Capella 4005 Assessment 2

Name

Capella university

NURS-FPX4005 Nursing Leadership: Focusing on People, Processes, and Organizations

Prof. Name

Date

Interview Summary

During a detailed interview with a charge nurse at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, longstanding challenges contributing to nurse burnout and staffing shortages were highlighted. The interviewee, who holds a supervisory role in a medical-surgical unit, oversees patient care coordination, staff scheduling, interprofessional collaboration, and onboarding for new nurses. A semi-structured interview method facilitated a flexible discussion while ensuring essential themes were covered. One key question asked was, “In what ways have staffing shortages affected patient care in your unit?” The nurse emphasized critical issues such as staff resignations due to increased patient volume, mandated overtime, and mental exhaustion—all of which negatively influenced patient care outcomes.

Efforts by the hospital to counteract burnout through wellness programs had limited impact because they lacked integration with administrative support, workflow redesign, and systematic mental health care. Although leadership introduced flexible scheduling and incentive programs, these efforts did not succeed due to persistent understaffing and instability among middle managers. While the hospital endorses a collaborative care philosophy, communication breakdowns between administrators and nursing personnel hinder progress and solution development.

The interviewee also shared past involvement in an interdisciplinary pilot aimed at nurse retention, which combined emotional intelligence training with peer counseling. However, the initiative was discontinued prematurely due to a lack of sustained support from leadership. This underscores the need for a multidisciplinary, evidence-informed strategy to strengthen nurse retention and preserve care quality (Low et al., 2021).

Issue Identification

The interview uncovered that fatigue and workforce shortages are significant contributors to declining staff morale, safety risks, and eventual turnover. The solution must be interdisciplinary, involving coordination between nurse leaders, human resources, mental health providers, and administrative teams. Predictive scheduling tools using artificial intelligence can optimize workforce deployment, ensuring a manageable nurse-to-patient ratio (Hunstein & Fiebig, 2024). Mental health services must also be prioritized to help nurses manage stress and prevent burnout. Policy changes that curb excessive overtime, alongside robust leadership support, will further promote a healthier workplace culture (Alsadaan, 2023; Wei et al., 2024).

Table 1

Strategies to Address Nurse Burnout and Shortages

Strategy	Description	Supporting Source
Predictive AI Scheduling	Enhances shift planning, maintains optimal staff levels	Hunstein & Fiebig (2024)
Mental Health Support	Offers therapy, counseling, and emotional resilience training	Alsadaan (2023)
Policy Reform on Overtime	Limits excessive hours to promote work-life balance	Wei et al. (2024)
Interdisciplinary Collaboration	Combines nursing, HR, and mental health professionals for holistic action	Low et al. (2021)

Change Theories That Could Lead to an Interdisciplinary Solution

Lewin’s Change Management Model provides a practical framework for addressing burnout and staffing gaps through its three phases: unfreezing, changing, and refreezing (Stanz et al., 2021). In the unfreezing stage, leadership must first assess burnout prevalence and engage nurses in dialogue to foster readiness for change. The change phase involves adopting AI-driven staffing tools, implementing mental health services, and redefining scheduling norms. Interdisciplinary teamwork is essential at this stage, with input from HR, clinical leaders, and behavioral health experts.

The final refreezing stage stabilizes the new norms by integrating them into the organization’s culture through leadership support, ongoing training, and performance evaluations. This model effectively facilitates sustainable transformation within healthcare organizations. The peer-reviewed study by Stanz et al. (2021) supports Lewin’s relevance to interdisciplinary healthcare change initiatives.

Leadership Strategies That Could Lead to an Interdisciplinary Solution

To drive such systemic changes, transformational leadership is a vital strategy. This leadership style inspires a shared vision and fosters cohesive teamwork across departments. Transformational leaders prioritize staff well-being by engaging regularly with team members, promoting open communication, and encouraging joint decision-making (Alsadaan, 2023). Such a climate enables frontline nurses, administrators, and mental health providers to collaborate toward shared goals.

Mentorship programs and professional development opportunities led by transformational leaders help reduce burnout and increase job satisfaction. By combining Lewin’s change model with transformational leadership, healthcare institutions can adopt a structured, evidence-based method to reduce burnout and improve nurse retention. Alsadaan’s (2023) systematic review confirms that transformational leadership effectively enhances teamwork and supports lasting workforce improvements.

Collaboration Approaches for Interdisciplinary Teams

Developing a stable and effective healthcare workforce requires formalized collaboration between disciplines. Interprofessional collaboration (IPC) enhances communication, patient safety, and team effectiveness. Braun et al. (2020) found that IPC reduces workplace stress and lowers the incidence of clinical errors. Practices such as structured team meetings, shared protocols, and role clarity strengthen cross-disciplinary partnerships.

The Collaborative Care Model (CoCM) is another evidence-based approach that integrates nursing, leadership, and mental health professionals. It promotes standardized emotional assessments, timely referrals, and ongoing mental health evaluations. According to Reist et al. (2022), this model leads to improved staff mental health outcomes and reduced turnover.

The TeamSTEPPS framework, developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), is also recommended for strengthening teamwork. It provides training and tools to support safety-focused communication and interdepartmental collaboration. Samardzic et al. (2020) emphasized that TeamSTEPPS promotes long-term staff retention and organizational cohesiveness.

Table 2

Collaborative Frameworks Supporting Interdisciplinary Solutions

Collaboration Model	Key Features	Source
Interprofessional Collaboration (IPC)	Enhances communication, reduces stress and clinical errors	Braun et al. (2020)
Collaborative Care Model (CoCM)	Integrates mental health and nursing for ongoing emotional support	Reist et al. (2022)
TeamSTEPPS	Provides safety-focused communication tools and team-building resources	Samardzic et al. (2020)

References

Alsadaan, N. (2023). Impact of nurse leaders behaviors on nursing staff performance: A systematic review of literature. Inquiry: A Journal of Medical Care Organization, Provision and Financing, 60(60). https://doi.org/10.1177/00469580231178528

Bendowska, A., & Baum, E. (2023). The significance of cooperation in interdisciplinary health care teams as perceived by Polish medical students. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(2), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20020954

Capella 4005 Assessment 2

Braun, B. I., Chitavi, S. O., Suzuki, H., Soyemi, C. A., & Puig-Asensio, M. (2020). Culture of safety: Impact on improvement in infection prevention process and outcomes. Current Infectious Disease Reports, 22(12). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11908-020-00741-y

Hunstein, D., & Fiebig, M. (2024). Staff management with AI: Predicting the nursing workload. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 315. https://doi.org/10.3233/shti240142

Low, S., Gray, E., Ewing, A., Hain, P., & Kim, L. (2021). Remodeling interprofessional collaboration through a nurse-for-a-day shadowing program for medical residents. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare, 14, 2345–2349. https://doi.org/10.2147/JMDH.S319728

Reist, C., Petiwala, I., Latimer, J., Raffaelli, S. B., Chiang, M., Eisenberg, D., & Campbell, S. (2022). Collaborative mental health care: A narrative review. Medicine, 101(52). https://doi.org/10.1097/md.0000000000032554

Samardzic, M. B., Doekhie, K. D., & Wijngaarden, J. D. H. (2020). Interventions to improve team effectiveness within health care: A systematic review of the past decade. Human Resources for Health, 18(2), 1–42. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-019-0411-3

Capella 4005 Assessment 2

Stanz, L., Silverstein, S., Vo, D., & Thompson, J. (2021). Leading through rapid change management. Hospital Pharmacy, 57(4), 422–424. https://doi.org/10.1177/00185787211046855

Wei, N., Wang, Z., Li, X., Zhang, Y., Zhang, J., Huang, Z., & Wang, X. (2024). Improved staffing policies and practices in healthcare based on a conceptual model. Frontiers in Public Health, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1431017