Clinical leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic: Reflections and lessons learned

Abstract

COVID-19 has, and continues to, wreak havoc worldwide, and the healthcare system has been particularly challenged with personnel shortages, resource insecurity, mixed messages, and fear to name a few. At the outset, it was thought the pandemic would be short-lived, resulting in the enactment of disaster plans in hospitals. Such autocratic approaches are not always effective in the long-term; a servant leadership approach is more conducive to engaging teams, and this dyad structure supports effective leadership during challenging times. While there is not one right approach to leading through a pandemic, lessons learned from this pandemic are applicable when, not if, the next pandemic occurs.

Analyzing the Effects of Family Presence and Visitation Restrictions During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Nurse Leaders and Non–Nurse Leaders

“…Thus, the communication gap could have existed for nurse leaders as well. Communication gaps created uncertainty and helplessness and were identified as stressors by many other studies of nurses' experience during the pandemic 1-3,8,12,13,16 …”

“…Communication gaps created uncertainty and helplessness and were identified as stressors by many other studies of nurses' experience during the pandemic. [1][2][3]8,12,13,16 It was noted that most nurses indicated in the survey that they believed with the right measures, visitation could be supported during the pandemic. This suggests that nurses likely had ideas about how to create policies that could retain infection control practices while allowing visitors at the bedside.…”

“…These policy changes included visitor restrictions and intense infection control practices for patients hospitalized with COVID-19. The autocratic management environment used by many organizations during the pandemic, as opposed to the typical shared governance environment, could have been an additional source of stress for nurses at any level of the organizational hierarchy 12,13 . Nurse leaders might have experienced feelings of disempowerment or even guilt as a result of the visitor restriction policies, many of which were implemented as part of the disaster policy framework and may have lacked nursing input 4 .…”

“…The autocratic management environment used by many organizations during the pandemic, as opposed to the typical shared governance environment, could have been an additional source of stress for nurses at any level of the organizational hierarchy. 12,13 Nurse leaders might have experienced feelings of disempowerment or even guilt as a result of the visitor restriction policies, many of which were implemented as part of the disaster policy framework and may have lacked nursing input. 4 Thus, the aim of this analysis is to identify any differences in the effects of family and visitation restrictions between nurse leaders and non-nurse leaders.…”

Exploring Leadership Communication Competencies, Within Health Care, That May Have Been Exacerbated by the Pandemic

“…Sanders and Balcom stated that organizations must not forget about the physical and emotional well-being of employees. 26 These authors offered solutions to this problem such as enhanced communication skills, frequent employee rounding, and peer-to-peer support.…”