Dear ASHHRA Colleagues,

Summer is almost here! I hope you are all enjoying the early part of June with the anticipation of exciting and rejuvenating summer plans. This is always a good time to step back, create balance between work and life, and enjoy the sunshine.

This week, the Advocacy Committee was in Washington, D.C. for ASHHRA's annual Hill Visit to represent the interests of members and health care human resources professionals. They focused on building relationships with senators and representatives, reiterating the important health care viewpoints in human resources and workforce issues. Read the specific positions presented to legislators in the 2019 Hill Visit Position Paper.

ASHHRA hosts its annual conference in Chicago, Sept. 21-24. This year's theme, Connect. Innovate. Transform., will highlight key opportunities for innovation and transformation and focus on proven methods for health care recruitment and retention, employee engagement, talent management and more. Early Bird registration rates are available through June 30.

Tuesday, July 30, 2:00-3:00 p.m. CT
Emotional intelligence is a critical skill for health care HR leaders. This skill equips health care HR leaders to respond effectively to ambiguous situations that can emerge from mergers, acquisitions and the shifting financial landscapes facing many health care organizations. Presenters will describe some of the recent neuroscience around change and why it is hard for people to move away from the “how things have always been” mentality. HR leaders will be able to utilize emotional intelligence to facilitate effective change management.

AHA News
The AHA has voiced support for legislation (S. 1399) to revise and extend federal programs to develop the nursing workforce, which has been referred to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. 

HealthAffairs
Community health workers (CHWs) are trusted laypeople who help their communities achieve health and well-being. For generations, they’ve worked in church basements, shelters and food pantries to address a variety of health and social needs. In recent years, this workforce has captured the attention of health care organizations looking to hit value-based payment targets that are heavily influenced by the social determinants of health.

Workforce
In today’s digital day and age, designing an HR communications strategy that effectively reaches an increasingly dispersed, distracted workforce is critical to increase employee engagement — and ensure employees are informed and aligned to meet broader business objectives.

Health care organizations must employ a comprehensive apporach to cybersecurtity, including robust vendor management strategies.

Healthcare Dive
A new survey of more than 550 health care consumers illustrates a varied digital health market where adoption rates are just as wide-ranging as the services and products. According to the survey, most patients (75%) feel care is made more convenient by mobile technologies, from scheduling apps to telehealth services.

The My Life, My Story program hopes to change the way providers interact with patients at VA hospitals around the country. Volunteer writers seek out vets and ask them about their lives, then work with the patient to write up a 1,000-word biography which is entered into to the patient's electronic medical record.

Modern Healthcare
Since 1999, New Jersey-based RWJBarnabas Health has offered an OR nurse training opportunity for its employed nurses, as well as recent graduates, in order to build a pipeline of nurses with specific OR skill sets, which 
aren’t taught extensively at most nursing schools even though the demand is high.

Because men and women tend to participate in various occupations and sectors at different rates, automation will affect their future job markets differently, according to a report from McKinsey Global Institute.