It may come as no surprise that healthcare organizations experienced more turnover in the year 2020 than any other year. Throughout 2020 and continuing into 2021, many nursing leaders experienced the stress of a pandemic, staff burnout, anxiety and death in ways that most could have never imagined they would in their career. With COVID admissions decreasing in many healthcare organizations, nursing leaders experience what many may consider to be signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Signs of PTSD include: intrusive thoughts, sleep disturbances, hypervigilance, “brain fog” and flashbacks to the time when they were feeling most stressed during their job. As a nursing leader, juggling the day to day responsibilities of leading a team who experience these symptoms as well as experiencing them personally can lead to significant burnout.

 

I am so excited to share highlights from our 2021 TONL Annual Conference. During 2020, we experienced numerous challenges and stressors never before felt in our lifetime as healthcare providers. The Education Committee felt the need to honor front-line teams impacted during 2020, plus provide content that assists in promoting resilience.

 

Our pre-conference workshop titled “Separate Realities: Beyond Thinking Outside the Box for Nursing Leaders” featured content and conversations facilitated by Nurse Executive Coaches Lyn McCright and Teresa Walding. Highlights included the importance of a resilience roadmap and how our individual thoughts can impact separate realities. Understanding the need to be present requires work from the inside out. This workshop offered tools to assist healthcare staff and leaders to focus on resilience and moving forward beyond this past year’s pandemic crisis.