3 Leadership Skills to Master in 2019

The ever-changing regulations driving health care reform and the ebb and flow of hospital mergers and acquisitions require nurse leaders to develop the skills to adapt and persevere.  “The focus should be on driving safety, fiscal responsibility, and team connectedness,” recommends AORN CEO and Executive Director Linda Groah, MSN, RN, CNOR, NEA-BC, FAAN. “These three areas are central to success for surgical services in 2019 and beyond.”

She says evidence reigns supreme in supporting your teams with the knowledge and technological know-how to ensure safety for patients and team members alike. “This evidence-based approach also sustains the business side of success, whether it’s with a Joint Commission survey, maintaining a safe and efficient volume of cases, or building the knowledge and experience required to ensure a strong supply of nurses for years to come.”

Given the limited resources (including time) to make all of this happen, Groah suggests three evidence-focused skills perioperative nursing leaders should hone for success in 2019.

1. Leverage Predictive Analytics to Build a Strong Business Case

   Tight budgets require data analytics intelligence and the ability to drill down through the multitude of data generated in perioperative care to justify the purchase of new equipment or hiring a new employee.

   “A strong business case is critical for succession planning at the staff nurse level as we look to an immediate future of baby boomers retiring,” Groah stresses. “You must have a good relationship with your CFO to understand your staffing needs so you don’t lose revenue due to short staffing.”



2. Focus on Healthcare Worker and Patient Safety

   The regulatory and accreditation focus on safety will only continue to increase. So, think about safety in broader terms to consider the wide range of risks patients and staff are exposed to, Groah advises. “It’s not just needle sticks and back injuries, though we know these are epidemic safety hazards in perioperative care, it’s also surgical smoke safety and risks associated with technology use.”

   With Joint Commission surveyors taking new approaches tying policy to practice, a combined focus on policy and practice competency for your staff is very important. As part of this proactive approach to safety, nursing leaders should also be thinking about a broader range of patient safety risks, she suggests.

   For example, how are your staff assessing for opioid addiction dangers in your patients or working with families to address social determinants that impact patient recovery.




3. Build Your Team Connections

   As new evidence emerges that changes long-standing practices or brings new approaches to practice, interprofessional OR teams must collaborate to ensure practice implementation is efficient and effective.

   Taking into account how generational factors influence this collaboration is key. Perioperative leaders must instill a culture that accommodates and integrates multiple communication styles between generations if interprofessional and intergenerational collaboration is to succeed in health care, Groah stresses.

   She says that with burnout, compassion fatigue, and incivility also running rampant in health care settings, it’s nurse leaders who have the power to look to the evidence in overcoming these interpersonal workplace barriers.

Leverage Evidence-Based Tools

AORN has been busy developing a number of new resources to help leaders build these skills and provide their staff more effective access to the knowledge they need. Here’s a look at a few that can help you achieve your 2019 goals:

1. Leadership Summit and Global Surgical Conference & Expo in Nashville, April 6–10. AORN members save $200 on registration.
2. Periop 202(the sequel to Periop 101) that drills down by surgical specialty to advance new nurses into experienced nurses.
3. Guidelines, Guideline Essentials, and Facility Reference Center tools to provide the latest in evidence-based perioperative nursing practice and implementation and reference tools to ensure best practices are the only practices. AORN members save $50 on the Guidelines for Perioperative Practice and receive the Guideline Essentials for free!

“Be present and make time to round with your teams to reinforce evidence-based practices and also to focus on people issues,” Groah advises. “With so much uncertainty, now is the time to be innovative, transformational, and engage a shared understanding in decision making.”