Kansas nurse leader residency programme: advancing leader knowledge and skills

Area of Science:

• Nursing Leadership
• Healthcare Management
• Professional Development

Background:

• The Institute of Medicine's Future of Nursing Report emphasizes the need for nurses to lead change.
• The Kansas Nurse Leader Residency (KNLR) programme was created to foster leadership development in nursing.
• The 6-month KNLR programme aims to equip nurses with essential leadership competencies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effectiveness of the KNLR programme in enhancing nurses' leadership knowledge and skills.
• To evaluate the programme's acceptability, feasibility, and fidelity among participants.
• To determine the long-term impact of the residency on nurse leaders' capabilities.

Main Methods:

• Thirty-six nurses from acute care, long-term care, public health, and school health participated.
• Leadership knowledge and skills were measured using an adapted Leader Knowledge and Skill Inventory.
• Programme acceptability, feasibility, and fidelity were systematically evaluated.

Main Results:

• A programme completion rate of 67.7% was achieved.
• Participants demonstrated significant improvements in self-assessed and mentor-assessed leadership knowledge and skills (p < .05).
• These improvements were sustained at a 3-month follow-up post-programme completion.

Conclusions:

• The KNLR programme successfully improved leadership knowledge and skills, receiving positive participant evaluations.
• The hybrid format (in-person and online) proved feasible for implementation across various nursing specialties and geographic locations.
• Residency programmes are vital for the successful transition of new nurse leaders into management roles.