Taken from our webinar, hosted on 12/16/2025
Moderated by Larissa Africa MBA, RN, CENP, FAONL, FAAN, Vice President, Healthcare Workforce Solutions HWS and StaffGarden, by Ascend Learning
Featured Presenters:
· Joel Ray, COL, USAF, NC, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, Chief Clinical Advisor at Laudio
· Julie Holland DNP, RN, NEA-BC, Senior Director of System Nursing Professional Practice & Clinical Learning, Texas Health Resources
· Dr. Janice Walker, DHA, MBA-HCM, BSN, RN, NEA-BC, Chief Nursing Executive, Formerly of Baylor Scott & White Health & Advocate Atrium Health
The nursing workforce is at a pivotal moment.
As 49% of nurse leaders seek stronger competency frameworks and 75% recognize opportunities to better prepare new graduates for clinical success, organizations are being challenged to rethink their leadership pipelines and development systems to better drive clinical excellence, retention, and operational performance.
To build confidence and competence across teams, forward‑thinking health systems are using data, technology, and intentional development to turn workforce challenges into long‑term strength.
Drawing on real‑world experience, live audience polling, and practical examples from health systems across the country, Rewriting the Playbook: Building Confident Nursing Leaders and Competent Teams shared decision frameworks and actionable strategies from healthcare leaders to help organizations rethink workforce development in 2026 and beyond.
Below, we’ve summarized the 9 key takeaways from top nursing leaders so that you can make digital-first workforce development a priority.
Start with the data and let it guide what you tackle first.
“My ‘a-ha’ moments always come when you look at the data and it’s not moving,” noted Dr. Janice Walker, who stressed pre- and post-comparisons as a leadership compass learned and sharpened during COVID.
Dr. Julie Holland echoed that the pandemic created an opportunity to “do things differently,” especially when stagnant career growth metrics showed nurses were “stuck,” prompting a reset of development approaches, with Joel Ray adding that once you know where your team is and where you need to go, you can sequence steps toward the specific competency level your patient population requires.
An audience of nurse leaders and educators was polled on their top workforce challenges heading into 2026, with leadership bandwidth taking the top spot: too much administrative work, not enough coaching time. Leading concerns also included developing and retaining frontline leaders and turning workforce data into action.
A majority of attendees reported that less than 25% of their frontline leaders’ time is spent on coaching and development, with 75% of time being instead spent on administrative tasks.
Dr. Walker described managers’ daily load as a “bag of rocks,” arguing organizations must formally govern what gets added and what gets removed so leaders can work at the top of their role (in coaching and mentoring). Ray called the current state of the administrative burden a “yard sale of responsibilities,” warning that if we don’t deliberately offload administrative work, we bury leaders in management tasks at the expense of people leadership.
Africa emphasized that without time reclaimed from administrative work, the confidence gap persists, especially as hospitals onboard more new grads.
Managers juggle LMS, scheduling, time & attendance, supply, and more, often needing two or three systems to make just one people decision.
To remove friction and increase adoption, Dr. Holland advised starting workforce redevelopment by first integrating tech inside the workflow to lessen administrative load and unlock actionable data.
Then, connect savvy users with those less comfortable to raise adoption. Ray added that the optimal system is a “single pane of glass” that provides both insight and a system of action— launching a 1:1, recognition, documentation, and follow-up— living in one place. The system can then stratify who needs attention first for retention or competency growth.
Holland shared results that showed moving a clinical ladder from binders to an electronic, workflow-driven platform nearly doubled program engagement, thanks to automation and visibility for both staff and reviewers.
Ray reinforced that in order to get C-suite support for removing burdens, they must see the magnitude of what’s been shifted onto managers so that leaders can reconnect with their teams.
To make burden reduction real, Dr. Walker recommended a governance model that inventories every administrative task and asks three questions for each task, or “rock”.
1. First, does it truly belong?
2. If yes, what comes out?
3. And can tech carry it instead?
She cited practical examples from prior system leadership roles, using EHR reporting to replace manual audits in order to turn compliance checks into a system job rather than a manager chore.
“People know what great leadership is…the problem is consistency,” said Ray.
Create consistency by defining leader standard work and ensure software is in lockstep with manager workflows— prompting who hasn’t been seen, structuring purposeful 1:1s, and tracking follow-through so staff doesn’t experience “survey response fatigue.”
Retention and confidence depend on reliable leader touchpoints. Dr. Walker added that organizations should call out administrative overload as unacceptable and make burden reduction part of annual goals and the strategic plan.
Nearly half of attendees shared that budget/ROI uncertainty was the top barrier to implementation of workforce development technology, followed by stakeholder buy-in and systems integration.
Dr. Walker linked budget and buy-in directly— “the C-suite controls where capital is spent”— and urged continuous executive dialogue tying tech investments to retention, psychological safety, and ROI.
To address this, Dr. Holland advised including end users early to surface real needs and to vet multiple vendors at the “daily workflow” level. Once a tool is selected, leaders must bake it into leadership practice by using it for 1:1s, director huddles, and enterprise reviews, so it can fulfill its promises and doesn’t become another unused icon.
Leaders feel more able to lead with the right support and systems, as evidenced by the steady gains Dr. Holland reported in manager capability ratings on RN surveys and nurse manager confidence (~90%) when compared to units that did not utilize the digital clinical ladder.
Dr. Walker recommended tiering units using RN NDNQI satisfaction data and pairing high performers with those needing improvement, thereby closing gaps via transparent, service line mentorship.
If burden reduction is working, you should see a lift in patient experience, workforce engagement, job enjoyment, quality, and safety; if not, Ray recommends revisiting solution fit or execution.
Develop your workforce plan with the leaders who will execute it, pick three priorities you can truly move this year, and review quarterly with pre/post metrics, adjusting as needed, recommends Dr. Walker.
This helps to ensure the plan “makes it to the front line,” such that every nurse can be able to articulate how it shows up in daily work.
Maintaining an ongoing dialogue with leaders to check what’s working and offering varied development resources— rather than a one-size-fits-all approach— helped Ray and Dr. Holland stay flexible to shift tactics for unpredictable circumstances like the COVID-19 pandemic.
To win skeptics, Dr. Walker uses credible champions and real-life ROI stories that can become white papers. Ray advised mapping all stakeholders (such as nursing, IT, HR, and finance) and clarifying what’s in it for each team, since purchasing and ownership cut across functions.
Dr. Holland emphasizes starting with the why, then surfacing each skeptic’s specific concern; “many of the loudest naysayers become the strongest champions” when they’re heard, invited in, and supported to succeed.
Workforce development is no longer about adding more programs, tools, or requirements. It’s about changing the approach.
Reducing administrative burden is a strategic imperative that directly impacts leader effectiveness and nurse satisfaction. Leaders must start with data, relentlessly examine where time and energy are being lost, and intentionally design systems that free up frontline leaders to actually coach, connect, and develop their teams.
Technology is a powerful enabler, but only when it is implemented with shared governance, embedded into daily leadership practice and measured against the outcomes that matter: confidence, engagement, retention, and quality.
By aligning leadership behaviors, technology, and development programs around confidence‑building and competency growth, healthcare leaders have an opportunity to truly rewrite the playbook to build a workforce prepared to meet today’s demands and to thrive in whatever comes next.
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