JMK: [laughs] I do. I twitch when I hear resiliency. Resiliency is a good word, but when I see it being used as a bandage for other underlying issues, such as for work environments where nurses don't have a say in their mandatory overtime, they're short staffed, there's not enough resources. We say, "Well, you just need to be more resilient." Well, you shouldn't have to. I think the reason why I don't like the word resiliency is oen we say, "Oh, this person's resilient because they went through a lot of bad stuff and they're OK." Well, how can we justify the fact that we let them go through bad stuff? No one should have to go through bad stuff or bad things or experience that thing to get a pat on the shoulder and say, "Oh, thank you, you're resilient." at's where my angst around the word resiliency comes from, is that we want to train people so that they can deal with more bad stuff as opposed to, can't it be both? Can we not have, say, some resiliency and a place for resiliency, but we also need to go upstream, figure out the problems and solve the problems that are causing the bad things that we think we need people to be more resilient on. Q: So starting at the root issue rather than applauding someone getting through something? JMK: "Oh, you got through really bad times, you know, pat on the shoulder, pizza party, great job. Let's make more people like you." No. at has a long-term negative impact on someone's health, as well. [...] It's not only resiliency training. Resilience is important, but oen I see hospitals [and] organizations focus on, "Oh, let's just make them more resilient." It's the thing to talk about as opposed to dealing with the issues that have been going on for decades. Q: With hospitals launching a number of programs focusing on giving nurses support, whether it be scheduling flexibility or well-being, what aspects do you think are missing? Or, where do you think efforts are falling short for these decadeslong issues? JMK: As I applaud organizations for doing those things — I want to see organizations continue to do this. In a year, as two, three, four, five years go on, these things shouldn't fall by the wayside. We have a tendency to apply something and think we've fixed everything and then we remove some of the support and continue on with something. at's the flavor of the month from a management perspective. I've been a manager, I've been a leader, I've been an administrator. I understand there's so much going on that, "OK, how can we fix the solution?" And then as soon as we think it's fixed aer six months, then we have all