ALSN Foundation Pilot Award

The Effect of Mini-Mindfulness and Narrative Nursing Interventions to Promote Nurse Leaders’ Resilience and Well-being 

• Principal Investigator: Minjin Kim, PhD, RN; Assistant Professor, College of Nursing, University of Cincinnati
• Joyce J. Fitzpatrick, PhD, MBA, RN, FAAN, FNAP; Director, Marian K. Shaughnessy Nurse Leadership Academy; Elizabeth Brooks Ford; Professor of Nursing; Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing; Distinguished University Professor; Case Western Reserve University
• Rebecca Owens, DNP, MBA, MSN, RN-BC; Chief Nursing Officer; New York State Psychiatric Institute
• Stephanie Nolan, DNP, MBA, RN, CPAN, NEA-BC; Executive Director Acute Care Nursing; Providence Little Company of Mary San Pedro
• Sharon Tucker, PhD, APRN-CNS, NC-BC, FNAP, FAAN; Grayce Sills Endowed Professor in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing; Director, DNP Nurse Executive Core; Director, Implementation Science Core, Fuld EBP Institute

In this study, we investigate the effects of a 3-minute mindfulness breathing intervention (3MBS) and a Narrative Nursing (NN) intervention to promote nurse leaders’ well-being and resilience. We will conduct a three-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT), 1) 3MBS group, 2) NN intervention group, and 3) 3MBS/NN intervention group and test effects on well-being and resilience among nurse leaders working in acute care settings.  

Combining the 3MBS and NN interventions may be a new relevant, and potentially effective tool to promote healing and well-being among nurse leaders during and beyond pandemic stressors. Increased self-regulation skills and ability to make sense of their own and others’ experiences, creating a sense of connectedness, providing personal resilience, and decreasing stress can enable front-line nurse leaders to manage pandemic-related care demands and the ensuing repercussions effectively. Therefore, we bring together investigators’ clinical and research expertise and previous collaborative research in the area of nurses’ well-being and resilience, mindfulness practice and intervention, narrative nursing intervention, and online-based experimental studies to investigate the effects of the combination of a 3MBS and a NN intervention to promote nurse leaders' well-being and resilience in a 3-arm RCT.

Versant Center for the Advancement of Nursing Pilot Award

Nurses' Fatigue, Sleepiness, Sleep Quality and Experience Working Night Shift 

• Susan H. Weaver, PhD, RN, CRNI, NEA-BC
  Nurse Scientist, Ann May Center for Nursing and Allied Health
  Hackensack Meridian Health
  Neptune, New Jersey
  
  
• Theresa A. Wurmser, PhD, MPH, RN, NEA-BC
  Vice President, Ann May Center for Nursing and Allied Health
  Hackensack Meridian Health
  Neptune, New Jersey

Project Summary: The purpose of this pilot study is to assess fatigue, sleepiness, and sleep quality in clinical nurses and administrative supervisors and improve the experience of working night shift. This will be accomplished by:

1. Investigating fatigue, sleepiness, and sleep quality of day and night shift clinical nurses and administrative supervisors and exploring the night shift clinical nurses and administrative supervisors’ perception of their experience working night shift,
2. Providing education sessions for nurses on how to manage fatigue, and
3. Holding listening sessions (focus groups) with night shift clinical nurses exploring fatigue countermeasure initiatives and initiatives to improve their experience working night shift.
   

Aim 1: To identify if a difference exists in fatigue, sleepiness, and sleep quality between day shift and night shift clinical nurses and day shift and night administrative supervisors.

Aim 2: To describe the relationship between fatigue, sleepiness, and sleep quality in day shift and night shift clinical nurses and administrative supervisors and demographics such as years of experience on night shift, having a second job, and fatigue-related clinical error or near miss.

Aim 3: To describe night shift clinical nurses and administrative supervisors’ experience working night shift and the initiatives to improve their experience working night shift.

COVID-related Stressors, Burnout, Turnover Intention, and Resilience during the Pandemic among Nurse Leaders

• Aoyjai P. Montgomery, PhD, BSN

Educational Affiliation: University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)

Project Summary: It is my great honor to be the recipient of the ALSN research grant 2020-2021 sponsored by the Versant Center for the Advancement of Nursing (VCAN). The COVID-19 pandemic introduced new stressors to nurse leaders, e.g., managing the complex staffing situation (staff shortages, reassigning nurses to cover COVID-19 units, limited bed capacity, high patient acuities, shortage of personal protective equipment), while supporting their staff nurses. However, there is little evidence on COVID-related stressors, burnout, turnover intention, and resilience among nurse leaders. Therefore, this funding has allowed me to conduct a survey study asking nurse leaders about their COVID-related stressors, burnout, turnover intention, and resilience. My goals are to advance our understanding of COVID-related stressors contributing to burnout, turnover intention, and resilience among nurse leaders during COVID-19 and to provide baseline data to inform the development of actionable interventions to prevent or at least reduce burnout and turnover intention and possibly increase resilience. Attending to the well-being of nurse leaders may have second order effects of improving staff nurses’ work-related outcomes as well as patient outcomes. Thus, the results of this study will ultimately improve the quality of care and health outcomes of patients during a global health crisis.

An Exploration of Frontline Nurses Managers’ Experience during the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic

Principal Investigator:

• Esther Chipps, PhD, RN, NEA-BC,
  Clinical Nurse Scientist, Associate Professor of Clinical Nursing
  The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, The Ohio State University College of Nursing

Co-Investigators:

• Sharon Tucker, PhD, APRN-CNS, NC-BC, EBP-C, FNAP, FAAN
  Grayce Sills Endowed Professor in Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing, College of Nursing
  Director, DNP Nurse Executive Track
  Director, Implementation Science Core, Fuld EBP Institute
  Nurse Scientist, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
  
  
• Jacalyn Buck PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAONL
  Chief Nursing Officer, Health System
  The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
  

Project Summary: Confronting the COVID pandemic beginning in March 2020, operational nurse leaders of healthcare organizations across the country have faced major challenges related to surge capacity, personal protective equipment (PPE) supply management, infectious disease prevention practices, rapid just-in-time education and retraining of the hospital workforce, crisis communication, implementation of new clinical treatment guidelines, nearly daily changes in hospital protocols and guidelines, and management of fear, anxiety and uncertainty among staff, patients and families. As chief nursing officers across the country engage in discussions and exchange experiences, significant concerns related to the exceedingly high stress frontline nurse managers (NMs) are experiencing as they lead through the COVID-19 pandemic have risen to the forefront.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the professional experiences of NMs during the COVID-19 pandemic and create tools and resources for building leadership competencies and personal resiliency for better preparedness in future pandemics and other crises. The specific research aims are to:

1. identify new challenges, unanticipated stressors and conflicts facing NMs during the COVID-19 pandemic;
2. describe threats to personal wellness and resiliency among NMs during an emerging pandemic;
3. determine gaps in leadership competencies among NMs during the pandemic; and
4. create programs and resources to develop crisis-related competencies and support programs for NMs.

The Interim Nurse Manager Role and its Influence on Nursing Staff and Patient Outcomes: A Mixed Methods Approach

Principal Investigator:

• Sandra Galura, PhD, RN
  University of Central Florida

Project Summary:

The quality of a manager is the single biggest factor in the success of an organization. The increasing financial pressures and clinical challenges faced by healthcare systems coupled with a growing demand to fill vacated positions has resulted in a growing need for interim nurse leaders to fill the gaps until permanent replacements can be found. With the duration of interim nursing management roles reported up to 63 weeks, to optimize the interim role, and off-set the negative effects of nurse manager turnover, there is a critical need to understand the current state of the interim nurse manager role, including the perceived impact of the role on nurse and patient outcomes.

Research Aims:

Aim 1: Describe the current state of the interim nurse manager role, including:

1. Job demands, including span of control and scope of responsibility.
2. Job resources, including organizational resources and support.
3. Personal characteristics such as experience, education, and role preparation.
4. Perception of their practice environment.
5. Perceived level of stress, burnout, and work engagement.
6. Perception of their job performance on nurse and patient outcomes.

Aim 2: Examine the relationships among personal characteristics, job resources, nursing practice environment, professional burnout, work engagement and nurse and patient outcomes.

Sheila Chucta DNP, RN, APRN-CNS-CNS, CCRN

Educational Affiliation: The Ohio State University

Amy Campbell, RN, MSN, PhD

Educational Affiliation: East Carolina University

"I am very honored to be the recipient of the 2018 research grant. This funding allowed me to hold focus groups to capture the voice of the Register Nurse and Nursing Assistant and their role in patient safety. As a PhD student, this allowed me to go beyond my dissertation work and have the opportunity to do a mixed methods study. I am excited to be part of an organization that has such a wide influence on nursing leadership, education, and administration."

Educational Affiliation: University of Colorado College of Nursing

"ALSN is the perfect organization for educators of nurse leaders and I have been a member reaping benefits for several years. It was an honor to receive a research grant in 2018 for innovative action research. Over three semesters, we placed PhD and DNP health leadership students together in course work. We gathered voices of the students and constructed new knowledge describing doctoral scholarly roles and models for doctoral leadership education in health systems. Our work was accepted for publication in Advances in Nursing Science. We appreciate the support of ALSN in moving discourse forward on collaborative models for doctoral education."

Heather Nelson-Brantley, PhD, RN, CCRN-K

Educational Affiliation: University of Kansas School of Nursing

"ALSN has been my professional organization home for several years and as such, it was an honor to receive the Early Career Award. I am an assistant professor who recently transitioned to the tenure track, and this award was my first externally-funded research grant. As such, it was meaningfully recognized by the dean and my faculty colleagues. The grant has enabled me to establish an interprofessional research team and to collect important pilot data that will help lay the foundation for a successful research career. To have the support of ALSN as my first extramural funder is something I will always treasure."

Susan Weaver, PhD, RN, CRNI, NEA-BC.

Educational Affiliation: Ann May Center for Nursing, Hackensack Meridian Health

"It is an honor for myself and all administrative supervisors to have received the ALSN 2017 Research Award for research on the development of the Administrative Supervisor Practice Environment scale. Considering the lack of research on the Administrative Supervisor role, receiving this grant from ALSN reinforces the value of this research specific to this vital nursing leadership role."