By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN
Americans are unhappy with the healthcare system. Recent data from Gallup and other polling services indicate that satisfaction with it has reached an all-time low, with 69% indicating they are either somewhat dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with US healthcare. Many factors contribute to these feelings, including unrealistic expectations about care, the inability to access healthcare in a timely way, rising costs, and increased denials for care.
Nurse leaders now spend increasing time on service recovery and report that anger levels have increased, and patients and families show a noticeable lack of respect and civility. Leaders tell me they now are bracing themselves for even more dissatisfaction as unemployment increases with the accompanying loss of health benefits, a possible federal defunding of health exchanges, and expected cuts to both Medicaid and Medicare.
While nurses still retain the top position in trust among all occupations, this has not shielded us from violence. During the past two weeks, the stories of two nurses in York, Pennsylvania, and West Palm Beach, Florida, have made the rounds on social media. Their families have released pictures of their injuries because they want the public to know what happened here. These cases, while highly visible, are only the tip of a much more enormous iceberg.
Health systems are now seeking consultation from safety and security firms about what needs to be part of a plan to avoid and contain violence today. This brings me to the topic of online presence and pictures of leaders. These security firms now warn that leaders, including nurse leaders, can quickly become targets of public anger, much like what we saw with the United Healthcare Executive who was murdered in New York City while attending a shareholder event. Several executive nurse leaders have told me they have already been cornered in parking garages by angry patients and families who begin by telling them they “know who they are from looking at their online presence.”
In response to what is happening, many health systems, upon the advice of these security firms, are removing all the pictures of their leaders from their websites and scrubbing as much personal information as possible. Nurse leaders are urged to ramp down their online social media presence. I already see in some of the contracts I have signed that organizations are forbidding any pictures to be taken of leaders during the session or posting any information about consulting work on social media.
I am not surprised to see a significantly reduced presence of some nurse leaders on platforms like LinkedIn. Pictures of leaders laughing and socializing at networking events can be misinterpreted and cause outrage among an angry public that feels the cost of care is already too high. In his new book Superbloom, Nicholas Carr (a national technology expert and journalist) writes, “Something has happened with social media that no one expected. Instead of a communication network that serves as an opportunity to build friendships, it serves more as a vector of enmity.”
As a nurse leader, I attended media training early in my VA career. I quickly learned from the experts that part of being a leader is to “manage the optics.” I once wanted to attend a leadership conference when the VA was on a continuing resolution budget. I understood there was no travel money and planned to pay my way but was quickly told no by my leaders who gave me a lesson on leadership optics. Anything you do can be misinterpreted, so in situations like this, don’t do it.
We are in a very turbulent time. Nurse leaders want to be visible to staff and other leaders in their network. But security experts warn that visibility may come at a price, which could be your safety.
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