Leading a Palliative Care Team Through Times of Growth And Change

High-functioning palliative care teams are essential to high-quality care for individuals with serious illness and their families. Such teams are flexible and adapt to change. However, recent high turnover and understaffing, compounded by a pandemic, challenge even the most resilient and adaptable teams. An effective leader guides a team through change, capitalizing on opportunities to build an even stronger team. However, most palliative care team leaders lack formal leadership training and are inadequately prepared to lead through such circumstances. Leaders may find caring for seriously ill patients professionally satisfying, even as aspects of their leadership role cause them significant distress. For this reason, we share some lessons learned in leading evolving palliative care teams of varying composition, practice settings, and degrees of maturation. We hope these strategies equip palliative care leaders to build stronger, even more cohesive teams in times of change and uncertainty.