When Leaders Become Dealers in Hope - Emerging Nurse Leader

By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN

Rose – “I am seeing something new in the nursing workforce right now and it is a lack of hope.” These troubling words came from a CNO who told me that nurses were sobbing when they reopened their COVID units last week. They told her that they did not want to do this again as the fourth wave is now sweeping their community. Spirits were high when there was a vaccine on the horizon and things began to look brighter.

Today the crisis is man-made and the pandemic is largely about those who won’t get vaccinated and children who can’t. Many nurses see no end to the pandemic with additional variants emerging if the vaccination rate remains low. They now lack the staff to care for the high acuity demands of COVID patients. Meeting the needs of non-COVID patients is challenging. There seems to be no light now at the end of what has been a dark tunnel over the past two years.

Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “A leader is a dealer in hope.” His observation is supported by Gallup’s research findings of what staff wants from their leaders in times of crisis. Yet instilling hope can be challenging at a time when there are so many unknowns and life as we once knew it has changed, perhaps forever. Many nurse leaders try to calm the nerves of anxious and fearful nurses as they struggle with their uncertainty. Yet, the ability to see past the chaos and remain hopeful about future possibilities is an essential leadership quality today.

Shane Lopez, an expert in hope, contends that hope is part of being an authentic leader. Sending a strong message that there is a pathway out of this and we will find it together as a team is key. With COVID, nurses learned many lessons during the first three waves that will make this fourth wave a little easier – emphasize those lessons learned and develop initiatives around them. Inspiring creative thinking and creating an agency to solve problems are crucial. Finding ways to create positive feelings over the course of the day is essential to maintaining hopefulness. One leader tells me that she likes to ask her staff – what made you smile today?

The key to getting through this fourth wave will be in battling against learned helplessness or the idea that nothing can be done, and Armaggedon is now part of healthcare. Nurse leaders must maintain high visibility on the frontlines talking with the staff, thanking them for their work, and praising their progress. Winston Churchill wisely noted during World War Two that when you are going through hell, keep going. That is what we need to do right now.

BRAND NEW WEBINAR Flyer Become the Boss No One Wants to Leave Nurse Retention in Turbulent Times

Give your leadership team the gift of a highly rated webinar – Nursing Leadership in 2021: Rebooting after a Life-Quake A Nursing Leadership Reboot Workshop.

Read the Nurse Leader Coach – Available at Amazon and Other Book Sellers.

Now Available to Strengthen Your Leadership in 2021 – The Nuts and Bolts of Nursing Leadership: Your Toolkit for Success