Clinical Leader Series

Abstract

OBJECTIVEA virtual mental well-being initiative was developed for nurse leaders to provide education about mental health and to teach self-care skills.BACKGROUNDBecause of substantial demand placed on nurse leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations must address stress and burnout by providing a continuum of care to include education, support, and intervention.METHODSAll levels of nurse leaders at a multicampus healthcare system were invited to attend. Data were collected on coping, empowerment, burnout, and quality of life. Participant responses to discussion prompts were compiled and reviewed.RESULTSAlthough the independent parallel comparison did not show significant improvements, scores on the coping, empowerment, burnout, and quality-of-life measures were maintained. Discussion prompts yielded valuable insights into nurse leader experiences and session effectiveness.CONCLUSIONSThis type of education, as well as psychological support, will continue to be needed after the pandemic due to burnout, moral injury, and primary or secondary trauma. Findings are applicable to future crisis situations.

Promoting Well-being: A Scoping Review of Strategies Implemented During the COVID-19 Pandemic to Enhance the Well-being of the Nursing Workforce

“…Both bottom-up and top-down commitment is needed. Sawyer et al., ( Sawyer et al., 2022 ) USA Evaluation of an initiative to enable nurse leaders to gain knowledge and skills related to well-being and self-care that may benefit their teams and themselves. 500 Nurse leaders.…”

“…Included studies were from USA (n=9), Italy (n=2), UK (n=2), Australia (n=2), Taiwan (n=2), Jordan (n=1), Spain (n=1), Iran (n=1), and China (n=1). 17 of the included studies were conducted in acute hospital settings or services: with 6 focusing on broad health districts ( Blake et al., 2020 , 2021 ; Holton et al., 2022 ; Olcoń et al., 2022 ; Sawyer et al., 2022 ; Sawyer et al., 2022 ), 5 focusing on single or multiple hospital sites ( Castillo-Sánchez et al., 2022 , Carter and Turner, 2021 , Hsieh et al., 2022 , Muir et al., 2022 , Zaghini et al., 2021 )) and 6 focusing on individual units or wards, including a range of specialty areas such as Intensive Care Units ( Drexler et al., 2023 , Green et al., 2022 ), Emergency ( Haugland et al., 2023 , Yang et al., 2022 ), Surgical ( King et al., 2022 ), and COVID-19 care wards ( Nourian et al., 2021 ). One study conducted by Chen et al.…”

“…During our initial search and review of the findings it became clear that nursing leadership played a key role in developing, implementing, and evaluating well-being strategies at both a ward level and a broader hospital or health system level. Four of the included studies evaluated interventions targeting nurse leaders and managers specifically ( Carter and Turner, 2021 , Giordano et al., 2022 , Sawyer et al., 2022 , Sawyer et al., 2022 ).…”

“…The ability to adapt interventions and strategies to the online environment enabled some programs to continue when they may have otherwise folded during the pandemic, with increased workloads, physical distancing and isolation requirements making meeting in person impractical. A psychoeducational group program for Nurse Managers in the USA, called RISE© (Resilience, Insight, Self-compassion, and Empowerment), shifted to virtual sessions using Microsoft Teams during the pandemic ( Sawyer et al., 2022 ). Activities were adapted for an online synchronous group format, and workbooks were mailed to participants.…”

Impact of and mitigation measures for burnout in frontline healthcare workers during disasters: A mixed‐method systematic review

“…Fourteen studies focused on different burnout interventions (Akugue, 2022; Azizoddin et al, 2021; Blake et al, 2020; Crippa et al, 2021; Cunningham et al, 2017; Dincer & Inangil, 2021; Ferreres‐Galán et al, 2022; Giordano et al, 2022; Horn et al, 2019; Hsieh et al, 2022; Miyoshi et al, 2022; Sawyer et al, 2022; Sijbrandij et al, 2020; Sis Çelik & Kılınç, 2022). Of these studies, 13 assessed the effectiveness of an intervention, and one reported the development and usability of an intervention (Blake et al, 2020).…”