My 3 Favorite Things from the SD-ACNL Leadership Conference

I attended the San Diego chapter ACNL  leadership conference on Friday – The 19th Innovations Conference. 

I have 3 Favorite Things from the conference.

My First Favorite Thing – An innovative moment on the night shift from a new grad 

• This clinical nurse told a story about when she was a new grad 3 years ago that put her on a path

She was rounding at 7:30 pm and the first patient she saw was begging for heroin. She explained that hospitals don’t give heroine. She called the resident and s/he gave no orders.  So she thought, “Thank god, there’s that thing called Google.”  Yes, a roar of laughter waved through the audience.  

Now she is presenting her one page COWs protocol (clinical opioid withdrawal scale) – to be used by frontline nurses – at a national conference this summer .   Yea, nurse! 

My Second Favorite Thing –  A talk full of useful tips for Resiliency

• Capt. Janet Wessels, MSN, RN, PHN (Azusa Pacific University) presented. 

Capt. Wessels provided a page full of mHEALTH TOOLS that can be found on Mobile APPS.  Huge variety; easy to search; pretty cool.   And ….

Have you heard of “Three Good Things” ?  This I loved.  There are numerous websites and articles on it.  Who knew?         Capt. Wessels suggested the following “Three Good Things” steps:

1. Every evening, talk with an other or Write down 3 good things that happened to you that day
2. Categorize how they each made you feel – Amusement, Awe, Gratitude, Inspiration, Interest, Joy, Hope, Love, Pride, Serenity, etc
3. Identify what your role was in the event.  If you played a role, you are more likely to make it happen again. And if no role, then it’s a reminder to express gratitude.  

My Third Favorite Thing –  A Keynote on leadership 

• Mark Brouker, Pharm.D, MBA, FACHE, BCPS  – “Building Trust: Leadership Pearls for Today’s Nurse Leaders”. 

WOW. I endorse Brouker as a presenter. If you are looking for a “leadership” keynote presenter , check him out at  Brouker’s Leadership Solutions .

Brouker is retired military, former hospital CEO, is humorous, full of inspiring, relatable stories, and is passionate about promoting great leadership.  What drives him is his fascination in how one person – a boss – can have such a profound impact on the state of others and outcomes. 

There was one study he spoke of early in his talk that really caught my attention. (PDF- Mental Health Advisory Team (MHAT) 6 – Army Medicine – Health.mil.)   For those of you who might be interested in the impact of leadership on subsequent incidence of PTSD among combat soldiers, this study is a seminal work.    The parallel with nurses and caring fatigue might be interesting.

The conclusion Brouker brought from the study was this:  

The incidence of subsequent PTSD among soldiers was less when they had strong leadership experiences regardless of the amount of combat experienced.   The risk and resilience aspects of leadership had a stronger impact on the soldiers PTSD incidence than the amount of combat. 

Brouker’s leadership pearls:

1. Ask staff, “tell me your story”
2. Don’t hide in your office
3. Lead with dignity and respect
4. Make it a habit to give accolades to everyone … 1-3 daily. 
   1. If someone on your staff doesn’t deserve an accolade, they are not in the right job
5. Power of optimism – “perpetual optimism is a force multiplier”.
   1. Leader contagion – what ever you manifest, 6/10 are going to emulate you
   2. A pessimistic leader is more harmful than an absent leader. 
   3. Work-Life balance is requirement for an Optimistic leader.
6.  Commit to Continuous relearning of the art of leadership.

ps. There’s one more thing I enjoyed. More on this in an interview with a Holistic Nurse who drove a Healing Touch program throughout a San Diego health system and is now starting her own healing retreat center.