3 Takeaways From the AONL Conference

Learn about the hot topics coming out of the annual American Organization for Nursing Leadership conference.

Hundreds of nurse leaders gathering this week for AONL 22, the annual conference of the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL), are picking up ideas on mentoring, well-being, and how to move forward after a difficult two years.

With more than 50 breakout sessions and a handful of plenary gatherings at the weeklong conference, which wraps up this afternoon in San Antonio, Texas, the nurse leaders are hearing an abundance of helpful messages.

Here are three of them:

1. Diversity by itself is not enough. You must have an inclusive culture.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is not just an initiative; it must be part of an organization's culture, said Jakki Opollo, PhD, RN, MSN, MPH, NEA-BC, vice president talent initiatives and regional chief diversity officer for Atrium Health, Wake Forest Baptist.

Atrium's senior leadership "paid attention" to the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and the resulting focus on the Black Lives Matter movement and prioritized DEI, she said in the breakout session, "Nursing Leading the Way: Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion."

"Prior to George Floyd, the organization was doing DEI, but that situation created momentum," she said.

They started with a survey sent to 1,200 leaders within Atrium's clinical care, pharmacy, and pastoral care, received feedback, and built an action plan, she said.

For that, and any other DEI culture to flourish, a healthcare organization must:

• Evaluate the needs of workforce related to DEI.
• Set up governance structures to empower those leading DEI.
• Embed and align DEI across programs, processes, and policies to make it everyone's responsibility.
• Drive a culture of psychological safety ad inclusion.
• Build accountability throughout the process.

2. For nurse well-being, accessibility and ease of use determine how likely people are to take advantage of resources.

When Crystal Morales, director of nurse well-being at MedStar Health, pulls her wellness wagon around the health system's facilities, she brings gifts, games, and fun—along with resources for nurses' well-being.

"My goal is to build a rapport," said Morales. "When I have their attention, I give them resources."

Each fun-filled goody bag includes an important QR code, which nurses are strongly encouraged to immediately scan with their phone, which is a "one-stop shop" to wellness tools and aides, said Morales, who presented the "Prioritizing Nurse Well-Being," breakout session.

Morales and MedStar have also paved the way for stress relief and better mental health by:

• Allowing employees' families to use EAP resources.

It is difficult for employees to focus on work when they're concerned about their home situation, so MedStar allows families to use EAP services, Morales said.

• Encouraging regular mental health appointments.

Eyes and teeth get regular check-ups, so "why not the brain?" Morales said. And when she learned that the wait time to see a mental health provider was three months, she stepped in and hired a professional who could see MedStar employees almost immediately until they could get appointments with their regular provider.

"It's been a game-changer," she said. "It's been used so much, we had to bring on another provider."

3. Microlearning in short, bite-sized bits, is extraordinarily effective.

"What does your learning management system look like? Hurry up, get through it, click, and we're done," notes Amelia Waldrup, MSN, NEA-BC, senior director of patient services at Children's Hospital New Orleans. "That is not way we want to give education."

Instead, Children's Hospital nurses get web-based small, step-by-step lesson modules when they need it, said Waldrup, a presenter for the breakout session, " Empowering Nurses with the Cloud to Improve Engagement, Onboarding, and Cost."

"If you give people small, bite-sized information, they learn it," she said. "There is research that microlearning is effective … We know from research that people like it, particularly in healthcare."

Research shows that microlearning boosts confidence, encourages collaborative learning, and helps retain information, she said.

Using cloud-based software, Children's began building web-based microlearning modules that nurses could access on their smart phones.

"We built exactly what YouTube videos do, except it was our folks [in the videos]," she said.

The program has resulted in improved quality outcomes, higher nurse engagement, and cost savings, Waldrup said.