Dr. Lynne Warner Lynn, hospital administrator at the Ephraim McDowell James B. Haggin Hospital and the Chief Nursing Officer at the Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center was recently invited to be one of four panelists at the Kentucky Organization of Nurse Leaders (KONL) spring conference. Dr. Lynn represented the Kentucky Hospital Association and joined three other panelists including Dr. Erik Martin, the American Organization of Nursing Leadership and the American Hospital Association; Dr. Jessica Wilson, the Kentucky Board of Nursing; and Delanor Manson, the Kentucky Nurses Association and the Kentucky Nurses Foundation.

The panelists were asked to respond to specific questions and objectives related to the nursing workforce shortage. The panelists were asked about strategies for nursing leaders to develop in relation to recruitment into the profession of nursing, recruitment to their hospitals, and retention strategies. Additionally, the panelists were asked what they perceive as long-term impacts from COVID-19 on the profession of nursing overall and which of these may have the most significant impact.