Leading in Nursing: Fostering the Workforce in Times of Uncertainty

As the nursing shortage continues, CNOs are finding it more difficult to retain nurses and grow the next generation of nurse leaders.

Nurse managers are continually leaving their roles because of stress and burnout, which has a significant impact on the rest of the workforce.

Robust change management and succession planning strategies are critical to making sure that nursing as a profession remains sustainable. 

Read the 2025 HealthLeaders Nurses Week eBook to learn how to foster your nursing workforce in times of uncertainty.

Post-merger CNO Playbook: From bedside to boardroom, Nurse leaders bring unmatched experience to M&As

Sponsored by
Wolters Kluwer

Nurse leaders play a vital role in ensuring smooth transitions and fostering long-term success. Their expertise in patient care and operational workflows positions them as key drivers of post-merger integration.

As outlined in From Bedside to Boardroom: Nurse Leaders Bring Unmatched Experience to M&As, mergers and acquisitions present challenges across multiple areas, including cultural misalignment, clinical variability, and staff morale concerns, all of which can impact care quality and nurse satisfaction. To mitigate these risks, nurse leaders must implement strategic initiatives that promote stability and cohesion.

  • Lead by example: Establish a team-oriented leadership style, prioritize patient care, and advocate for staff well-being.
  • Strengthen organizational culture: Align teams under shared values with clear, consistent communication.
  • Emphasize change management: Address transition challenges proactively through structured communication and staff engagement.
  • Standardize policies and procedures: Develop system-wide standards to enhance care consistency and efficiency.
  • Assess and develop competencies: Evaluate staff skillsets to identify gaps and provide targeted training.
  • Create professional development pathways: Support career progression through mentorship programs and structured growth opportunities.

By prioritizing collaboration, transparency, and leadership, healthcare organizations can empower nurse leaders to drive sustainable change, foster staff satisfaction, and enhance patient outcomes.

The Current State of AI Adoption in Healthcare

Sponsored by
GLOBO

Is the healthcare industry all in on AI?

The acceleration of AI solutions is quickly shaping the future of healthcare. These tech-enabled tools have the potential to transform the industry with the promise of streamlining workflows, alleviating provider burnout, and elevating the quality of care.

Examining the current AI adoption patterns is a smart step forward for healthcare organizations seeking to stay at the forefront of quality care while addressing financial pressures. For those serving diverse populations, these tools may be a superpower to assist providers in creating better access to care. Recently, GLOBO conducted a survey exploring how healthcare organizations are implementing different AI technologies. We surveyed healthcare professionals about their experience and knowledge of using AI-powered tools.

Download the report to take a look at what respondents said!

Reprioritizing Growth: Providers Must Now Differentiate and Deliver

Sponsored by
Optum

A HealthLeaders survey shows health systems are in growth mode, leveraging market-level data to sharpen payer collaboration, patient retention, and service strategy.

Historically, health systems focused their growth strategies on inpatient volume, revenue, and market share. But today, these traditional approaches alone no longer guarantee success. Competitive pressures, reimbursement challenges, and shifting demographics require a more strategic focus—one that emphasizes service differentiation, patient acquisition, and integrated care delivery across multiple settings.

The latest HealthLeaders Strategic Survey Growth Survey, sponsored by Optum, highlights this shift, with 92% of healthcare leaders planning organizational growth in the next year.

Download the full report to learn more!

Pharmacy as a Driver of Health System Growth

Sponsored by
Cardinal Health

Having a high-performing pharmacy is key to achieving your hospital's overall financial performance and to supporting patient safety and improved outcomes. It also can be a driver of health system growth, and the catalyst for sustaining long-lasting savings.

This article details how one health system embarked on a growth and expansion strategy that transformed it into the area’s largest employer with an extensive network of clinics, doctor offices, cancer care, home care and rehabilitation services. Cardinal Health has been a 35-year partner in that growth, ensuring that the pharmacy served as a change agent for the system’s strategy.

Today, the system’s pharmacy team focuses on three drivers for system-wide improvements: implementing savings year-over-year, leveraging system standardization to minimize complexity and monitor performance, and identifying new revenue opportunities. All three are necessary to create value; however, many cost-conscious hospitals hesitate to invest in revenue opportunities and miss out on accelerating their growth. This strategy is proven to drive rapid results. For this health system, example results include a $3 million reduction in operating expenses over three years, $3 million in clinical savings in one year, and over a $1 million impact in denial avoidance during one recent year.

Managing a hospital pharmacy requires operational excellence, continuous compliance with changing standards, effective clinical programs and more. However, limited resources, labor shortages and a rapidly changing industry prevent many from moving beyond basic pharmacy services. Pharmacy innovation is about finding the right resources and approach to achieve system goals.

To learn more about proven best practice programs, read the full article.

Hospital IT Transformation

Sponsored by
Community Hospital Corporation

How Rural and Community Hospitals Can Identify and Implement New Information Technology Solutions That Align with Clinical and Business Objectives

Hospital information technology transformation begins with a new mindset.

The leaders of tomorrow's successful rural and community hospitals must evaluate and implement technology solutions that support the organization's clinical excellence, business objectives, and security requirements.

The rapid emergence of AI and other cutting-edge technologies can empower rural providers to deliver quality and cost-efficient care to patients.

It's time to change the approach to IT investing. Find out how in this whitepaper.

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