In September 2013, the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action Leadership Learning Collaborative convened a teleconference to discuss “State Leadership Institutes”.

1. Leadership Learning Collaborative Conference Call Summary
September 10, 2013
Moderator:
 Eileene Shake, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, Senior Strategic Policy Advisor to the Center
to Champion Nursing in America (CCNA)
Presenters:
 Chris Golding, MSN, RN, Director of Nursing Practice and Education at the North
Carolina Nurses Association Leadership Institute
 Denise Daly Konrad, MS, Program Officer at the Richmond Memorial Health
Foundation and Director of the Foundation’s Nurse Leadership Institute in Virginia
 Ellen Linkenhoker, MSN, RN, CNML, Director of Clinical Education at LewisGale
Hospital Montgomery and the Health System Magnet Coordinator
 Veronica Taylor, BSN, MS, Director of Professional Development, Infection
Prevention and Disaster Preparedness at Campbell County Memorial Hospital
Goals of the Call:
 To share three states’ experiences in developing and implementing nursing
leadership institutes and programs
 To discuss lessons learned
Call Summary:
Eileene Shake welcomed listeners and opened the discussion to representatives from
North Carolina, Wyoming, and Virginia to share their experiences and lessons learned
in building nursing leadership programs.
North Carolina
Chris Golding, the Director of Nursing Practice and Education for the North Carolina
Nurses Association (NCNA), said that NCNA is developing emerging nurse leaders
through the NCNA Leadership Academy. Golding discussed the origins of the academy,
the vision, the cost, the number of applicants, the programs, and the lessons learned.

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How the NCNA Leadership Academy Started
Soon after the Institute of Medicine’s report, the Future of Nursing, Leading Change
Advancing Health, was released in 2010, NCNA President Ernest Grant convened an
NCNA Blue Ribbon Taskforce to advise the NCNA Board on key priorities for
implementing the IOM report recommendations. The Blue Ribbon Taskforce’s
emphasized the IOM recommendation to prepare and enable nurses to lead change
and advance health.
The Vision
The vision was to create a high-intensity, competitive application leadership
development program for nurse members to educate, mentor, and prepare them to
serve as active leaders in positions of strategy and influence—especially as those
positions would relate to the IOM report recommendations—which include state and
local government boards and commissions, elected office, hospital boards, and
community boards.
Applicants to the Academy
Sixteen participants were accepted into the inaugural Leadership Academy program,
which began in early 2012. An additional 16 participants completed the program in the
summer of 2013. NCNA is currently accepting applications for the class of 2014.
What is the Cost?
NCNA’s Leadership Academy is housed within NCNA’s charitable arm, the North
Carolina Foundation for Nursing. The total cost of the Leadership Academy program is
approximately $60,000. NCNA is a major funder to the leadership academy program,
which includes financial contributions and substantial staff time (about $15,000). The
program participants pay tuition, which covers about 25 percent of the program costs,
including room and board for three class retreats. NCNA has raised about $25,000 in
external contributions over the last two and a half years, primarily from local health
systems.
The Program, Leadership Academy Connections, and Projects
Nurses participate in three class retreats, which centered on:
 Leadership of self, analyzing emotional intelligence, identifying strengths and
opportunities for individual growth and development in the different dimensions
of leadership
 How to lead teams and promote and enhance team relations and communication
 How to recognize and prepare for Board/community service opportunities, how to
work on delivering a message, engaging in public relations and the media and
participating in nursing and healthcare advocacy.

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In addition, NCNA paired class participants with two experienced leaders or mentors,
one of whom was a nurse. Finally, the program grouped participants into small teams to
work on projects outside of class retreats that focus on areas related to nursing
advocacy, policy, education, practice and diversity.
Evaluating and Measuring Outcomes
Since completing the program, NCNA reconvened the inaugural class on multiple
occasions to discuss progress made toward goals that graduates set for themselves
and to identify ways NCNA can continue to support graduates.
Three graduates now serve on hospital boards and/or hospital committees that report to
the full hospital board. In addition, several other graduates have been elected or
appointed to other association leadership board positions at the state and national
levels, including the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, North
Carolina School and Community Health Association, NC State Rep of the American
Academy of Nurse Practitioners. Finally, numerous other graduates have been
appointed to various advisory boards, the UNC Sheps Center, Operation Medicine
Cabinet, and NC Safe Kids.
Program Changes
The “leadership of self” curriculum was shortened to allow for more time, attention, and
discussion related to new opportunities for extending leadership development, roles,
and experiences to a broader context. The curriculum also now includes information
related to Boundary-Spanning Leadership to give academy participants a perspective
on how they can create direction, alignment, and commitment across boundaries to
achieve an even higher vision or goal.
In the future, NCNA aims to recruit volunteer leaders to maintain ongoing relationships
with the graduates and help graduates consider and foster other opportunities to serve
and lead in a variety of positions. NCNA is also exploring other ways we can offer
leadership development programs that are less time-intensive as it was difficult for
some participants to take six days off from work to participate in three class retreats.
Golding offered some insights into nursing leadership development programs:
 Self-reflection/analysis is not always comfortable or natural—but is critically
important. It is important to stay true to who you are and remain open-minded to
suggestions in order to uncover untapped potential, dreams and aspirations.
 Stepping outside of one’s comfort zone is so critical in order for nurses to fully
maximize their ability to influence decisions that will better the profession and the
public.
 It is important to think about ways to develop and implement leadership skills in a
broader context—beyond current workplaces/roles.

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 It is important to have a voice in professional associations and seek common
goals/outcomes.
 It is important to be surrounded by people who have different or better skill sets,
expertise or knowledge. It is very important to find colleagues inside and outside
the profession who know how to encourage and support us but also challenge us
to think and broaden our perspective.
Wyoming
Veronica Taylor shared that the Wyoming Nurse Leadership Institute (WNLI) was
developed by the Wyoming Nurses Association and is a mentorship and leadership
program that focuses on experienced and emerging nurse leaders.
History and Program Development
The WNLI was developed in response to the IOM report with a $10,000 grant from the
Wyoming Center for Nurses and Healthcare Partnership (WCNHCP). WNA nurse
leaders developed the key concepts and presented the content at four face-to-face
sessions. The key concepts included leadership concepts, personal growth, personality
styles, AONE executive and nurse manager competencies, quality improvement,
legislative issues, regulatory issues, and educational advancement of nurses. Each
participant is assigned a mentor. They develop a project from their work environment
and learn the value of networking. The first WNLI was in 2008 and 2009.
Participants
WNA and WCNHCP formed a partnership to implement WNLI. From 2009 to 2013, 43
nurses participated in WNLI. One session was held to develop long term care leaders in
nursing with eight participants.
Evaluation
The Workforce grant and RWJ PIN grants allowed the institute to evaluate all the
projects. Participants and employers were surveyed; variables, including leadership
roles in the facility, were analyzed; and results demonstrated participants’ high value in
the projects and overall success of the institute.
Sustainability
With grant funding the two coordinators of the project were able to develop the program
and include LEO – Leading an Empowered Organization, a program from Creative
Health Care management. A team of presenters, WNA board members, and WCNHCP
board members are meeting to discuss sustainability. The plan is to continue WNLI
through registration fees, contributions from health care facilities, and grants.

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WNLI has tried to supplement the four sessions with online platform of learning.
However, participants did not utilize this resource well. WNLI coordinators are planning
on using a teleconference format this year to assist with connectedness and networking.
The mentoring piece has worked well for some participants who took advantage of
experienced leaders’ accessibility. However, some did not connect at all.
Virginia
Denise Konrad of the Richmond Memorial Health Foundation said the mission of the
Nurse Leadership Institute (NLI) of Virginia, a Foundation program, is to inspire, teach,
and empower nurse managers and emerging nurse leaders who want to grow as
leaders and become catalysts for change.
The Institute’s History and Funding
The NLI was created in 2005 in collaboration with nurse leaders from across the state to
address the nursing workforce shortage by improving recruitment and retention of
nurses. Initial funding was from foundations, including Richmond Memorial Health
Foundation (RMHF), a two-year matching grant from the Robert Wood
Johnson/Northwest Health Foundations’ Partners Investing in Nursing’s Future Program
and other local foundations. Since the program’s inception, RMHF has committed more
than $1 million to the NLI.
Applicants
There are 176 Institute alumni from the and 34 Fellows will be begin the NLI on
September 19, 2013. Approximately 85 percent of Fellows and Alumni work in typical
hospital settings; they have two to five years of leadership/management experience
and, on average, 30 to 50 direct reports. About 75 percent of the 30 faculty in the
program are volunteers. Fellows can earn 90 continuing education contact hours or
three graduate credits.
Cost/Tuition
It costs approximately $7,600 per Fellow to operate NLI. Tuition is $2,800 with $300
paid by the employee and $2,500 paid by the employer. Four organizations provide
scholarships – Virginia Nurses Foundation, Virginia Health Care Foundation, Virginia
Health Care Association and Southside Health Education Foundation.
The Program
The nine-month program supports development of critical competencies, including the
ability to demonstrate effective communication and relationship skills, understand the
broader health care environment, understand and execute strategy effectively, manage
resources efficiently, and demonstrate professionalism. There are six face-to-face
retreats, an evidence-based Change Project, a structured Preceptorship and limited
distance learning.

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Evaluation
Evaluation is a critical component of the program, and is conducted by a 3rd
party
evaluator. The evaluation model measures stakeholder satisfaction, impact, and return
on community investment. Data is used to document impact of NLI activities, strengthen
NLI, and justify future investments in NLI.
LewisGale Montgomery Hospital’s Experience
HCA LewisGale Hospital Montgomery has participated in the program for more than 5
years. To date, LewisGale 11 nurses have participated in the Institute. Of those who
have participated, all are still working in the organization and have received or are
eligible to receive promotional advancement.
Projects
Evidence-based projects are selected by each fellow with input from the leadership
team, including the CNO. Examples of projects completed by LewisGale Montgomery
Hospital Fellows include two Fellows who identified the need to educate the community
about the risk of shaken baby syndrome, and actually implemented a community-wide
educational program to increase awareness and to offer solutions to avoid the stressful
situations that often lead to these devastating injuries. In the past year, one of our NLI
Fellows expanded her selected project to a formal research question and study that
resulted in better care for our obstetric population.
Questions
Winifred Quinn, Director of Legislation and Field Operations at CCNA, asked the
presenters if diversity was a priority in any of the leadership models they had discussed.
She pointed out that the Campaign has a goal to increase diversity in race, ethnicity and
gender within all the pillars. Chris Golding of North Carolina said diversity was an
excellent factor to consider and that it should be the topic in future discussions.
There was also some concern that online learning in leadership institutes had not been
embraced by nurses. Virginia Taylor of Wyoming said they thought online webinars
would be ideal given the geography of Wyoming, “We found that people didn’t use it.”
But they haven’t given up. Wyoming is still considering how to make presentations more
inviting for the participants. Robin, who works at the University of Virginia Health
System and is a graduate student said that while she does better in a face to face
situation, everyone is different. Maybe it takes a combination of types of media to make
instruction useful.
For more information from CCNA about this teleconference, technical assistance or
other questions related to the Future of Nursing, Campaign for Action contact Michael

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Pheulpin at MPheulpin@aarp.org or 202-434-3882 or Andrew Bianco at
abianco@aarp.org.
Next Steps:
The next scheduled teleconferences for the Leadership Collaborative are October 8 and
November 12.
Visit us on our website: www.campaignforaction.org.
Follow us on twitter: @Campaign4Action, @FutureofNursing, #futureofnursing.
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