What nurses really need from CNOs right now

I appreciate your hard work. 

Thank you for giving your all every shift. 

The care you provide our patients is meaningful. 

I support you. 

I value you.

I see you.

I hear you. 

These are among the most critical statements nurses need to hear from their leadership team. 

The strain that the COVID-19 pandemic put on an already taxed healthcare delivery system pre-pandemic is profound. The entire healthcare delivery system has been operating in survival mode for years.

Now two years into a global pandemic, many registered nurses have mixed feelings about their profession, work environment and more importantly, what their career trajectory will look like. Much of the brunt has fallen on leadership teams, as they have struggled to maintain operations from both staffing and fiscal perspectives. 

The challenge of maintaining current staff and adding additional staff members while still enduring the Great Resignation has proven to be one of the worst debacles. Balancing a strained budget amidst dramatic economic losses experienced during the pandemic has also been difficult. Making staff concerns, needs, and morale a top priority is a critical necessity often placed last. It is at this moment that the role of the CNO is amplified to show true leadership. 

The chief nursing officer (CNO) is the highest nursing leadership position within an organization. They provide administrative advice, nursing expertise, and assistance to all nursing staff within a healthcare facility. 

The most critical roles they hold within an organization include budget management allocated to nursing departments, developing recruitment and retention strategies, and working collaboratively with facility executives. 

While financial operations have become a huge detractor from the more deeply rooted nursing problems, nurses everywhere are looking to their leadership teams to provide emotional support and address significant staffing concerns. Nursing issues that have been fueling the Great Resignation are now spilling over to affect the fiscal side of healthcare.

Many CNOs are experiencing unprecedented levels of burnout, stress, and anxiety as so much of the significant nursing toll has fallen on their shoulders. Serious nursing concerns many CNOs have that they witness in the day-to-day operations as they round in their organizations are forced to the back burner.

Mounting pressure of regulations from insurance companies and government agencies that remain focused on improving the quality of care and patient outcomes is largely disproportionate to the nursing concerns regarding direct patient care that threaten to collapse our healthcare system.

Many nurses perceive this as a sharp disconnect between top-level healthcare nurse executives and those providing direct patient care.

One study conducted by a large healthcare conglomerate in Virginia found that leadership support was critical in shaping positive perception of the practice environment, and that ultimately a nurse leader's visibility and actions impacted staff retention in a dramatic way.

Nurses at every level must make taking care of themselves and each other a top priority. Starting with the clinical nurses who provide direct patient care and moving through the chain to nurse managers and the CNO, self-care leads to strength and resilience.

Taking exceptional care of the wellbeing and concerns of nurses will enhance job satisfaction and staff retention, all of which have tremendous impacts on patient care. Healthcare executives must collaborate with nursing staff to be sure the CNO meets all obligations, regardless of how difficult this may be in times of great struggle.

These are the defining moments that a CNO will find that shapes the culture of their entire organization and the legacy of their career.