Train Healthcare Leaders to Act in Crisis not React to Loss

Records show that the coronavirus may have been as early as January 2020, with the Centers for Disease Control and prevention (CDC) confirming the first Unites States (US) case on February 26 and 28, 2020 ("Evidence for limited early spread of COVID-19 within the United States", 2020). The onset of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected by RT-PCR testing of two individual virus patients on opposite coasts, one on the west coast and one on the east, neither of whom had traveled out of the country. These cases represent the onset of a massive viral pandemic that has not only engulfed the US, but also most of the world as well.

The World health Organization (WHO) declared the SARS-CoV-2 a global pandemic om March 11, 2020, marking the first health-related challenge to global healthcare, economies, and patient mortality since 2008 (Nicola et al., 2020). The effects of this event on every aspect of human activity has become increasingly important to leaders from all areas of government, business, and health, as transitional measures have failed to prevent its upsurge and proliferation (Nicola et al., 2020). Kaul et al., (2020) suggested that significant strategic importance must be implemented in training and preparing leaders to traverse the treachery that lies on the other side of the pandemic. Several leaders that have cut a path through the onslaught of the pandemic are the Prime Minister of New Zealand, and the National Basketball Association Commissioner, Adam Silver (Kerrissey & Edmondson, 2020). Leadership and competent science-based decision-making were just some of the tools each realized to obtain the outstanding results each one achieved in their respective duties.

Leadership preparation and training for the pandemic’s aftermath is significantly behind the progress of the disease. Efforts at economic recovery, prevention of future outbreaks, and restoration of human normalcy sit the heart of the task’s leaders must deliver in a post-pandemic world.

References

Evidence for limited early spread of COVID-19 within the United ... (2020, June 3). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6922e1.htm

Kaul, V., Shah, V. H., & El-Serag, H. (2020, May). Leadership during crisis: Lessons and applications from the COVID-19 pandemic. PubMed Central (PMC). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7233251/

Kerrissey, M. J., & Edmondson, A. C. (2020, April 13). What good leadership looks like during this pandemic. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2020/04/what-good-leadership-looks-like-during-this-pandemic

Nicola, M., Sohrabi, C., Mathew, G., Kerwan, A., Al-Jabir, A., Griffin, M., Agha, M., & Agha, R. (2020, September). Health policy and leadership models during the COVID-19 pandemic: A review. PubMed Central (PMC). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7366988/

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