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

There are times in leadership when apologizing for things outside your control can be the right thing to do, but not always. So many nurse leaders today tell me that they are saying “I am sorry” multiple times each day, and it is burning them out. Consider the story below from a young manager:

For a long time, I thought my burnout was all about my frustrations with staffing and scheduling. I recently stopped and realized how much I was continually apologizing for things I had no control over. I told a group of anxious physicians concerned about having so many inexperienced nurses on the unit that I was sorry we could not recruit more experienced staff. I told a patient’s family I was sad that the discharge was held up when a physician did not write the order. I told my night charge nurse I was sorry that we were again short-staffed on nights. Day after day, I repeatedly apologize because things are not how they should be. I was once proud of the care we gave, but so much is falling through the cracks that I am no longer. What should I do? Should I stop saying I am sorry when I am? It is eating at my soul. 

The irony about apologizing is that it can not only eat at your self-esteem but also decrease the respect others have for you. The implication of saying “I am sorry” is that you have control over the situation and contributed to a mistake. Some strategies we discussed to help modify her behavior and feel less stressed included the following:

1. Be more self-aware.

The first step here is to assess your behaviors and tendencies. Are you on autopilot when saying you are sorry and assuming blame? Knowing whether you are doing this will help you to carefully observe a situation before immediately blurting out the words “I’m sorry.” It may also help to keep a tally of how many times you apologize in a day and for what reasons.

2. Know what you should (and shouldn’t) apologize for.

There’s no need to apologize if you couldn’t control the situation or it was a trivial (and honest) mistake. But if you were really at fault, own up to it. Admitting you’re wrong is never easy, but it can strengthen your relationships and show emotional intelligence.

3. Flip your script.

Have other ways to respond to situations instead of saying I am sorry, such as:

I appreciate your patience that things are running late – we are working on it.

Here is what I tried today to get additional staff for the night tour, but was not successful – do you have any other ideas?

I can imagine how frustrating it is for you to come in each day and see different nurses – I am working on rebuilding our team.

I have reviewed the schedule and can’t give you that day off. You may want to check with these staff and arrange coverage.

It is frustrating that nurses have not yet rounded on your Dad – what can I do for him right now?

Thank you for waiting – we will get that done now.

Whatever you say, be authentic and let the other person know you have heard what they said. There’s no need to go out of your way and apologize simply because you feel bad about a situation. Sometimes it is what it is, and apologizing can damage your health and well-being. There are many things in our work and life today that we don’t have control over, but this is one that we do.

© emergingrnleader.com 2025

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I am proud to partner with the Northeast Ohio Organization of Nurse Leaders. The workshop outlined below is an excellent educational opportunity at a very reasonable cost – $50.00 for members or $60.00 for nonmembers to attend our Nurse Leader Coach Workshop. You can register using this link.

Northeast Ohio Organization for Nursing Leadership

Education Symposium 2025:

Inspiring Nurse Leaders

Thursday June 26, 2025

La Pizzaria’s Crystal Room

3656 Dressler Road NW, Canton, Ohio 44718

Our presenter will be Dr. Rose Sherman EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN

From Traditional Leader to Nurse Leader Coach

Dr. Rose Sherman is a nationally recognized thought leader and keynote speaker on nursing and healthcare leadership issues. She is also a leadership development expert who works with health systems and professional organizations nationally to develop and coach current and future leaders.

Cost: NEOONL Members: $50 plus service fee per person

Non-members: $60 plus service fee per person.

Registration Info

NEOONL Members (only) can register for the Symposium beginning March 10 through April 6, 2025 at 11:59 pm.   All non-members and those NEOONL members not previously registered can register on April 7 through June 12, 2025 by 7am.  Registration is on a first come basis and may fill prior to June 12^th.

Register at

2025 NEOONL Educational Symposium | Northeast Ohio Organization for Nursing Leadership | Nursing Network

Registration form also allows the participant to enter dietary restrictions. La Pizzaria will attempt to meet requested dietary needs.

Bring and register a nonmember friend and the friend will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a two-year free NEOONL membership. One overall winner will be selected to receive the membership.

 There will be the annual basket raffle for your enjoyment. Raffle tickets will be available (cash/check or Zelle only) during the Symposium.

You or your organization can support the symposium by donating a gift/basket to be raffled off on the day of the symposium. Please contact Kathy Stoner via email at kstoner@akronchildrens.org or phone: 330-543-4710

Something NEW: we will be also doing a 50/50 drawing

 Agenda

8:00-8:50AM: Registration and Light Breakfast

8:50-9:00: Welcome/Introduction

9:00-10:15: Welcome and Overview of the Current Environment

o Breakout Case Discussion

o New Workforce Expectations of Nurse Leaders

o The Traditional Manager versus the Nurse Leader Coach

o The Business Case for Coaching

o Key Components of a Coaching Mindset

o Building a Coaching Foundation

10:15-11:00: Break

11:00-12:30PM: The Nuts and Bolts of Coaching

o The GROW Coaching Model

o Coaching Basics

o Coaching for Performance, Professional Growth, Career Planning, and

Staff Wellbeing

o Breakout Case Discussion and Debrief

12:30-1:30: Lunch

1:30-2:30: Business meeting

 Please email Theresa Borodkin at tborodkin@akronchildrens.org  with any questions regarding the Symposium

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

Over the past three weeks, two surveys have been released offering insight into the nursing workforce and nurse leaders. The 2025 NSI National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report provided an overview of what happened with the nursing and healthcare workforce in acute care settings during 2024.  The recently released AONL-Joslin Nursing Leadership Insight Study is longitudinal (one of six conducted since 2020) and looks at changes in leaders’ perceptions over time.

As I reviewed these two studies, the following are my top five takeaways:

1. Recruitment and retention are still cited as the top leadership challenge, but things have improved. Through many measures that health systems have taken, from flexible scheduling to virtual nursing, RN turnover has dropped to 16.4% yearly. RN turnover is highest in behavioral health at 22.8% per year, which is not surprising with the level of escalating patient and family violence and incivility now reported by staff. Hospital vacancy rates are only moderately lower at 9.6%. While RN turnover rates overall have improved, turnover in the first two years of practice remains high at 56.9%.
2. Staffing remains a top concern. While the workforce itself has stabilized, patient volumes and acuity have increased. Nurse leaders still struggle to staff their units, and capacity issues are a key concern.
3. Patient and family incivility and violence are a growing threat to the psychological safety of staff.  Physical violence toward staff is on the increase in healthcare settings, with 42% of leaders reporting that they witnessed acts of violence. Staff-on-staff incivility is also increasing as staff struggle to manage relationships.
4. Leaders spend more time today helping staff navigate their conflicts with one another. 71% of leaders now report that conflict resolution is among their top five most consuming activities. This is a 4% increase from last year and indicates that conflict in the workplace has grown.
5. Redesigning care delivery remains a key priority, but there are challenges in successfully doing it. Nurse leaders highlighted the growing importance of proficiency with technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance workflows, address administrative burdens, and improve patient care, but progress is slow. Ideally, organizations could pilot team-based models incorporating fewer professional staff, but workforce data indicates that yearly turnover is highest among PCT (34.2%) and CNA (36.1%) staff.

Some key factors looming on the horizon include the financial headwinds impacting Medicare and Medicaid that many health systems expect to experience in the current political environment. The aging nursing workforce is also a key concern. According to the NCHWA Nursing Workforce dashboard, approximately thirty-four (34%) of RNs are Baby Boomers, all of whom will reach retirement age by 2030. It is unclear how some trends seen today with the Generation Z workforce, such as working fewer hours and switching employers more frequently, will affect future workforce availability.

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

In my leadership development work with health systems across the country, I feel like I have a front row seat to the evolving picture of what is happening in healthcare and nursing. We are almost at the end of the first quarter of 2025, and here is what leaders are telling me now:

1. There is growing concern among nurse leaders about potential cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. The House of Representatives recently backed administration plans for at least $880 billion in spending reductions through 2034, with Medicaid widely expected to bear the brunt of these cuts. Currently, Medicaid covers 72 million Americans, many of whom live in rural areas. Removing their access to care will be not only devastating to these individuals but also to the health systems that care for them. According to the Commonwealth Fund, cuts could result in losing up to 880,000 jobs, 477,000 of which will be in healthcare.
2. Nurse turnover in most health systems has declined, except for turnover in the first two years of employment, which remains high. Leaders attribute this to efforts to provide more flexibility in scheduling and the instability of jobs in other industries, which is impacting spouses and family members.
3. Nurse leaders continue to report their growing concern about the decline in baseline mental health, especially with younger staff.
4. Nurses and nurse leaders now worry more about physical assault and violence after the two recent brutal attacks on nurses in Florida and Pennsylvania.
5. In many areas, long-term care facilities are at full capacity, making patient transfers from acute care environments more challenging.
6. The rising number of hospitalized patients over 85 leads to higher patient acuity, more futile care, and fall risk concerns.
7. Nurses continued to report higher levels of burnout and exhaustion to their leaders as patient volumes grew in the first quarter and providing staffing coverage became more difficult.
8. Issues at the Department of Education make it challenging for nurses to receive loan forgiveness. Employers are trying to provide support.
9. Intergenerational conflict is a rising concern for many nurse leaders, who are now asking for help bridging staff differences.
10. Changes in NIH funding have seriously impacted university academic medical centers, especially in Massachusetts.
11. Union activity continues to grow nationwide, with almost one in five nurses now represented by a union. Increasingly, agreements include clauses that nurse leaders cannot contact their staff during non-work hours or expect them to read any communication.
12. Nurse leaders worry that changes in vaccination recommendations and policies could ultimately lower vaccination rates and increase hospitalization rates.
13. Nurse leaders are fielding staff concerns about immigration raids on health facilities.
14. Nurses are growing more optimistic about the potential of artificial intelligence to reduce the documentation burden in practice today.
15. Nurse leaders are increasingly finding that Servant Leadership principles are the best strategy to provide leadership support in today’s environment.

Most nurse leaders feel they are in environments of constant change, now accompanied by political and social uncertainty. They are doing their best to stay hopeful about the future because that is what their staff needs from them.

© emergingrnleader.com 2025

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

Nurses and their leaders struggle with burnout and exhaustion. A contributor is the inability to decompress after work effectively. Press Ganey, a leading provider of experience measurement, published a report that analyzed data from over 345,000 clinical RN voices to understand today’s nursing workforce better and recommend how organizations can help staff build resilience. While nurses, overall, show strong resilience (4.23 on a 5-point scale) and report a strong sense of purpose and finding meaning in their work – known as “activation” (4.56) — they struggle with the ability to disconnect – known as “decompression” (3.90). Baby Boomers and Gen Xers were more effective in doing this than Millennials and Gen Zers.

This inability to effectively decompress after work and relax contributes to the high rates of unplanned leave usage in healthcare today. It is also related to nurse leader turnover because the boundaries between one’s work and personal life have become so blurred that leaders feel they now work 24/7. New graduates leave work at the end of the day feeling moral distress about what they could not do for patients rather than what they accomplished. Helping nurses to learn to disconnect from work effectively is critical to well-being. Some recommended strategies include the following:

1. A Going Home Checklist

The going-home checklist was started in the United Kingdom by the National Health Service. Recommended steps to end your day include the following:

• Take a moment to think about your day.
• Acknowledge one difficult thing and let it go.
• Consider three things that went well.
• Check on your colleagues before they leave and make sure they are okay.
• Check on yourself – are you okay?
• Switch your attention to home and the need to recharge.

2. Establish a Post-Work Ritual

Post-work rituals help reduce work-related stress by allowing employees to transition out of work mode. Including rituals can improve work-life balance, contributing to overall well-being. Some suggested strategies include the following:

• Disconnect from your digital devices for a set time after work.
• Do mindful meditation to help you relax and clear your mind.
• Establish an exercise routine such as walking, running, or yoga.
• Write in a journal to reflect on your day.
• Listen to music.
• Adopt creative hobbies such as painting, cooking, or crafting.

3. Conduct Mid-Shift Decompression Huddles

Press Ganey recommends that an effective strategy to build nursing resilience includes holding “mid-shift decompression huddles,” which enable nursing teams to prioritize remaining tasks that must be done before the end of a shift. In addition to reducing stress, these huddles are also an opportunity to recognize employees, which impacts staff well-being.

As you evaluate your well-being strategies in your unit or organization, nurses should receive education on strategies to help them decompress after the workday. Don’t assume they know how to do this because the evidence indicates they may not.

© emergingrnleader.com 2025

Our Most Popular Right Now   The New World of Work Workshop

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*** Trending – Building Bridges Not Walls: Leading Multigenerational Work Teams – Click Here for More Information   Building Bridges Not Walls

Nurse and Nurse Leader Work-Life Balance and Well-Being: Nursing Leadership Strategies for Success – Click Here for More Information WorkLife Balance and Wellbeing WS

New Book – Click Here to Buy