In June, Johnson & Johnson was a proud presenting sponsor at Aspen Ideas: Health, an annual health care think tank conference with wide-ranging sessions, from vaccine equity to care delivery transformation, artificial intelligence, sustainability in healthcare and beyond. Bringing together entrepreneurs, innovators, healthcare providers, policy makers, political leaders and executives, the conference centers on some of healthcare’s biggest topics and challenges.
In “Be Advised: Addressing Health Workforce Moral Distress,” a panel of nursing and healthcare experts described how the healthcare worker shortage is today’s reality, putting safe, quality healthcare at risk for everyone, and had a lively and insightful discussion about new solutions and the pathway forward.
Kicking off the session, Lynda Benton, Senior Director, Global Community Impact, Johnson & Johnson, spoke to how Johnson & Johnson has proudly championed and supported the nursing profession for over 125 years, as nurses are the very backbone and heart of healthcare, and the engine that keeps our care systems running. She also communicated how it is time for change, as our healthcare workforce inclusive of nurses and all on the frontlines of care, is facing a new epidemic of moral distress. She stressed that we must do better to care for the very people who care for us all, and that there is a pathway forward.
Moderated by Shawna Butler, Nurse Economist and Host of the SEE YOU NOW podcast and featuring Iman Abuzeid, CEO and Co-Founder of Incredible Health; Corey Feist, President and Co-Founder of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation; and Katherine Howell, Chief Nursing Executive for UCHealth, panelists shared new ways to think about long-standing challenges in the healthcare work environment, and innovative solutions in their respective areas to create workplaces where nurses and all healthcare professionals can thrive.
You can watch the panel recording here or read on for three takeaways from this thought-provoking session.
Removing barriers and increasing access to mental health and well being support
The panel primarily focused on actionable steps for a better, safer future, and Corey Feist began by making a case for urgency.
The emotional, physical, and psychological consequences that nurses and the larger healthcare workforce is continuing to experience is alarming. Many nurses have been compelled to leave the profession entirely, while others face substantial personal harm, including higher rates of substance abuse and suicide than the general population.
In his role at the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, Corey Feist works with health systems, national associations and state and federal governments to remove long-standing barriers and establish and deliver resources to support the mental health and well-being of clinicians.
One current area of focus for the foundation is advocating for the removal of mental health questions in licensure, credentialing or insurance applications for HCPs. With a perception that licensing is at risk if a provider seeks mental health support, these questions are often seen as stigmatizing and ultimately preventing nurses and physicians in seeking mental healthcare.
“Healthcare workers need individual support and systems-level change,” he said.
Adjusting the career experience to the needs of nurses today
At Incredible Health, a rapidly growing tech-enabled company revolutionizing the nursing career marketplace, Iman Abuzeid and her team help hospitals hire nurses more efficiently while reducing recruiting costs by streamlining the vetting and interview process and leveraging technology to connect hospitals with “best fit,” qualified and experienced nurse candidates.
Incredible Health works with more than 700 hospitals, which employ nurses across five generations. As a result, Abuzeid has direct insight into what is driving nurses out of the profession, what they are seeking in the workplace and what they need to provide impactful care.
Primarily, nurses are looking for advancement opportunities and flexibility, Abuzeid says. Yet most health systems are not yet offering them – which provides a competitive advantage for health systems who are taking steps to meet nurses’ needs in the current hiring environment.
“There are many solutions out there. For career advancement, there are career mobility plans, career tracks for nurses, and training opportunities for nurses. For flexibility in scheduling, hospital leaders are offering a menu of options – weekend shifts, 8-hour shifts, 4-hour shifts,” she said.
Tying these nurse-friendly solutions to metrics that improve the hospital bottom line – from filling vacant positions to reducing turnover – is essential. “When nurses and HR work closely with finance leaders; that’s where the magic happens.”
Innovative leaders are listening and bringing joy back to nursing
“We need to bring joy back to the work nurses and healthcare workers do,” Butler said.
Kathy Howell, CNE for UC Health knows that first-hand, and has prioritized an environment that starts with listening to the nurses at UC Health, to collaborate on new solutions.
From providing mental well-being support resources – like a 24/7 call line, where licensed therapists are available to nurses whenever they need them to introducing new positions like behavioral health specialists trained in de-escalation techniques for patients who are agitated – taking additional labor and risk off nurses’ plates – to removing nonclinica tasks that take time away from patients, to providing more scheduling flexibility, Howell is focused on creating a workplace environment that is better meeting the needs of nurses, so that they and their patients can thrive.
“Every single health system leader should be removing the pebbles from nurses’ shoes,” Howell said. “They can do this by listening to their nurses and then doing something about it.”
Elevating nurse voices
The session wasn’t the only opportunity at Aspen for nurses to share their experiences, insights and expertise with a broader healthcare audience.
Bre Loughlin, a nurse and founder of Nurses Disrupted, Inc., who is addressing nursing shortages and fostering better patient care by expanding access to virtual nurses, spoke at another session sponsored by Johnson & Johnson.
A self-described “tech-nerd” nurse, amid the pandemic, Loughlin built and strategically installed virtual care stations in the city’s shelters and community centers to provide quick and convenient access to COVID screenings to the most vulnerable populations in her hometown of Madison, WI.
In “Stories from the Heart of Health,” Bre and other healthcare storytellers shared their personal stories in caregiving, and how to better support the needs of nurses and all clinicians to ensure everyone can access high quality care.
The virtual nursing models she developed to break down barriers to care for people in homeless shelters became a bright spot of hope for hospitals facing a nursing shortage crisis, she said, but change is also needed at a systemic level.
“Hospitals must let go of the status quo they have clenched so tightly around nursing,” she said.
Want to make your voice heard? Consider attending or applying to speak at a non-nurse conference this year. To hear more from the nurses at Aspen Ideas: Health, click below to view the sessions.
Watch the Sessions Here:
