Building a Bench of Future Leaders: Lessons From Military Nurse Officers

To describe strategies military veteran nurse leaders use to mentor, develop, and prepare future leaders in healthcare settings.

Effective leadership is essential because it influences patients, the healthcare team and organization, and the profession. Although the military dedicates considerable resources to ongoing leadership development of military nurse officers (MNOs), civilian nurses often feel less prepared for leadership positions.

This article is a secondary analysis of data from a descriptive, qualitative study that explored how 21 former MNOs transferred leadership skills from military service to advance leadership development of others within civilian organizations.

Building a bench of future nurse leaders depends on the ability of leaders to articulate a clear vision, capitalize on talent, and lead from the foxhole.

Civilian nurses and nurse leaders can learn from the leadership experiences of MNOs to support purposeful leadership development and succession planning efforts.