The Nurse Leadership Academy Experience: Taking Nursing Leadership to the Next Level!

Sigma Theta Tau International (Sigma) provides four international Nurse Leadership Academies. Beginning with the Maternal-Child Health Nurse Leadership Academy (MCHNLA) in 2004, these academies have provided leadership training for over 500 participants through 20 cohorts. Participation in these Academies is highly coveted by nursing leaders, and the Faculty Advisors are comprised of highly recognized leaders among nursing educators.

This presentation will focus on the MCHNLA, describing objectives, design, and benefits derived from participation in the Academy. Graduates cite many examples of how this experience translated to increased leadership effectiveness, positive organizational changes, career advancements, and improved patient care.

The leadership model framework for all academies is based on the research of Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, as described in The Leadership Challenge®. Their model proposes that leadership is a measurable, learnable, and teachable set of behaviors. The academy is designed to operationalize these learned behaviors by supporting the Fellow in developing and implementing an interdisciplinary team project within their own organization.

The critical, distinguishing component of the Academy experience is the triad mentoring structure. Each triad is composed of a Fellow participant, an experienced Leadership Mentor, and a Faculty Adviser. The Fellow is responsible for defining an interdisciplinary project within their organization. This project will provide the opportunity for the Fellow to apply leadership skills taught in the Academy, as well as improve individual leadership opportunities described in their personalized leadership development plan,

During the 18-month program, each triad attends two workshops and makes two site visits. The workshops provide leadership skill development training and the site visits evaluate project progress. The program culminates with each Fellow describing their project’s measurable benefits at Sigma’s Annual International Conference.

When comparing baseline to end of program testing, both Fellows and Mentors demonstrated statistically significant improvements in leadership knowledge and skills. For the approximately 100 graduated fellows, 90% of their projects were sustained at their institution due to policy and patient care improvements. Additionally, 50% of projects served as a catalyst to generate follow-up projects targeted for improving the health and well being of mothers and babies.