Impact of leadership development on competencies

Managed care has changed role expectations for front-line nurses. Roles now include outcome management, team coordination, and guardianship of patient's continuity along the continuum. Organizations are investing in leadership development training for non-management nurses in hopes that such competencies will enhance their value-added competitive edge, but data are needed to validate the value of such training to the organization. Authors report the self-perceived competencies in leadership understanding and ability (in a study of 87 participants) before and after leadership development training that focused on: planned change, communication, conflict, group dynamics, systems theory, and oppressed group behavior. Significant increases were reported in both understanding and ability to perform stated competencies both immediately after and 3 months after 3 days of training. Self-perceptions of both leadership understanding and ability before leadership training were higher for those with advanced degrees and/or those in management positions. However, some of these differences became insignificant after training.