Staffing, workplace violence, and potential legislative changes will challenge CNOs in the new year, according to this CNE.
2024 was a rollercoaster ride for healthcare, and 2025 will likely be no different.
This year, CNOs and other nurse leaders faced a wide array of challenges, from expanding the nursing workforce through recruitment and retention, to tackling new technologies like AI and virtual nursing, and to addressing nurse burnout and wellbeing. Many of these issues are expected to continue, while more will appear on the horizon in the new year.
According to Peggy Norton-Rosko, system chief nurse executive at the University of Maryland Medical System, one of the biggest staffing struggles lies in the multigenerational workforce.
"We continue to have a large number of early career nurses leaving their organization and maybe even leaving the profession soon after they join us," Norton-Rosko said, "and we continue to see an increasing number of nurses retiring, because at the same time the population in general is aging, so is the nursing population."
Nurses nowadays have more opportunities to be employed in non-traditional roles, Norton-Rosko explained, which creates more competition to keep nurses working clinically at the bedside. Nurses are also experiencing record levels of burnout.
"While they're working to address urgent patient needs, they’re still dealing with the staffing crisis," Norton-Rosko said, "and we need to continue to pull on their expertise to help support the innovation related to new models of care and integrating technology."
Looking ahead to 2025, Norton-Rosko believes that the staffing challenges will continue, along with workplace violence incidents. Change management will be essential for CNOs moving forward.
"We also need to work on striking the right balance between providing care and supporting technology solutions," Norton-Rosko said, "[and] really balance how much change our teams can take at one time."
As for new challenges, Norton-Rosko emphasized the importance of focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and addressing social determinants of health. Potential policy changes under a new administration will also be a point of concern for CNOs in 2025.
“While nurses play a large role in identifying disparities," Norton-Rosko said, "we need to work really hard with other disciplines to make sure we can then address the disparities once they’re identified."
Listen to this week’s episode of the HealthLeaders Podcast to hear more about nursing trends and challenges going into the new year, and how CNOs should plan to address them.
G Hatfield is the CNO editor for HealthLeaders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
New nurses leaving their roles and seasoned nurses retiring from the industry posed huge challenges for CNOs in 2024.
Staffing, workplace violence, DEI, social determinants of health, and potential legislative and policy changes will be the focus for CNOs heading into 2025.