Emerging Nurse Leader

A leadership development blog

New Roles for Nursing with Health Reform

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By Rose O.  Sherman, EdD, RN, FAAN There are many changes happening in health care today.  I am often asked about the potential impact that health reform will have on nursing and how to do future career planning.  Although there are many unknowns with the Affordable Care Act, one clear direction is that health care will move from being "hospital centric" back into the … [Read more...]

Nurse Leaders Speak in An Amplified Voice

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By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, FAAN New nurse leaders are often surprised at how even the most casual remarks that they make take on serious meaning to staff.  A Chief Nursing Officer once told me that she was "thinking aloud" as she rounded on a unit and wondered about whether it might make strategic sense to make the unit an observation unit.  Within days, the word was … [Read more...]

Normalization of Deviance: A Nursing Leadership Challenge

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By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, FAAN Several years ago, I reviewed a case for our state board of nursing that involved a disciplinary action against a nurse who had given a drug without an order.  Unfortunately in this case, the patient had a bad outcome and the nurse was under investigation for failing to meet a professional standard of practice.  In looking at the interviews … [Read more...]

Strengthening Emotional Intelligence: Could It Decrease Nurse Bullying?

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By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, FAAN Nurse bullying (also referred to as horizontal or lateral violence) continues to be a problem in many health care settings including emergency departments.   Last week, I presented at an Emergency Nurse's Association leadership conference in Phoenix and had an opportunity to visit the many posters on display.  An ED nurse from Hanover … [Read more...]

Moral Distress in Nursing

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By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, FAAN “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”       -Martin Luther King, Jr. A nurse manager recently discussed with me the challenge of helping her nursing staff cope with moral distress.  Her medical-surgical unit has a very high case mix of elderly patients covered by Medicare.  Many of these patients are … [Read more...]