Sherman: Nurse leader roles, span of control increase

Nurse leaders’ contributions matter more than ever to health care, said author, editor and researcher Rose Sherman, EdD, RN, at AONL 2024. The most critical success factors for organizations are leaders at the front lines, and how prepared they are to support their organizations’ goals, Sherman said, pointing to Gallup workforce data. But the data also shows that nurse managers already report a lack of belonging at work, and spend too much time on meetings, staffing and scheduling. Amid high patient volumes, less experienced nurses, staffing shortages and financial constraints, nurse managers’ roles and job scope has only grown. Sherman challenged leaders to consider how other departments could divide the workload. To better support nurse leaders, organizations must improve how they onboard front-line managers, reduce their span of control, help with team building and hold more departments accountable for shared goals, Sherman said. For example, improving the patient experience “should not fall on nursing staff alone,” she added.