State of Constant Readiness: Lessons Learned From the Military.

The purpose of this article is to compare and discuss the preparation of civilian and military nurses in meeting the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic. The military nursing system exemplifies a program of ongoing training and evaluations to prepare nurses to care for patients in austere environments. The lessons learned during the pandemic include adapting, collaborating, and expanding current practices in nursing to train and validate nursing skills continuously. The COVID-19 pandemic brought out the best in nursing and also provided a platform for further advancements toward organizing and delivering extraordinary care under unexpected circumstances.

Capturing the Impact of the Doctor of Nursing Practice Degree on West Texas Health Care.

BACKGROUND: This article describes findings from a Phase 1 investigation exploring the influence of Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)-prepared nurses in West Texas. METHOD: Following a focus group session with eight practicing DNPs, the focus group shared how their roles effected safer health care. RESULTS: Final takeaways included their commitment to safer health care and prevention, moving care to the community, and a wish for more variety in projects generated in workplaces. Three themes emerged from the data: DNP leadership practice affects health outcomes through improved quality of care, influence, and innovation; DNP strengths include communication, leadership, and ability to change others' thinking; and the influence of DNP-prepared leaders at all external levels occurs through both increasing awareness of the role and influencing in multiple areas. DNP challenges include lack of understanding by others of the role and the lack of recognition and respect for their educational preparation. CONCLUSION: Leading, innovating, and communicating during constantly changing care models are key skills needed during the current health care crisis. These skills are basic to DNP practice. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2021;52(4):192-197.].

Nurses Taking the Lead: A Look Back to Move Forward.

In recognition of the Year of the Nurse and Midwife, the 2020 annual conference of the Association for Leadership Science in Nursing (ALSN) celebrated A Look Back to Move Forward in recognition of the 50th anniversary of ALSN. The ALSN began as the Council of Graduate Education for Administrative Nursing (CGEAN) in 1970. Today, ALSN maintains the goals of shaping graduate education and research to inform nursing leadership practice.

Managing Moral Distress in the Workplace:: Creating a Resiliency Bundle.

Nurse leaders within a 43-bed pediatric intensive care unit introduced a pre- and post-implementation evidence-based practice project to determine which resilience enhancing techniques were helpful among a multidisciplinary team. A statistically significant increase in post-intervention group resilience (79.9 to 83.4, p < 0.0001) was achieved within 6 months of the "resiliency bundle" implementation. Forty-seven critical care staff including registered nurses, respiratory therapists, unit secretaries, medical doctors, chaplains, child life specialists, patient care techs, and nurse practitioners self-selected resiliency bundle components and provided their feedback and resilience level pre- and post-implementation. Preferred uses of resilience enhancement techniques were analyzed by discipline, experience level, and age.

The Best Little Association You've Never Heard Of.

Associations come and go, as do their brands, missions, and visions. Nursing has many associations and affiliated groups because the profession is diverse, complex, and collaborative. Engagement in professional organizations is a critical contribution to career and leadership development. The organization formerly known as the Council on Graduate Education for Administration in Nursing has been functioning for nearly 50 years, but its new brand-Association for Leadership Science in Nursing-and mission bring a fresh and compelling value proposition. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2020;51(3):104-105.].

Disruptive Innovation: Impact for Practice, Policy, and Academia.

The 2019 Association for Leadership Science in Nursing International Conference, Disruptive Innovation, was held in Los Angeles, California, with attendees from 30 US states, Canada, Brazil, and China. Presenters discussed the need for nurse leaders to advocate for health equity, lead evidence-based innovation, how robots and other technology are generating disruptive innovations in healthcare, and building strong academic-practice partnerships to address nursing workforce challenges. This article will report on these important insights.

Nursing's Leadership Role in Advancing Professional Practice/Work Environments as Part of the Quadruple Aim.

Development of healthy professional practice/work environments (PPWEs) for nursing practice is critical to optimizing patient safety and workforce satisfaction while limiting turnover. Healthy PPWEs are linked with improved outcomes for patients, the workforce, and organizations. Nurses constitute the greatest professional segment of the US health care workforce and influence PPWEs, patient experience, health care quality, and cost per capita, all aspects of the quadruple aim. This article shares a model of leadership identified by executive nurse leaders to address and foster healthy PPWEs. A focus group of 16 expert nurse leaders convened an invitational meeting in Richmond, Virginia, to discuss nurse leaders' roles in optimizing the quadruple aim. The discussions led to shared perceptions about the prevalence of barriers to optimizing PPWEs; nursing leaders' responsibility to address the barriers to supporting improvement of the work-life of nursing professionals; and the need for early integration of leadership education, theory, and practice in every nurse's career.

Grassroots to Global: The Future of Nursing Leadership.

The 2018 International Nursing Administration Research Conference, Grassroots to Global, was held in Atlanta, Georgia, with attendees from 38 US states, Canada, and China. Presenters discussed the need for nurse leaders to be prepared to partner with those inside and outside of healthcare to create innovative, interprofessional care delivery models; advocate for advancements in technology to address healthcare access shortages; and lead new areas of research that can drive policy change to support nurse leaders in long-term care and the essential role of the nurse manager in creating optimal practice environments for quality outcomes. This article will report on these important insights.

Preparing Chief Nurse Successors: An Evaluation of the Chief Nursing Officer Academy.

The traditional role of the chief nursing officer (CNO) is expanding to include new clinical areas and patient populations. Chief nursing officers find themselves challenged to balance both system and site priorities, compounded with the expectation to lead their organization during a merger, acquisition, or hospital closure and the changes in healthcare reimbursement. Chief nursing officers must anticipate emerging issues and be prepared to manage those issues. They are at high risk politically when a new chief executive officer is named and when hospitals are having financial concerns. How do we lead in times of turbulence? How can we ensure that high-potential candidates are prepared for the CNO role and what are the most critical competencies they will need? To address these concerns, we created a Chief Nursing Officer Academy (CNOA) that is designed for new and aspiring CNOs. This article provides an overview of the CNOA and a program evaluation of the outcomes for the participants.