What’s Inside:
Drawing from Nursing Catalyst’s 2024 market survey and focus groups with frontline RNs, this data primer explores RN sentiment on AI, virtual nursing, and team-based care—how those perceptions are shaped through organizational communication. The findings provide actionable guidance for nurse leaders looking to build trust, foster engagement, and align messaging with frontline realities.
Who It’s For:
This data primer is designed for CNEs, CNOs, and other nursing leaders looking to strengthen communication with frontline nurses around staffing challenges and care transformation initiatives.
This primer is intended to be read and shared with broader leadership teams, including frontline leaders, marketing and communication teams, and workforce strategists. The resource offers evidence-backed communication strategies that resonate with frontline staff and address common barriers to buy-in, particularly around sensitive topics like safe staffing.
Key Takeaways:
Frontline RNs need to hear about staffing first, then innovation. Leaders who are focused on care innovation should communicate how IT investments will address nurses’ concerns like workload and patient quality. Messaging that skips over challenging frontline realities can lead to skepticism around new initiatives.
Clear, data-driven messages build confidence with frontline RNs. Even when RNs are unfamiliar with complex topics like AI or virtual nursing, their trust can increase when exposed to pilot outcomes and contextualized in data that validate their day-to-day experiences (e.g., burnout and workload).
Who shares messages matters just as much as what’s shared. Nurses want to hear from nursing associations and the trusted colleagues they regularly engage with: peers, frontline leaders, and CNOs.