Compassion as Strategy: A Leadership Approach to Strengthening the Nursing Workforce and Patient Care

Tuesday, March 3, 2026 at 12:00 pm CST

Compassion as Strategy: A Leadership Approach to Strengthening the Nursing Workforce and Patient Care

Nurse leaders are navigating a pivotal moment in healthcare that demands new approaches to supporting the workforce and delivering high-quality care. This webinar explores compassion not as an individual trait, but as a strategic leadership lever that directly influences workforce well-being, patient outcomes, and organizational performance. Drawing on decades of research and real-world implementation from the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare, participants will examine why compassion matters now, how it can be strengthened at scale, and what nurse leaders can do to embed compassion into culture, systems, and daily practice.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Describe compassion and explain its implications for nursing leadership, workforce well-being, and patient care.
2. Identify evidence-based strategies that can be implemented to support compassion and connection among nursing teams

Presenters

Michael Gustafson, MD, MBA, Chief Executive Officer – The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare

Michael Gustafson MD, MBA, is a senior healthcare physician executive with progressive strategic, operational, and leadership responsibilities spanning three decades within academic medical center, community hospital, and integrated delivery system settings. His personal mission over this time has been to help transform healthcare delivery in the U.S. and drive improvement in quality, safety, equity, experience, and value for both patients and their caregivers. His many passions and areas of expertise related to this work include healthcare strategy, clinical innovation, organizational culture change, and leadership development.

Richard Bottner, DHA, PA-C, FACHE, Chief Clinical Officer – The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare

Richard Bottner is the Chief Clinical Officer at the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare, where he leads national and international efforts to advance evidence-based approaches to compassion, workforce well-being, and organizational culture across nursing and interprofessional care teams. A PA with more than 20 years of experience spanning academic medicine, healthcare leadership, and quality improvement, he has partnered with nurse leaders and healthcare executives across the U.S. to translate research into practical strategies that strengthen nursing practice, care team collaboration, and patient care.

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