Promoting Publication Readiness in Nurse Leaders: Findings From a Pilot Educational Intervention

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Healthcare Administration
• Scholarly Communication

Background:

• Nurse leaders in Magnet®-designated hospitals are committed to advancing nursing practice through innovation.
• Despite their contributions, nurse leaders' work is rarely published in scholarly literature.
• A gap exists in recognizing and disseminating the scholarly work of nurse leaders.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of an educational intervention on nurse leaders' perceptions and confidence in the scholarly publication process.
• To identify effective strategies for supporting nurse leaders in academic writing and publication.
• To enhance nurse leaders' engagement with scholarly publishing.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study utilized a pretest/posttest descriptive design.
• An interactive educational presentation served as the intervention.
• Nurse leaders' familiarity, understanding, and confidence were assessed before and after the intervention.

Main Results:

• A significant increase in familiarity with the publication process (18% to 67%, p < .001).
• Improved understanding of scholarly publishing (41% to 80%, p = .007).
• Enhanced comfort with team writing (59% to 88%, p = .0346) and preference for mentorship and checklists as support.

Conclusions:

• Targeted educational interventions effectively empower nurse leaders to pursue scholarly publishing.
• Enhancing confidence and understanding are crucial for nurse leader engagement in publication.
• Sustained initiatives like mentorship and structured resources are essential for a nursing scholarship culture.