Podcast Summary

Podcast: Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Episode: Strengthening Nursing Culture and Workforce Innovation at Touro Infirmary
Guest: Quanah Batiste Brown, Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer, Touro Infirmary at LCMC Health
Host: Laura Deardo
Date: March 1, 2026

Overview

This episode dives into the transformative strategies and initiatives Touro Infirmary is deploying to strengthen nursing culture, workforce resilience, and innovation. Quanah Batiste Brown shares her experience as a longtime nurse leader, detailing how she’s led infrastructure redesign, promoted workforce well-being, and adopted technology-driven solutions to combat staffing challenges. The conversation also touches on future growth priorities, continuous engagement with frontline staff, and Touro’s investment in both workforce development and the broader New Orleans community.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Background and Mission at Touro Infirmary

Timestamp: 01:17

• Quanah Batiste, a New Orleans native with nearly 30 years in nursing, over 20 in leadership, leads nursing operations at Touro Infirmary—a 170-year-old institution with a robust legacy in women’s services and rehabilitation.
• Emphasizes alignment with LCMC Health’s mission: “Expanding access, advancing quality, and ensuring every patient receives high reliable care.”
• Batiste’s focus: Strengthening the professional practice of nursing, building healthy work environments, aligning clinical ops with the mission, and improving workforce engagement and patient outcomes.

2. Redesigning Nursing Infrastructure and Workforce Innovation

Timestamp: 02:36

• Major project: Redesigning nursing infrastructure for operational stabilization and a healthy practice environment.
  • Establishment of the Department of Nursing Education and Professional Development: Formalizing a framework for ongoing nurse training.
  • LCMC Heart Ladder: A recognition and advancement program supporting nurses in gaining advanced certifications.
  • Leadership Structure Redesign: Realigning leadership to improve accountability and operational efficiency.
  • Workforce Analysis: Using data to address turnover, reduce contract labor reliance, and optimize productivity.
• Results:
  • Reduced overtime and agency labor dependence.
  • Higher staff engagement, better quality metrics.
  • Closer alignment with budget and productivity targets.

“For me over the past year, it’s really looking at the quality, ... focusing on our workforce well-being, and ... making sure our leadership team was aligned with fiscal responsibility and advancing care together.”
— Quanah Batiste (03:45)

3. Balancing Productivity and Well-Being: Culture of Compassion & Civility

Timestamp: 05:01

• Focus on workforce resilience and retention amidst industry-wide stressors.
• Innovative work on addressing incivility in the workplace:
  • Leadership is being trained to recognize and address incivility—a “pink elephant in the room.”
  • Compassionate care and psychological safety are being embedded in the culture.
• Introduction of virtual nursing platforms and a balanced staffing model to further protect staff from burnout.

“We’re going through right now with our leadership team some work that’s focused on incivility, looking at the impact...and how do we build a culture of compassionate care.”
— Quanah Batiste (05:07)

4. Headwinds and Priorities for 2026

Timestamp: 06:36

• Major challenge: National workforce shortage.
• Solutions:
  • Strengthening internal pipelines: Robust onboarding and support for nurse graduates, ensuring high first-year retention.
  • Regional partnerships: Collaborating with universities and engaging with new grads to remain an employer of choice.
  • Embracing innovation:
    • Virtual Nursing: Reducing workload, improving patient support.
    • AI & Ambient Listening: Piloted in home health, decreasing documentation burden for nurses.

“I think it’s really addressing the headwinds of workforce shortage through digital transformation.”
— Quanah Batiste (07:39)

5. Technology Adoption: Ensuring Value and Uptake

Timestamp: 08:41

• Emphasizes early and clear definition of KPIs for any new technology.
• Rigorous measurement and open-minded course correction are key.
  • Example: Virtual nursing adapted to support both admissions and discharges, improving throughput.

"It's really about establishing those KPIs early on ... and then understanding what the data is telling us to be able to make better decisions forward."
— Quanah Batiste (08:44)

6. Culture Change: Challenges and Grassroots Engagement

Timestamp: 09:29

• Biggest anticipated challenge: Culture change at a rapid pace without eroding trust.
• Strategy:
  • High standards combined with human connection and stability.
  • “Quality Time with Quanah”: Monthly unscripted listening sessions with staff to foster open dialogue and feedback.
  • Shared governance: Engaging frontline staff, leaders, and interprofessional colleagues in change management.

“Health systems are being asked to do rapid transformation, and yet caregivers need stability and psychological safety. So the way that we balance that is being responsible, looking to hold high standards without losing that human connection.”
— Quanah Batiste (09:36)

7. Insights from “Quality Time with Quanah”

Timestamp: 10:50

• Staff feel safe and empowered in these forums, surfacing new and actionable ideas.
  • Example: The suggestion and positive staff reception of a “Champion Award” for nurse residents.
  • Sometimes feedback is unexpected, but valuable for synergy and process improvements.

“What I’ve recognized is that I have to be available and open to hear. But it’s not always that you get the messages you were expecting.”
— Quanah Batiste (11:42)

8. Future Growth Opportunities

Timestamp: 12:08

• Expansion focus in women and family services and rehabilitation.
  • Example: Recently opened seven new rehab beds.
• Academic workforce partnerships: Hosting high school students (Warren Eastern High School’s PCT program) for externships, cultivating the next generation of caregivers.

“It’s really looking creatively for where the best opportunities for organizational growth would be and then leveraging those ... and looking at our external partners to make that happen.”
— Quanah Batiste (12:52)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Nurse Leadership:
  “My role is to strengthen the professional practice of nursing. Really working and focusing on building healthy work environments ... aligning clinical operations with our mission.”
  — Quanah Batiste (01:29)
• On Addressing Incivility:
  “We’re really focused ... on, eliminating that incivility and burnout.”
  — Quanah Batiste (05:16)
• On Technology and Pipeline Challenges:
  “We’re currently looking at AI, so ambient listening, specifically in our home health team ... already leveraged and been able to see wins with decreasing the documentation burden.”
  — Quanah Batiste (07:18)
• On Listening & Openness:
  “Just having the forum, people feel safe ... it’s not always that you get the messages you were expecting.”
  — Quanah Batiste (10:50; 11:42)
• On Community Investment:
  “Absolutely. Yes. It’s all about the community.”
  — Quanah Batiste (13:03)

Key Timestamps for Reference

• 01:17 — Quanah’s background and Touro Infirmary overview
• 02:36 — Redesigning nursing infrastructure: approach and results
• 05:01 — Workforce well-being & compassionate culture
• 06:36 — 2026 priorities: workforce pipeline, technology, AI
• 08:41 — Measuring, optimizing tech investments
• 09:29 — Challenges of culture change; “Quality Time with Quanah”
• 10:50 — Lessons from staff listening sessions
• 12:08 — Growth through women’s services, rehab, and workforce partnerships

Tone & Takeaways

The conversation is candid, practical, and future-focused, mixing empathy with operational discipline. Quanah Batiste Brown’s leadership is marked by intentional culture-building, investment in staff, and a willingness to embrace both partnership and technology to future-proof Touro Infirmary’s workforce and patient care quality. This episode is a rich source of insights for healthcare leaders grappling with workforce and culture challenges.