Traditionally, diversity is spoken about in terms of racial differences. But systems are expanding the way they approach diversity, especially in nurse leadership.
For Albany, N.Y.-based St. Peter’s Health Partners, diversity includes greater gender representation. Its nursing director team is 60% male.
At Cleveland-based MetroHealth, improving diversity comes through recognizing people by shared experiences and backgrounds. It supports a number of employee business resource groups that bring together staff with similar backgrounds, regardless of their current career, Candace Mori, PhD, RN, interim chief patient care and nursing officer at MetroHealth, told Becker’s. These groups include Women at Metro, an African American Alliance, a veterans group and a diverse nursing group.
“I don’t think leadership is defined by any one factor,” Christine Alexander, MD, president and CEO of MetroHealth, told Becker’s. “It’s really the confluence of life experiences that shape someone into a strong leader.”
Here are two ways systems are expanding their definition of diversity.
Life experience
For many systems, diversity in life experience is a main focus. This includes shared cultural backgrounds to patient populations, but also different career backgrounds.
“We all come from different backgrounds,” Meredith Robison, DNP, chief nursing officer at St. Peter’s, told Becker’s. “Some [leaders] have practiced in other states, others have been with St. Peter’s Health Partners for what feels like a million years. That mix really allows us to bring different perspectives to the table. When we have those different backgrounds and experiences, it helps us grow — as an organization and as a leadership team.”
Broadening that definition of diversity and focusing on how it helps leaders and nurses relate to patients is key, Dr. Alexander said.
“When we think about diverse nursing, it’s about veterans, people with injuries or disabilities, and those from all backgrounds,” she said.
Diversity in thought
For Kevin Zeng, MSN, RN, chief nursing officer and vice president at Albany (N.Y.) Medical Center, increasing diversity means real diversity in thought and problem solving. And importantly, it is about eliminating groupthink.
Mr. Zeng focuses his efforts on encouraging different cadences and platforms for shared ideas that allow both leaders and staff to bring new perspectives to the table.
“From a leadership standpoint, we also carve out time during leadership forums specifically for new ideas,” he said. “Because at the end of the day, we don’t want to jump to conclusions. We want to go through the process — whether it’s a PDSA cycle or another method — to really explore different solutions.”
Increasing diversity of thought starts during the hiring process. Mr. Zeng asks specific questions about problem solving and how the candidate reached their conclusion.
“I don’t need to agree with their method or even the result, but I do want to see that their thinking is structured and distinct,” he said.
