Emerging Nurse Leader

A leadership development blog

Why Patient Safety Feels Harder Today

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By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN CNOs quietly tell me that they are under enormous pressure from their C-Suite colleagues. Nurse staffing improved in almost every health system in the country in 2025, yet these staffing gains are not translating into improved care and performance metrics. Despite our sophisticated technology and increased staffing, our "Never Event" … [Read more...]

Moving Beyond My Assignment: Promoting Team Backup

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By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN The scenario is a familiar one that I hear all the time in our leadership development workshops. Charge nurses look around their unit and see some of their staff standing in the hall, scrolling on their phones. Meanwhile, call lights are on, and the unit is busy. When asked why she or he is not jumping in to help others, the nurse … [Read more...]

Why Gen Z Nurses are Ghosting Your Unit Councils (and How to Fix It)

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By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN The landscape of our workforce has shifted dramatically, yet many of our professional governance structures remain frozen in a 1990s time capsule. When I talk to nurse leaders across the country, a common frustration emerges: "We have the councils, but we can't get anyone to show up—especially our younger nurses." Press Ganey data in … [Read more...]

From Peer to Leader: The Invisible Friction of Being Promoting From Within

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By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN An increasing number of new nurse leaders today are internal promotions from within their own unit or organization. A strong business case can be made for internal leadership hires. The research indicates that they are less likely to leave positions once selected because they are familiar with the culture, organizational norms, and … [Read more...]

Leading through the Inverted Pyramid: Assessing Your Unit’s Stability

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By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN In Ernest Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises, two of his characters discuss bankruptcy. One asks the other how he went broke, and he answered with a now widely used quote: It happened gradually and then suddenly." That same phenomenon of gradually, then all at once, is how many nurse leaders feel as they look at their staff, who … [Read more...]