Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/679218
ASC Quality & Infection Control 50 The Best Strategies to Engage Millennial Nurse Leaders By Laura Dyrda N urses entering practice today need to be trained on how to become the next generation of nurse leaders. In order for that to happen, there are time-tested principles/ practices that need to be observed, but the way in which those are delivered must evolve to reflect how this new class of "millennial" nurses absorbs and processes information. "We need to teach these nurses to lead, mentor and coach," says Press Ganey CNO Christy Dempsey. "We have to do a better job at teaching them how to be leaders." e key qualities of nurse leaders include the ability to: 1. Foster trust and teamwork 2. Model compassion and empathy 3. Provide support in the form of human, material and emotional resources 4. Communicate effectively with patients, physicians and other nurses 5. Be visible and accessible 6. Acknowledge the complexity and the gravity of the work nurses do Education is also important and practicing to the top of their nurse licenses will allow nurses to continue growth. "Healthcare is a team sport; it's not something one person can do by themselves," says Ms. Dempsey. "Our patients want to see that the people who are taking care of them are talking to each other. Empa- thy is a cognitive attribute; it's not emotional. You have to be able to understand what someone is going through and then communicate the understanding back to them. It's really becoming a lost art." ere are some who argue empathy can't be taught, but Ms. Dempsey isn't one of those leaders. She firmly believes teaching nurse leaders empathy builds trust and allows them to lead with compassion but also based on data. One of the most effective strategies for developing new nurse leader empathy is role playing. Role-playing has become an integral part of training at one Nevada hospital where nurses are asked to leave their belongings in the staff locker and then wait in the emergency room for hours. e trainers don't tell them anything about the next stage of training, just to wait until they're called. When the nurse finally is called out of the ER, the trainers lead them to a room, pull the curtain closed and talk about the nurse from the other side of the curtain. e new nurse can hear everything going on the ED but they don't know what is happening. "en the preceptor comes in and says, 'is is what your patients go through every day; don't forget it'," says Ms. Dempsey. "But the training isn't a one-and-done. e patient experience in its totality isn't some- Christy Dempsey 503B Outsourcing Facility @pharmedium pharmedium.com 800- 523-7749 O R D E R N O W AT: Experience how PharMEDium has simplifi ed ready to use compounded sterile preparations. P10701 © PharMEDium Services, LLC 2015