In the Eye of the Storm: Leadership Lessons From the Front.

Abstract

New York City (NYC) was in the eye of the COVID-19 pandemic storm in the spring of 2020. Since that time, the country has seen wave after wave of outbreaks and concurrent psychosocial crises. Clinical nurses and nurse leaders delivered extraordinary care with grit, innovation, agility, and resilience. When in the eye of the storm, staff have to feel safe and have a voice even in command-control, adaptive modes. Nurses and nurse leaders have been resilient, and organizations have to play their part in decreasing work burden and creating positive work environments. Non-value-added work as well as barriers to practice should be eliminated permanently. This article describes the many challenges including intensive care unit capacity, staffing, well-being, and lack of visitation, as well as leadership lessons such as the importance of presence, based on the NYC experience of a chief nursing officer in a large academic medical center. These lessons and their implications for our workforce, for public health, and for leadership development and competencies and have taught us how to lead into the future.