Karen Lee Burton – Hot Topics for Nurse Leaders: Six Calls to Action

Outline

Nurse Burnout and Compassion Fatigue

• Examples of burnout’s impact on patient outcomes
• Solutions for combating nurse burnout in self and others
• Dealing with work-related stress in a healthy way
• What is compassion fatigue?
• Has the art of “caring” been lost in nursing?
• Applying empathy in practice
• Priority setting skills for nurses
• Employee assistance programs and other resources
• Call to action: Formulate a plan to reach others regarding the importance of nurse burnout prevention and compassion fatigue

The Addicted Professional

• Are nurses at higher risk for substance abuse than the general population?
• Lived experience of nurses who have experienced addiction
  • Fear
  • Shame and guilt
  • Poor coping
  • Increased need to control their environments
  • A belief that addiction would never happen to them
  • Overall research finding: Nurses in recovery feel misunderstood, judged, and desire acceptance
• Considerations when working with an addicted professional
• Identify your OWN risk for becoming addicted
• Call to action: Formulate a plan to educate nurses about risk for addiction in self and co-workers, signs to look for and how to report suspected problems

Conflict in the Workplace

• What is the cause behind the conflict?
• Conflict resolution tips for nurse leaders/physicians
• Conflict resolution strategies for patients/families
• Conflict resolution approaches to use within your team
• Conflict and emotion
• What to say and how to say it (affect)
• Putting conflict into proper perspective
• Role play: Challenging conflict scenarios
• Conflict can be a good thing
• Call to action: Formulate a plan to incorporate new conflict resolution techniques

Nurse Incivility

• The impact of nurse incivility at work
• Ways to promote teamwork and elevate workplace morale
• Encouragement vs. punitive treatment— What results are you hoping for?
• New approaches to welcome nurses to the profession
• Call to action: Formulate a plan to minimize nursing incivility

Generational Differences in Nurses

• Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers
• Perceptions of each generation of the other generations
• Technology impact on the generations of nurses
• Meeting the communication needs across the generations
• Vital need for collaboration and teamwork
• Draw on the strengths of each generation to promote teamwork
• Call to action: Formulate team-building across the generations

Spirituality in Nursing

• Remarkable spirituality experiences in practice
• Increasing comfort with diverse spiritual and religious preferences
• Can nurses go “too far” with influence or support?
• Call to action: Formulate a plan to support spirituality in nursing practice