Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1500044
16 THOUGHT LEADERSHIP Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edit- ed for length and clarity. Question: Why should hospitals partici- pate in the CSI Academy? Dr. Marian Altman: Nurse turnover is at a historic high. Replacing a nurse costs a hos- pital tens of thousands of dollars, plus the loss of their experience and knowledge. e CSI Academy is a way to engage nurses to lead a project which can result in decreased turn- over in their units. During the pandemic, hospitals paused shared governance committees. Hospitals see the CSI Academy as a vehicle to help restart and ignite shared governance in the post-pan- demic era. Dr. Launette Woolforde: roughout nurs- ing school and even professional practice, nurses learn extensively about clinical diag- noses and management of illness, but they don't learn much about the process of change. Meanwhile, healthcare is all about change and performance improvement. e CSI Acad- emy equips clinical nurses with not only the tools, but the structure and support they need to maximize their impact as change agents. Q: What are the benefits of CSI Acade- my participation for hospitals? MA: Nurse administrators/leaders have consistently reported that the program has positively impacted patient outcomes, nurse leadership skill acquisition and organization- al fiscal outcomes. Participants report greater confidence, empowerment and influencing abilities aer completing the program. CSI is a proven program with successful outcomes for hospitals, nurse participants, patients and clinical units. Participants re- port advancing to leadership positions and utilizing the leadership and project resources in other units or settings in their hospitals to scale effects and create sustainable changes. LW: e CSI Academy had a profound effect on the direct care nurses who participated in the program at Lenox Hill. It built not only their knowledge, but their confidence and competence. All of the nurses learned to col- laborate with one another and with the inter- professional team in ways they hadn't before. And, as they achieved outcomes, their self-di- rection and innovative creativity increased. Dr. Jane McCurley: I plan to continue to have my nursing teams participate in CSI Academy projects because past experience has proven the program truly creates change at the bed- side. is is truly best-practice sharing at its best. e impact to patient care and nursing practice is so powerful. I see it as a recruit- ment strategy for our future nurses who want to contribute to practice and the profession. n What are the best CEO qualities? 4 hospital CFOs weigh in By Noah Schwartz A healthy CEO and CFO relationship is crucial to main- taining the stability of a health system's finances and leadership. As many healthcare organizations face a financial crunch due to macroeconomic concerns, a tight rapport between CEO and CFO can help a hospital weather tough times. CFOs are looking for a leader who can maintain focus on the health system's objectives and not get distracted. "Keep the company focused on the main thing: the big blocks," Brian Maude, CFO of Sanford Health Plan and vice president of finance at Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Sanford Health, told Becker's. "If 85 percent of my revenue is from item A — focus there. Don't let item B suck up 50 percent of the company's time, unless it has the growth potential to exceed item A." According to an Oracle Netsuite Survey of CEOs, 63 per- cent believe the CFO role will take on greater importance in the next few years. An additional 30 percent of CEOs said that their CFOs did not assist with organizational challenges. Many CFOs are looking to work with a CEO who takes on a public-facing role and assumes responsibility when things don't go as planned. "The CEO is the face of the organization to providers, em- ployees and the public. The CEO should provide a buffer between the board and organization," said Liberty (Mo.) Hospital CFO Michael Leone. "The CEO should accept re- sponsibility when outcomes fall short, and manage up oth- er organizational leaders when outcomes exceed expecta- tions." Along with taking responsibility for failure, a CEO cannot be afraid to innovate. In the hospital business, complacency can be devastating. Benjamin Barylske, CFO of Jonesboro, Ark.-based St. Ber- nards Healthcare, said he looks for a CEO who "takes own- ership in opportunities and doesn't pass on a chance to improve." For rural and critical access hospitals in a more precarious financial situation, the relationship between CFO and CEO is even more important. After CFO Larry Vincent unexpectedly resigned, rural Delta County (Colo.) Memorial Hospital discovered that nearly all of its cash on hand was being used to pay back debts. The hospital required an infusion of cash from the state to stay afloat. "The qualities I look for in a critical access hospital CEO are someone who has a vision to improve community health- care and is able to effectively communicate and forward that vision," said Jennifer Van Matre, CFO of Weaverville, Calif.-based Mountain Communities Healthcare District. She continued: "They are respected and well-liked and are active within the community. They provide change manage- ment through harmonious means and are effective collab- orators with community leaders. They lead by example, dis- play impeccable morals, are empathetic, a constant learner, empowers others, accept responsibility for failures — does not finger point, would not even think about micromanag- ing department processes or hiring choices. They trust in their leadership and have developed strong, respectful re- lationships with their leadership team." n