Transformational Leadership: Advocacy and Influence TL6 The CNO advocates for organizational support of ongoing leadership development for all nurses, with a focus on mentoring and succession planning. TL6d: Provide one example, with supporting evidence, of mentoring OR succession planning activities for the CNO. Introduction Jeanette Ives Erickson, RN, DNP, NEA-BC, FAAN, has served as the Senior Vice President for Patient Care and Chief Nurse of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) for the past 20 years and mentorship has played a critical role prior to and during her tenure in this position. In fact, one of Jeanette Ives Erickson s famous sayings is Find a mentor, be a mentor. Find a Mentor In the book, How Jane Won by Dr. Sylvia Rimm, more than 50 women from all walks of life tell their stories of success in their own words. Ives Erickson is interviewed and shares examples of the strong mentors she s had: I was always surrounded by strong, determined, hardworking women. My mother encouraged me to either walk past obstacles or to push through them, and to this day I call her for advice. My Uncle Tony, my mother s brother, owned a very large restaurant. I learned from him how to treat people well. He created a sense of loyalty and a participatory management style without realizing there was a name for his leadership style. I worked at Mercy Hospital in Portland, Maine for fifteen years and was a critical-care nurse for the first three. Sister Consuela tapped me to leave my staff nurse position to take a head nurse position. I resisted at first, but she convinced me that I was the person she wanted, and she worked with me to develop my management skills. I was also groomed by Eloise Paulin, to spend time developing my business skills. She taught me budgeting and how to write a strategic plan. Both Sister Consuela and Eloise Paulin influenced my ability to be a nurse executive incorporating my core values into the business of nursing. They emphasized, If you keep your eye on the patient, you will always be headed in the right direction. When I attended graduate school at Boston University, I was taught by Muriel Poulin, one of the four nurse researchers of the original Magnet Study. She was highly competitive and taught me that if I was going to be the number one nurse the nurse executive in any organization I would have to put forth my ideas and be very clear about my objectives. She said I needed to learn to deal with male-dominated healthcare institutions and have the same business skills the rest of the executive team
had. She advised me to negotiate the size of my office, where my office would be, and warned me that if I didn t negotiate that up front, I wouldn t be in the executive suite. She, too, was very connected to the values of the professional of nursing, always keeping her eye on the integrity of the nurse-patient relationship. She focused on the role of the executive to create an environment where nurses could be successful with patients. All of these lessons served Ives Erickson well as she successfully navigated Nursing and Patient Care Services (N&PCS) at MGH through twenty of the most challenging years health care has been through since the creation of Medicare in the 1960s. Be a Mentor Similarly to how her career was influenced by strong mentors, Ives Erickson, has influenced the careers of countless nurses and other members of the healthcare team. In their own words two Chief Nurses share the impact Ives Erickson s mentorship has had on them. I have worked with Jeanette since the early 1990s. At that time I was a Project Manager at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). I left MGH in 1996 and shortly thereafter Jeanette was appointed to the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) position. I became Chief Nursing Officer at a small community hospital and it was then that Jeanette became my mentor. Over the course of the next 18 years, I was the CNO in another community larger hospital and then in a community hospital system consisting of three hospitals. During that time, Jeanette was always my go-to person for advice and counsel. She was always available and willing to provide support in any way. I relied on her immense nursing leadership experience and knowledge to help me with the issue at hand. Not only would Jeanette share her knowledge, but she would offer resources to assist even though my organization was not part of the MGH or Partners family. A little over a year ago, Jeanette asked if I would serve as the interim CNO and COO at the MGH-affiliate Nantucket Cottage Hospital (NCH). I must admit, at first I was a little hesitant, but at her encouragement I took the assignment and have never regretted it. In fact, it will last longer than either of us had first anticipated. This little rural hospital on an island 30 miles out in the Atlantic presents numerous challenges. The uniqueness of rural hospital nursing certainly is a new adventure for me in my career but the affiliation with MGH and the access to the immense resources it has offer has been extremely beneficial. Jeanette, again, has been enormously supportive in helping me with resources to address needs in a variety of specialties including infection prevention, dialysis, emergency services, perioperative services, and nursing education just to name a few. In all of the time I've known Jeanette, all it takes is an email, a text or phone call and she has been there. I would be remiss in not mentioning one last strength that I identify with in Jeanette her sense of humor! Gregory A. Bird, RN, MS
Chief Operating Officer/Chief Nursing Officer Nantucket Cottage Hospital I have been a Chief Nursing Officer for the last 20 years and directly attribute my professional and personal development to Jeanette. I have known Jeanette for over 27 years, initially in my Staff Specialist role at MGH working on projects and budgeting within the Department of Nursing. Jeanette was always generous with sharing her advice and insight with me and others as she had previously been in a similar role. As Jeanette s talents were recognized and she accepted roles of greater responsibility, including that of the Chief Nursing Officer and Senior VP of Patient Care Services at MGH, that same generosity of spirit never wavered. Recognizing nascent leadership qualities in me that I myself was not yet aware of, Jeanette appointed me to lead Nursing at a struggling 300-bed LTAC within the newly-formed Partners Healthcare System. This bold and highly visible move was another classic lesson I have learned from Jeanette as she spent the next seven years providing me with the talent and resources required to provide optimal care for patients by investing in what great professional nurses need to do just that. More specifically, Jeanette reassigned five of her talented Nurse Managers and provided enormous educational resources to both make me successful and to provide great patient care, to the level that the institution (Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital) is now ranked in the top five in the country. That mentoring has never stopped despite the fact that I left Partners thirteen years ago and (again with frequent advice and mentoring from Jeanette) I have helped grow a 220-bed community hospital to a 370-bed regional medical center. With enormous support and advice from Jeanette and her superb leadership team, South Shore Hospital has twice achieved Magnet status, most recently in 2013. Finally, Jeanette actively encouraged me to become more politically and professionally active and it was because of that mentoring that I received my DNP and am currently serving as the President of the now four state and 1,000-member Organization of Nurse Leaders. Jeanette has been my nursing "sensei" and the consummate mentor to me for over 27 years, and I personally know that I am just one of hundreds that she has done the same for. I am indebted to Jeanette for teaching me that it is always about what is in the best interest of the patient and that a great life is built by doing good for others. Tim Quigley DNP, MBA, RN, NEA-BC Chief Nursing Officer VP of Acute Care Operations South Shore Hospital Example: The Making of an ANCC Magnet Commissioner Always looking for new challenges and opportunities to learn, in early 2014 Jeanette responded to a call for Magnet Commissioners in an email she received from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Having led MGH through three successful applications, she viewed this as a way to influence the ANCC Magnet
Program by having a voice as a Magnet Commissioner. She applied for the Nurse Executive seat and was appointed on May 16, 2014 with her official term slated to begin January 1, 2015 and ending December 31, 2018 (attachment TL6d.a). In the months that followed, Ives Erickson completed the required paperwork including the Commission on Magnet Recognition Volunteer Agreement and attended orientation at the ANCC office in Silver Spring, MD. She learned that she would be assigned a mentor and was thrilled when Mary Dee Hacker, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, Vice President & Chief Nursing Officer Administration, Patient Care Services at Children s Hospital Los Angeles, reached out to her to set up a conference call (attachment TL6d.b). After years of being in the role of mentor, Ives Erickson was in a new role, the mentee. For an expert leader such as Ives Erickson to comfortably move into learning a new role, it requires a mentor they admire and trust. Ives Erickson s response to Hacker s email makes it clear she feels that way about Hacker, I was thrilled when I learned you would be my mentor. I look forward to working with you. The Magnet Commission hosts a monthly call when they vote on whether to grant initial or re-designation status to a healthcare organization. For each organization up for a review, a primary and secondary reviewer is assigned to thoughtfully evaluate the appraisers report and present the organization s application. Following their call on December 29, 2014 (attachment TL6d.c) Hacker emailed Ives Erickson to review the learning objectives they had discussed to ensure Ives Erickson s competence as a Magnet Commissioner including: Understanding of the full scope and responsibility of the Commissioner role Understanding of the role of Primary and Secondary Commission Reviewers Knowing how to navigate the Magnet Database Knowing how to complete the Commission voting summary report, including exemplars and deficiencies Knowing who to contact on the Magnet staff for questions or concerns Knowing how to document voting for each organization reviewed in the Magnet database. As committed as the mentor must be to the mentee, the mentee must also be committed to engaging in the work, it is clear from Ives Erickson s response, I ll spend time in the database...in the meantime I m looking forward to listening in on the January Commission call. On January 26, 2015 (attachment TL6d.d), Hacker called Ives Erickson to review the January Commissioner call they had both been a part of. Listening to the Commissioner call with Hacker allowed Ives Erickson to experience the Commissioner s process in reviewing the appraisers report and to also engage with Hacker on any aspect of the process that may have been unclear. It also allowed Hacker, in her role as mentor, to reflect with Ives Erickson her thoughts on the call and process and to identify additional learning opportunities for Ives Erickson.
In follow up to their call on January 26, 2015, Ives Erickson emailed Hacker on January 28, 2015 (attachment TL6d.d). In this email Ives Erickson updates Hacker on the status of their original goals but also the plan to achieve competence and together they discuss the plan for Hacker to serve as the Primary reviewer with Ives Erickson as the secondary reviewer. On February 9, 2015 (attachment TL6d.d) Hacker calls Ives Erickson to review their upcoming presentation at the February 2015 Commissioner call, where Ives Erickson will be the Secondary Reviewer. On March 19, 2015 Hacker emails Ives Erickson to check-in (attachment TL6d.d). As Ives Erickson s mentor, Hacker serves as her cheerleader by reiterating Ives Erickson s success as the Secondary Reviewer during the February Commissioner call, As I told you after the February call your review of the appraisers report on the two hospitals were excellent. Hacker s commitment to Ives Erickson s success is also clear when she states, I know you will do a wonderful job as the Primary Reviewer on the April call. Hacker continues her mentoring of Ives Erickson by reviewing her presentation during their April 2, 2015 call (attachment TL6d.d). On April 22, 2015 Hacker emailed Ives Erickson to review her transition to the role of Magnet Commissioner (attachment TL6d.e). The email conveys not only that Ives Erickson has achieved competence in her role as a Commissioner, I believe you were fully independent within 3 months. You were fully competent and independent in month 2 and served as a presenting primary commissioner in month 3, but her pride in Ives Erickson s success and what she will bring to the Magnet Commission. Hacker wrote, Your presentation at the April meeting was great and as you heard very well received. I am available to help you in any way and look forward to having you on the Commission. Ives Erickson responds with gratitude for Hacker s mentorship as she transitioned to this new role, her offer of continued guidance and welcome to the Commission. Ives Erickson brought to her new role as Magnet Commissioner her knowledge, leadership and insight developed over 20 years of executive leadership practice. Hacker s mentorship in guiding and encouraging Ives Erickson in her new role allowed Ives Erickson to transition to this new role and work with confidence. Those characteristics were instilled in Ives Erickson from a young age by her mentors, experienced by those who she has mentored and were returned back to her. References How Jane Won: 55 Successful Women Share How They Grew from Ordinary Girls to Extraordinary Women (2001). Sylvia Rimm, Three River Press, New York.