Excerpt from Legendary: Reclaiming the Power and Promise of Nursing Leadership
In the winter of 1944, as the Battle of the Bulge raged through the forests of Belgium, Army nurses served on the front lines of one of the deadliest campaigns of World War II. Temperatures were freezing and supplies were scarce. The wounded arrived faster than they could be treated, and air support was limited due to weather.
Nurses worked in canvas tents, their hands stiff with cold, wrapping bloodied limbs and comforting soldiers in their final moments, often without the benefit of proper lighting, antibiotics, or even heat.
They were surrounded by suffering, yet they pressed on, not just out of duty, but out of commitment to the people in their care.
Fast forward to 1983 at the height of the AIDS crisis. It was a time of fear, misinformation, and persistent stigma. Known then only as GRID (gay-related immunodeficiency), it was a death sentence with no known cause, no treatment, and no cure.
As with anything unknown, fear spread like wildfire, including into hospitals where healthcare workers, disoriented by uncertainty and fear of getting ill themselves, donned hazmat suits to protect themselves from patients. Care became substandard when staff refused to enter patient rooms to deliver food trays or change linen. Patients were sometimes left to die alone.
These are the situations that Lt. Katherine Nolan and Cliff Morrison, RN stepped into. In their own time, they encountered a world paralyzed by fear and dysfunctional care systems, but both chose courage and hope. They saw gaps in care and filled them by asking themselves what strengths nurses had that could make a difference, then they explored what was possible.
They demonstrated what’s right about nursing - compassion, resilience, hope, innovation, and resourcefulness.
In our own time, the consequences of the compromises that had to be made during the COVID-19 pandemic have left nurses in a state of emotional exhaustion, working under conditions that rarely allow for recovery. While it is crucial that nurses speak openly about the challenges affecting the profession, the way we tell our stories holds equal importance. When we focus solely on what is broken, we may inadvertently present nurses only as victims, rather than powerful advocates and leaders capable of influencing real change.
The stories of Lt. Katherine Nolan and Cliff Morrison remind us that even in the hardest environments there is always a choice. When we choose to lead with the belief that something better is possible, we offer people the one thing they crave most from their leaders: hope - the result of clear communication, reliable action, and the belief, supported by evidence, that things can improve through strategic appreciative effort.
The art of nursing leadership is to “engage as a facilitator of healing”. And if there was ever a time for healing of the nursing profession, for relief from the strain of negativity and deficit-based thinking, and for an instillation of optimism and hope, it is now.
Questions for Reflection:
What small act of hope could you perform today that contributes to the nursing future you believe in?
How might your leadership change if you began each day by asking, “What’s working and how can we build on it?”
Legendary: Reclaiming the Power and Promise of Nursing Leadership -
33 page e-book suitable for printing.
Engages the reader through the telling of stories of brave and optimistic leadership throughout history - stories that we can draw on for inspiration to meet our current leadership challenges,
Provides practical tools that can be used today:
How to incorporate Appreciative Inquiry into daily work to turn around discouragement and fatigue, and infuse optimism and positivity into your department’s culture,
How to facilitate a structured Appreciative Inquiry session with your team, building enthusiasm, engagement, and hope for the future,
Introduces the ARC Reflection model which focuses on the simple practice of personal “mini-reflections” to build emotional awareness and authenticity that lead to better engagement with members of your team to create new possibilities,
Includes Quick Reflections at the end of each chapter.