BMJ LeaderPub Date : 2025-03-24DOI: 10.1136/leader-2023-000943
Benjamin Laker, Tatiana Rowson
{"title":"Making the invisible visible: why menopause is a workplace issue we cannot ignore.","authors":"Benjamin Laker, Tatiana Rowson","doi":"10.1136/leader-2023-000943","DOIUrl":"10.1136/leader-2023-000943","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":36677,"journal":{"name":"BMJ Leader","volume":" ","pages":"67-71"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141088187","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
BMJ LeaderPub Date : 2025-03-24DOI: 10.1136/leader-2023-000742
Rebecca Dyar, Karen Mattick, Andrew Griffiths
{"title":"Kindness in healthcare leadership and management: an evaluation and analysis of the concept.","authors":"Rebecca Dyar, Karen Mattick, Andrew Griffiths","doi":"10.1136/leader-2023-000742","DOIUrl":"10.1136/leader-2023-000742","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Healthcare leadership and management impacts every patient journey and every staff experience. Good leadership results in positive outcomes. Kindness is an understudied and underused leadership strategy. The research questions addressed in this study are the following: (1) Does kindness in healthcare leadership and management currently meet the criteria of a mature concept?; (2) Using concept analysis methodology, can we develop our understanding of kindness within this context?</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A systematic search of the peer-reviewed literature was conducted to inform a concept evaluation, followed by a concept analysis. Search terms consisted of 'leader*' or 'manage*' and 'kindness'; databases searched comprised MEDLINE, HMIC, SPP, APA PsycInfo and CINAHL. Data extraction and thematic analysis of the data were performed manually according to concept analysis principles.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The 10 papers included from the search suggested that within healthcare leadership and management, kindness is an 'emerging' rather than a 'mature' concept. Concept analysis demonstrated a cluster of recurring attributes, allowing a theoretical definition to be put forth.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Despite being a commonly used lay term, kindness in the context of healthcare leadership and management is not yet a mature concept. Work developing this concept is needed to validate the proposed theoretical definition. Observational studies and systematic review of the grey literature are recommended.</p>","PeriodicalId":36677,"journal":{"name":"BMJ Leader","volume":" ","pages":"49-56"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141433049","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
BMJ LeaderPub Date : 2025-03-24DOI: 10.1136/leader-2024-000978
Ane-Kathrine Lundberg Hansen, Christian Bøtcher Jacobsen, Vita Ligaya Dalgaard
{"title":"Span of control and well-being outcomes among hospital frontline managers: too much to handle?","authors":"Ane-Kathrine Lundberg Hansen, Christian Bøtcher Jacobsen, Vita Ligaya Dalgaard","doi":"10.1136/leader-2024-000978","DOIUrl":"10.1136/leader-2024-000978","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>To examine the consequences of broader spans of control for well-being outcomes among frontline managers.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Healthcare managers were surveyed in collaboration with the Central Denmark Region. The response rate was 74.5%. Using regression analysis, we investigate how span of control is associated with outcomes related to well-being understood as perceived stress, burnout, job satisfaction, satisfaction with the work environment, intention to quit their current job and work-life balance.</p><p><strong>Findings: </strong>Span of control may be an important factor in establishing well-being among frontline managers in the Danish hospital sector on several parameters. Span of control is associated the strongest with work-life balance and intention to quit, least but significantly with perceived stress and not significantly with burnout.</p><p><strong>Practical implications: </strong>We recommend that healthcare organisations consider whether it could be more optimal to reduce the span of control for some managers. Furthermore, we recommend that future studies pay attention to span of control and provide stronger causal evidence about its impact on healthcare workers.</p>","PeriodicalId":36677,"journal":{"name":"BMJ Leader","volume":" ","pages":"31-35"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141180099","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
BMJ LeaderPub Date : 2025-03-24DOI: 10.1136/leader-2024-000981
Anita Atwal, Vimal Sriram, Jos Brice
{"title":"Return to practice for allied health professionals with protected characteristics: a mixed-methods study.","authors":"Anita Atwal, Vimal Sriram, Jos Brice","doi":"10.1136/leader-2024-000981","DOIUrl":"10.1136/leader-2024-000981","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Return to practice is one mechanism for recruiting and retaining allied health professionals (AHPs) within the health and care workforce in England. It is not known how this affects persons with protected characteristics.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To understand experiences of AHPs with protected characteristics of returning to the workforce through a return to practice programme.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>A QUAL (semistructured interviews) + qual (focus group interviews) mixed-methods study. 12 online semistructured interviews with return to practice AHPs, followed by 2 online focus groups.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our research identifies a new type of returners who have to use the return to practice programme as a vehicle to step into health and social care as they have not been able to find employment. A main driver to return to practice was financial reason.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>To date there, is little evidence of leaders understanding the complexities of AHPs in a return to practice programme, the considerable contribution they can make to the workplace and the current inequities that exist.</p>","PeriodicalId":36677,"journal":{"name":"BMJ Leader","volume":" ","pages":"42-48"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141321743","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
BMJ LeaderPub Date : 2025-03-24DOI: 10.1136/leader-2023-000873
Benjamin Laker, Natalia Weisz, Roberto Vassolo
{"title":"Countercyclical approach to enhancing health and well-being in healthcare systems: strategies for economic resilience and sustainable care.","authors":"Benjamin Laker, Natalia Weisz, Roberto Vassolo","doi":"10.1136/leader-2023-000873","DOIUrl":"10.1136/leader-2023-000873","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":36677,"journal":{"name":"BMJ Leader","volume":" ","pages":"57-61"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139973843","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
BMJ LeaderPub Date : 2025-03-24DOI: 10.1136/leader-2023-000906
David Francis Hunt
{"title":"Power of saying 'I Don't Know': psychological safety and participatory strategies for healthcare leaders.","authors":"David Francis Hunt","doi":"10.1136/leader-2023-000906","DOIUrl":"10.1136/leader-2023-000906","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>As healthcare systems grow increasingly complex and integrate with other services and sectors, creating complex patient pathways, this inevitably leads to additional layers within a system. Consequently, high-tier leaders become progressively detached from the inner workings of the systems in which they operate. Several barriers exist that may deter a leader from embracing uncertainty and acknowledging the limits of their expertise in these systems. These barriers range from personal insecurities about perception to organisational stigmas that compound these concerns through expectations of infallible leadership. In this article, I draw on my experience as an embedded researcher and someone who has taught leadership in healthcare settings to examine the importance of leadership vulnerability, considering not only for the leaders themselves but also for fostering a learning and innovative culture within the organisation. I focus on two fundamental tenets: psychological safety and participatory approaches to innovation. In addition, I offer practical considerations for embracing vulnerability and discuss the ensuing benefits. Given the rapidly evolving complexities in healthcare and paradigm-shifting innovations, such as the integration of digital solutions, this article serves as a call to action. It urges leaders to embrace uncertainty, encourage participation and venture into the unknown.</p>","PeriodicalId":36677,"journal":{"name":"BMJ Leader","volume":" ","pages":"7-10"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139485834","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
BMJ LeaderPub Date : 2025-03-24DOI: 10.1136/leader-2023-000915
Richard James, Jenny Lewis, Laura Stroud
{"title":"Participation in staff engagement campaigns at large healthcare organisations: a focus group study.","authors":"Richard James, Jenny Lewis, Laura Stroud","doi":"10.1136/leader-2023-000915","DOIUrl":"10.1136/leader-2023-000915","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Healthcare organisations work better with an engaged workforce, and staff-engagement campaigns offer a method to build this engagement. Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT), one of the UK's largest Trusts, provides an example of where an organisation-wide engagement intervention has been used in a healthcare setting. This study aimed to understand why staff participate, or do not participate, in staff-engagement campaigns, supporting healthcare leaders to increase participation in future campaigns.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Scenario-based focus groups were carried out across five different organisational units within LTHT. The data from these were transcribed, coded and analysed using reflective thematic analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Participation in staff-engagement campaigns is dependent on campaign awareness, staff perceptions of the campaign and the practicalities associated with participation. Perceptions of the campaign are further subdivided into the campaign's perceived effectiveness, purpose and relevance.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Staff engagement was a powerful driver of participation, which presents a conundrum: how do you encourage participation in staff-engagement campaigns, if engagement is a prerequisite for participation? The answer lies in taking advantage of organisational belongingness and visible leadership, supported by communications that take control of the narrative around the campaign. Behavioural science models may guide leaders across the organisation in mapping where these approaches can have the greatest impact within their existing spheres of influence. Further, considering inequalities around participation across different groups may help target action to the areas of greatest need. Accordingly, the research provides pragmatic guidance for leaders in thinking about how to use staff-engagement campaigns more effectively.</p>","PeriodicalId":36677,"journal":{"name":"BMJ Leader","volume":" ","pages":"36-41"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141262761","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Content analysis of succession planning in nursing management: a qualitative study.","authors":"Mansoureh Ashghali-Farahani, Tahmine Salehi, Mohammadsaeed Mirzaee","doi":"10.1136/leader-2024-000973","DOIUrl":"10.1136/leader-2024-000973","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aim: </strong>The identification and development of managerial talents for nursing manager succession in the future should be a concern for organisations, as the concept of succession planning has not been seriously addressed in nursing. This study aimed to explore managers' perceptions of the concept of succession planning in nursing management.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>This qualitative study used a conventional content analysis approach.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Participants included 15 nursing managers, who were purposively selected based on predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. After obtaining ethical approval, data were collected through semistructured interviews. MAXQDA software was used for data management, and data analysis was performed using the seven-stage method by Graneheim and Lundman. The credibility and dependability of the data were assessed using Guba and Lincoln's criteria.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The main categories identified in this study were barriers to succession planning, facilitators, succession planning requirements, contextualisation, succession planning cycle, the dynamism of the successor organisation and consequences of lack of succession planning. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that organisations plan and adopt policies to develop qualified personnel management in nursing organisations and appoint these individuals to critical managerial positions.</p>","PeriodicalId":36677,"journal":{"name":"BMJ Leader","volume":" ","pages":"22-30"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141071778","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
BMJ LeaderPub Date : 2025-03-21DOI: 10.1136/leader-2024-001167
Denise Cummins, Marie M Prothero
{"title":"Exploring caregiver support: healthcare leaders' perspectives on medical errors.","authors":"Denise Cummins, Marie M Prothero","doi":"10.1136/leader-2024-001167","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/leader-2024-001167","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Clinicians involved in errors leading to preventable patient harm often receive inadequate organisational support. Limited research examines this issue from an organisational perspective. This study aims to elucidate and evaluate healthcare leaders' (HLs') perspectives on medical errors and caregiver support.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A convenience sample of 81 HLs participated in this study that included the Medical Error Attitude Scale (MEAS) and questions about caregiver support synthesised from evidence-based resources.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Most participants were from acute care settings (83.1%) and were chief executives (69.3%). MEAS scores were high, indicating enlightened attitudes about medical errors. Over one-third (38.8%) could not confirm their organisation had a caregiver support programme (CSP). Fewer than 50% of HLs from organisations with a CSP expressed certainty about its effectiveness and utilisation. Still, most were confident about its value to the organisation (84.3%) and return on investment (82.2%). Some participants (33.3%) indicated healthcare organisations may have conflicts of interest interfering with optimal caregiver support.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>HLs have enlightened views about medical errors, yet organisational caregiver support after errors is often suboptimal. Existing CSPs may lack important structural elements such as executive buy-in and tiers of support. Organisations can improve caregiver support by developing comprehensive approaches to patient safety, utilising tools such as the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's CANDOR process or the National Health Services' National Patient Safety Strategy documents.</p>","PeriodicalId":36677,"journal":{"name":"BMJ Leader","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-03-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143674583","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}