Leadership Panel Questions
January 25, 2021 | 10 am – Noon
Guidance: We will all be virtual, but the Collaborate Ultra platform only allows the person who last spoke to be seen (even with videos on). This link is the same as the link on the flyer and should provide you direct access: https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/a4b0302e335c4751ab23cfa9711e1f7a You do not have to call in, but if you are not able to connect virtually, here is the call-in information: (1-571-392-7650 PIN: 533 258 6811).
I will moderate the panel and chat by posing a question from each numbered category below and ask each panelist to provide a short (2-3-minute response) to assure we have time to hear from all panelists.
You are welcome to include responses that perhaps address the other questions within that numbered category as there may be some you can speak to and include from your experiences. The Specific Panel Questions (listed below) are questions students identified for each panelist to respond to. We will address those questions towards the end of the panel (unless we are able to address them during the main panel discussion). We will also try to have time left for additional questions students may think of during the panel discussion.
I. General Questions for all Panelists
1. What is your current role, and how did your journey into nursing leadership start? What is your definition of a nurse leader? How has your background in nursing influenced your ability to become a leader within the profession? At what point in your career did you want to leave the bedside to transition to a full-time leadership role? At the beginning of your career, what steps did you take to become a leader within your organization to develop leadership skills?
2. What are your most favorite and unfavorite aspects of the nursing leadership role you are in? What is the most challenging aspect of current trends in nursing as a nurse leader? Do you feel you are still able to use your nursing skills to the fullest in your leadership role? What does a typical day as a nursing leader look like for you in your role? What strategies do you have for keeping staff engaged in their work? What major challenges do you face in your position? How do you overcome these challenges? What was a major issue you’ve encountered in your career and how did you work to overcome the issue?
3. Who has provided the greatest impact on your nursing leadership career? What is the best advice you have received in your professional career? Did you see yourself in a leadership role as a nursing student (undergrad and/or graduate)? With all the professional organizations available, which organizations do you recommend for growth in leadership skills or advanced practice skills?
4. What are you most proud about thus far in your nursing career? What is the best advice you have received? What do you do to ensure your own leadership growth and development? What has been the most rewarding thing you have been part of related to policy and change?
5. If you had to identify two personal leadership strengths, what would those be? What is one characteristic that every nurse should possess to be an effective leader? Would you say you exuded leadership traits immediately in your professional career? What attributes do you think a successful leader portrays? Is there a key skill that all nurse leaders should develop within today’s healthcare environment? If so, what is it and what resources are available or most helpful?
6. What would you say is the biggest change in your current role (nursing executive director, lobbyist, nurse president, regional director, vice-president) since the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic? What changes do you hope to see made to public health policy post-COVID-19? Has COVID affected your role and what you are working on? What source of information do you rely on most for up to date and trustworthy policy information? What is the best thing that those of us who do not work in public health or policy can do to help advocate for these changes? What is the single biggest, most exciting, or surprising change you have seen made to the nursing profession? What do you think will be the next significant change?
7. What advice do you have for nurses who are going into the leadership position for the first time? Do you have any recommendations for us as future advanced practice nurses to support our role as leaders within the healthcare system? How can I start to prepare myself to be a confident and competent leader in my field?
8. Where would one begin to be involved with policy changes? How does the DNP role prepare me to be a good leader such that I am able to influence policies both at the local and national levels? What is your recommendation for how we can/ should be involved in policy once we are finished with this program and start in our new roles as nurse leaders? Do you have any advice for new APNP’s when working on change initiatives and advocating for a new policy?
II. Specific Panel Questions
Dean Linda Young, Ph.D., RN, CNE, CFLE, FAAN – Dean of Nursing, UW-Eau Claire College of Nursing and Health Sciences & Vice-President of Wisconsin Center of Nursing
1. With your focus on nursing education and improving resources to develop BSN and graduate nurses in Wisconsin. What are the solutions that you think can help meet our current needs? Do you think we currently have a greater need for nurse educators or APRNs to provide patient care?
2. Here in the US, we have been the most trusted profession for the past 19 years, but I have heard other countries do not value or respect the nursing profession as highly. With your international involvement in the nursing field, have you noticed different opinions regarding the nursing profession?
Tim Ringhand, MPH, BSN, RN – Western Regional Director (Ret)., WI Div. of Public Health, Office of Policy & Practice Alignment
1. Thanks for coming back from retirement to help with the COVID response! Since your return what do you think has been the most difficult part of this pandemic?
2. During your work with tribal health departments, what was the most unexpected challenge you encountered? What role do you have now and what you are working on? What has been the most surprising? What efforts have been implemented to encourage minorities to participate in the Covid vaccine trials? How has the Covid pandemic led to a widening or narrowing of the health disparity gap?
Barbara Nichols DNSc (hon), MSN, BSN, RN, FAAN – Executive Director of Wisconsin Center for Nursing
1. You had a wide variety of experiences in nursing. You were the first woman of color to become the president of both the WNA and ANA. What strategies did you use to motivate you to break through these glass ceilings? Can you think of one mentor that you had? What insight did he/she have that has helped you the most or been most meaningful?
2. During COVID many licensing restrictions have been lessened for nurse practitioners so that they can help fill in the provider gap during this time. A big push has always been for nurse practitioners to be practicing to the fullest extent of their license and education. Do you think coming out of the pandemic will have a positive or negative effect on the profession and autonomy of nurse practitioners?
Ms. Gina Dennik-Champion, MSN, BSN, RN – Executive Director and Lobbyist Wisconsin Nurses Association
1. What advice or tips would you give to a nursing student that wants to get more involved with advocacy, but struggles with managing time between work and school?
2. Seeing as you have spent time working towards the development of team-based care through the State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services Division of Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Chronic Disease Prevention Grant, what are your thoughts on team nursing during the COVID-19 pandemic which entails clinic RNs working alongside floor RNs in acute care settings?
3. You have been involved with the APRN Modernization Act. What does full practice authority entail and why is it important for us as future APNs?
Tom Veeser, MS, RN – Wisconsin Center for Nursing (WCN) President
1. I have been surprised at how many people I work with do not want to get the vaccine. Why do you think so many nurses do not want it, and in trying to be a nurse leader do you have any advice on how to talk with fellow healthcare providers about why they should get it?
2. After recently speaking out about the misconceptions surrounding COVID-19 and the vaccine, how have people around you reacted? Did you feel as though they took your professional and medical advice to heart?