Coping with today's top challenges

Q What do you see as today's biggest challenges for nurse managers, and what recommendations do you have on how to cope with and manage these challenges? Here are what I see as the top four challenges for today's nurse managers: 1. Managing a newer workforce, with new expectations. Nurse managers are responsible for larger teams of caregivers and charged with leading nurses of different backgrounds and experience levels. For example, Gen Z nurses have different values than the baby boomers they replaced. Instead of "living to work," our Gen Z nurses want work that's meaningful and allows time for nonwork activities. They also seek more flexibility in their work hours and may trade full-time for part-time employment to get it. The implication for nurse managers is that they now manage more nurses, with less stable unit tenure. This creates a complexity for nurse leaders who also are expected to balance the needs of newer employees while creating a culture of retention for more seasoned staff. Meeting staff where they are in terms of communication, schedule flexibility, and engagement are paramount. 2. Navigating new practice environments. Nurse managers are challenged to implement new models of care, such as reintroducing LPNs to the team and implementing virtual nurses. The challenge that exists today is that when you've seen one new model of care, you've seen one new model of care. In other words, there aren't enough models that have coalesced around similar interventions to adequately evaluate the long-term impact of many of these changes. In any situation, managers need to help their nurses understand their role in new models, especially when it comes to delegation in a new practice environment. 3. Prioritizing self-care and well-being. The sudden exodus of our baby boomer nurses sparked a transition from seasoned nursing teams to novices at every level. Overall, managers tend to be less effective at setting boundaries around availability, and they often need help disconnecting or decompressing from work. Give yourself permission to focus on you! It may feel impossible, but there's never been a more important time to prioritize yourself: Burnout is rampant among nurse leaders, with one in five reporting they're at risk for leaving their current jobs because of it.1 Now more than ever, you need to take care of yourself. Make it a habit: If you deliberately put your own wellness into your schedule, you have no excuse not to follow through. This allows you to hold yourself accountable. 4. Putting an end to the epidemic of violence. Recent data from Press Ganey's National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators® (NDNQI®) show that nearly three nurses in the US are assaulted every hour.2 Although patients commit most of these assaults, caregivers perpetrate some instances of violence. Protecting our nursing workforce includes promoting healthy relationships among all workers. Combating incivility and championing inclusivity must be top priorities for organizations overall, as well as top priorities for nurse leadership. With workplace violence becoming more intense and frequent, today's nurse leaders need to implement strong policies, reinforced with physical barriers, to protect the entire healthcare team. These challenges may seem insurmountable at times, but nurse leaders have proven time and time again that they're best positioned to create a positive practice environment for the staff they lead. When we focus on creating great cultures and engaged, highly resilient teams, we see improvements across the board in quality, safety, and engagement.