Everywhere you turn you see COVID-19. All nurses are concerned about the safety of patients and themselves, procurement of supplies and providing care amid new and changing information. As a nurse leader, your role is to filter this information for your staff and encourage them to focus on the tasks ahead of them.
Focus on what you can control
In this constantly changing landscape with a continuous news feed, you may feel constantly bombarded by information. Now more than ever, you must focus on what you can control and what you can help your nurses control. Doing so will help you understand the current situation on your unit and realistically plan for what will come in the next shift, next day and next week. This will also help you address the most pressing concerns on your unit.
Identify what your staff needs now
As new information emerges and this situation in your local region for COVID-19 changes it may be tempting to think and plan ahead. However, without supporting your staff with what they need now they will not be able to provide optimal care in the weeks to come. This may include:
- Addressing moral distress and burnout, particularly as staff begins to experience the loss of family or co-workers to this pandemic. Building a Culture of Mindful Ethical Practice: Strategies for Nurse Managers and Leaders, a recorded NTI session, offers methods to help staff confront ethically challenging situations and build moral resilience.
- Preparing nurses unfamiliar with caring for acute and critically ill patients. A free AACN COVID-19 eLearning course has everything in one place.
- Ensuring the implementation of evidence-based practices as new information emerges.
- Encourage and support staff innovation in adapting care processes on the unit.
Guiding Change Management
There is no doubt current processes and practices will be challenged by the crisis we are experiencing. Understanding where you are and where you need to go may become a daily challenge. Leading change is often more successful when guided by a change management theory. Right now change may be at a fast cycle pace. While you may be familiar with Dr. Kotter’s 8-step process, you may not know that he updated these steps in 2014. These steps are:
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1Create a sense of urgency -- but not too much urgency; right now everything may be interpreted as urgent.
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2Build a guiding coalition -- get your management team on board with the vision with communication and discussion
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3Form a strategic vision and initiatives -- good step for the coalition to discuss
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4Enlist a volunteer army -- use your informal leaders to address changes
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5Enable action by removing barriers -- if barriers arise, help remove them
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6Generate short-term wins -- celebrate whenever possible; positive encouragement is what staff need right now.
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7Sustain acceleration -- gained through activities that remind staff of the change
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8Institute change -- doing these steps or parts of them can help with the change.
You may or may not have time to institute each step. Given the current situation, you can use this as a guide and scale your response as appropriate.
Kotter, J. (n.d.). 8-Step Process. Kotter, Inc. https://www.kotterinc.com/8-steps-process-for-leading-change/
Remember to take care of yourself so you can help your staff take care of others. AACN is proudly committed to supporting you, our colleagues and co-workers through this crisis.
What can you control that your staff needs now? How could you help them obtain that?
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