What were Modern Healthcare's most important headlines of 2021? And what should healthcare leaders keep an eye on for 2022? 

Heading into 2022, health disparities and inequities obviously have not gone away. But that 2020 zeal to address these issues now demands results — or at least, solid planning. What are these efforts going to help us do? The question really is just, now what?

How can up-and-coming healthcare leaders make it part of their leadership style to connect their communities with their colleagues, and see patients as experts by experience?

Continuing the conversation about the impending nursing shortage. Specifically, on topics like health system mergers and advice for young nurses who have their eyes on the C-suite.

As a current or up-and-coming healthcare leader, you’re probably involved in strategic planning for your health system. Here’s one of your biggest challenges: What are you going to do about nurses?

Leadership changes often lead to trickle-down changes — in processes, goals, values, maybe even culture. These leadership changes can signal a positive shift for an organization, but they may also be a vulnerable point for your job security.

Health systems may need to adjust their process on evaluating job candidates and job opportunities since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nurses are continuing to experience emotions ranging from disillusionment, to anxiety, to a lost sense of meaning in their work as the delta variant creates another surge. Meanwhile, there’s an ongoing nursing shortage that is making all of these problems worse.

If your health system has goals around health equity, then it must make an intentional effort to do business with diverse vendors. This is even more important if the health system’s service area is diverse.

When all this negative press gets out, it can trickle down to your team and affect confidence and morale. So, how can health systems prepare for and navigate these bad press incidents?