To address the potential shortage of nurse leaders, the profession must evaluate current strategies
in both education and practice. While many new graduates dream of becoming a nurse practitioner
or nurse anesthetist, few transition into practice with the goal of becoming a nurse leader. To
increase the number of nurses capable of leadership, the profession must address 2 critical issues.
First, effort must be made to augment faculty and students’ conceptualization of nursing such that
leadership is seen as a dimension of practice for all nurses, not just those in formal leadership roles.
In so doing, leadership identity development would be seen as a part of becoming an expert nurse.
Second, a comprehensive conceptual framework for lifelong leadership development of nurses
needs to be designed. This framework should allow for baseline leadership capacity building in
all nurses and advanced leadership development for those in formal administrative and advanced
practice roles. The knowledge and skill requirements for quality improvement and patient safety
have been explored and recommendations made for Quality and Safety Education for Nurses, but
parallel work needs to be done to outline educational content, objectives, and effective pedagogy
for advancing leadership development in nursing students at all levels.