Happy New Year Leaders!

Use the guiding questions and action items below to reflect on your leadership practices and identify opportunities for growth. Space is provided under each section for your notes as you kick off 2026:

Addressing Today’s Challenges

How are you responding to the most urgent issues—workforce shortages, burnout, and shifting care demands—within your team and organization?

• What is your team telling you? Conduct regular pulse surveys to identify staff pain points and emerging challenges.
• Be a visible partner - Advocate for safe staffing models and equitable workload distribution.
• Let them know what you are doing! Implement retention strategies (flexible scheduling, career pathways, recognition programs).
• Partner with HR and education teams to develop targeted recruitment and onboarding pipelines.
• Join forces - Create rapid-response teams or workflows to address urgent operational gaps.

Leading Through Change

Are your leadership practices adaptable and proactive in the face of constant change, policy shifts, and evolving patient needs?

• Communicate, more – not less. Develop a structured communication plan for sharing updates during change.
• Be a role Model: Practice flexibility and transparency by acknowledging uncertainty while reinforcing vision.
• Refresh your “change management” skills: Participate in and offer to others, training in change management strategies for leaders at all levels.
• Highlight progress! Celebrate small wins and recognize team adaptability during transitions. 

Equipping Yourself and Your Team

What tools, resources, or partnerships do you need to be most effective as a leader, and how can you secure them for your team?

• Empower your team: Map current gaps in technology, training, or partnerships that impact care delivery.
• Invest in professional development opportunities (certifications, conferences, mentoring).
• Look outside your own walls: Build relationships with community partners, academic institutions, and peer networks.
• Embrace new tech and data tools (even if someone else builds it for you) Leverage data dashboards and predictive analytics to inform decisions.
• Be courageous on funding for needed resources. Be ready to explain “why” and advocate for budgetary or grant funding to expand needed resources.

Developing Future Leaders

How are you identifying and cultivating the next generation of nurse leaders to ensure long-term strength and stability in our profession?

• Grow them: Establish formal mentorship and coaching programs across units.
• Challenge them: Create stretch assignments or project leadership opportunities for emerging leaders.
• Celebrate them: Recognize and celebrate leadership potential in early-career nurses.
• Connect them: Partner with schools of nursing to create leadership-focused student experiences.
• Promote them: Build succession planning processes into organizational strategy.

Balancing Well-Being and Performance

In what ways are you supporting your team’s well-being while also ensuring high-quality outcomes for patients and communities?

• Introduce wellness initiatives (mindfulness sessions, peer support groups, resilience training).
• Normalize conversations about mental health and provide access to EAP resources.
• Encourage time away from work: Which also means you should use PTO and model healthy boundaries as a leader.
• Align quality metrics with realistic workloads to prevent burnout.
• Recognize the team contributions regularly to build morale and connection.