4 minute read
Closing the Gender Gap in Nurse Leadership
BY MICHELE WOJCIECHOWSKI
Although more nurses are female, less are in leadership positions. Experts weigh in on why this is and how it can change.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 87% of registered nurses in the United States are female. Yet, in the health care insurers and providers industry, women hold just 13% of CEO positions and only 33% of senior leadership positions, says a report from Oliver Wyman.
Why is there such a disparity? “Stereotypical conventional American views of women still dominate the boardroom. For example, females receive the same education and training as their male colleagues; however, their role is too often to help assist and not to run a major company,” says Tracy JonesDarnell, EdD, RN, CNE, NE-BC, a faculty member for Walden University’s RN-BSN program. “Although the trend of gender roles is making a change, there are still underlying assumptions that women can’t lead a major corporation in the manner in a which a man can.”
Besides this, nurses often enter the profession because they want to work closely with patients—and may think that moving up will end this.
Besides this, nurses often enter the profession because they want to work closely with patients—and may think that moving up will end this. “A CEO position still allows you to care for patients indirectly, but many nurses fail to see that. Nursing education programs can help with this by providing students with an overview of the many different career opportunities available to them,” says Robin Squellati, PhD, APRN-C, faculty member for Walden University’s MSN program.
One issue keeping women out of leadership positions is that they may not have the right type of education needed to be a CEO.
One issue keeping women out of leadership positions is that they may not have the right type of education needed to be a CEO. For example, Squellati says, “Hospital CEOs have a degree in health administration, business, or law. Unless a nurse has an MSN in administration, nurses are often not taught about finances, complying with regulations, hospital construction, or fundraising. Many hospitals want CEOs with a business background.” She adds that while hospitals used to be run by physicians, less than 5% of them are run by people with medical backgrounds.
As for how to change this, Cynthia Bacon, PhD, RN, CNE, an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro School of Nursing, where she is also on the faculty in the school’s Master of Nursing Administration Program, has some ideas. “Top hospital executives must lead health organizations in response to the dramatically changing health care environment. This requires not only leadership skills and experience, but also support and mentorship from within and outside the nursing profession,” says Bacon. “I think the primary focus needs to be on the development of formal mentorship programs that aggressively target promising nurse leaders and immerse them into the traditional pathway that is available for men who are ushered into the CEO role. In this manner, nurses who aspire to CEO roles can benefit from the day-to-day mentoring and relationship building that occurs on the job that women aren’t usually privy to. This will in turn promote nurses’ access into the informal meetings and ‘old boy’ networks that are difficult for women to break into and build the contacts critical for their future succession into CEO roles.”
“Top hospital executives must lead health organizations in response to the dramatically changing health care environment. This requires not only leadership skills and experience, but also support and mentorship from within and outside the nursing profession,” says Bacon.
In addition to specific education, nurses need more. Makiltru Fontenette, RN, MSN, NE-BC, associate chief nursing officer at Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital says, “Nurses need the opportunity. They need a mentor. They need representation. They need to see people in higher-level roles who look like them. They need to look to those people as role models for themselves. Those elements can fuel the fire to navigate the same path, just as missing those elements can discourage highly qualified nurses from pursuing leadership roles.”
Despite what others may think to the contrary, Bacon believes that nurses are ideally suited for CEO roles—and having been a former hospital nurse leader as well as an expert on nursing leadership, she has the knowledge to back it up. “Nurses have all of the essential skills needed to be leaders beyond the Chief Nursing Officer in an organization’s C-suite. Because of their front-line patient care expertise, nurses have superior problem-solving skills and intimately understand the patient experience and the challenges inherent in delivering patient care. Nurse leaders have superior relationship building skills and can connect with clinicians within the interdisciplinary care team to move an organization towards its goals,” she says. “Nurses are transformational leaders who bring the voice of the patient to the forefront. This should always be the guiding voice for health care organizations.”
