SPECIAL SESSION: Outcomes Impacting Care of Older Adults: Geriatric Nursing Leadership Academy Fellowships

Description/Overview: Preparing and positioning a global cadre of nurse leaders to transform relevant practice and policy for older adults is essential for the future of healthcare. The international Geriatric Nursing Leadership Academy (GNLA) provides an intentional personal and professional development experience for Fellows who are mid-career geriatric nurse leaders. Through the use of a behavioral leadership development philosophy as the foundation of the fellowship experience, all academy relationships, curriculum activities, faculty modeling, and reflective exercises align with this approach. With formal mentoring and faculty relationships, Fellows engage in eighteen months of meaningful personal development through implementation of an integrated experiential curriculum, development of interprofessional leadership knowledge and skill, and strategic partnerships with senior executives of healthcare organizations. The structure of the academy includes two immersion workshops, two site visits at the Fellows’ sponsoring organizations, monthly Fellow community conference calls, and frequent regular triad advisory calls. The GNLA uses the Kouzes-Posner “Leadership Challenge” model as a framework for behavioral change as Fellows purposefully expand both influence and impact in leading policy and practice advancements in caring for older adults. Having concluded the academy’s fourth cohort, significant outcomes have been achieved by the Fellows within three domains: individual leadership development; advancement of practice through leadership of interprofessional team projects; and expanded scope of influence at the organizational, community, and professional levels. Faculty and Fellows of the GNLA will present exemplars of the leadership mentoring and faculty relationship triad, individual leadership development, practice outcomes achieved through the interprofessional team projects, and the resultant expanded scope of influence within the field of caring for older adults. In addition, a presentation by the Amy Berman Geriatric Nursing Leadership Awardee will be included in which this emerging leader’s significant contributions to the care of older adults is highlighted. The impact of leadership development through the GNLA and its relationship to the future of practice advancements in care of older adults will be described.