SPECIAL SESSION: MCH Leadership Development: A Retrospective, Comparative Cohort Study

Description/Overview: Background: Nurse Leaders have recognized the critical need for leadership development in nursing since the early 2000s. Consequently, health care institutions, professional nursing organizations, and academic institutions have offered leadership development programs that vary in structure, length and outcome. Although these programs provide insight into leadership development, information about international leadership development programs is limited. However, the Maternal-Child Health Nurse Leader Academy (MCH NLA), sponsored by Sigma Theta Tau International, the Honor Society of Nursing, in partnership with Johnson & Johnson Corporate Contributions, and developed and facilitated by experts in maternal-child health, leadership and organizational development, is an exception to this gap. The program engages participants in an 18-month long mentored leadership experience within the context of an interdisciplinary team project. Leadership Mentor/Fellow dyads are paired with a faculty member during the leadership journey. Review of results from earlier North American cohorts indicates significant growth in leadership over time. Given differences in context and healthcare cultures, Leadership Mentor/Fellow and patient outcomes may be different in different areas of the world. Purpose: To compare Leadership Mentor/ Fellow knowledge, skills and leadership practices and patient outcomes of a leadership development project involving two cohorts in the Maternal-Child Health Nurse Leadership Academy: The 2014-2015 North American (NA) cohort and the 2014-2015 South African (SA) cohort. Both cohorts were participants in a program to strengthen the leadership base of maternal-child bedside nurses in the United States and South Africa. Design: Retrospective cohort comparative study using secondary analysis Results: Twelve Leadership Mentor/Fellow dyads comprised the SA cohort and 14 dyads comprised the NA cohort. Inspection of the SA data indicates Leadership Mentors and Fellows increased in leadership knowledge, skills and practices over the course of the 18-month program. Fellow knowledge increased from a mean of 3.1 to 4.4 (on a 5-point scale, with 5 indicating high). Review of 2014-2015 SA cohort project reports revealed they had the potential to influence more than 6000 female children, 3699 male children, as well was 397 healthcare providers. Data analysis from the 2014-2015 NA cohort are pending. Comparative data analysis will be completed by March, 2016. Conclusions: Preliminary findings support earlier outcomes obtained from NA cohorts (Morin et al., 2015) indicating the program facilitates leadership development and has an impact on patient outcomes.