By Nelson Tuazon, DNP, DBA, RN, NEA-BC, CENP, CPHQ, CPPS, CPXP, FNAP, FACHE, FAAN

Vice-President and Associate Chief Nursing Officer

University Health

District 8 Director

 

A quick scan of the current nursing and healthcare literature shows that we may have to hold on to things that have gone out of style. Team nursing (Cassidy, 2020), the addition of licensed practical nurses (LPN) or licensed vocational nurses (LVN) in the staffing plans (Johnson, 2020), and the tiered-staffing model (Wells et al., 2021) reflect this paradigm shift. The pandemic provided the impetus for leaders to innovate. The innovative approaches led by nurses are well-documented (Phillips et al., 2021). We adopted emerging technology to augment resources for COVID-19 screening, patient rounding, and staff and patient communication. We adapted to new schedules, training and education methods, and workloads. We also abandoned traditional ways of socializing, meetings, and some aspects of patient care due to the disruption in the supply chain (Riera et al., 2021). As we transition to pre-pandemic conditions, we will need to adopt, adapt, and abandon again. Weston (2020) posited that the rapid changes that are evolving in the current healthcare environment require a systematic and thoughtful strategic planning process. Leaders must have a clear understanding of the confluence of emerging trends, forge a vision for a positive future, formulate a clear direction for success, and execute actions to achieve desired outcomes. Leaders must have the ability to assess their organization and provide a vision for future endeavors. It is imperative that planning for the future should not detract us from the work of the present (Ulrich, 2021).