facilitating and enabling the development of nursing knowledge (Antrobus & Kitson, 1999). Indeed leadership(as well as autonomy, expertise and research) is seen as an essential component for the continuous development of advanced practice roles and the nursing profession(Callaghan, 2007). Advanced practice nurses in all fields including clinical, academic, executive and political provide a vision for the next generation of nurses, leading them to achieve extraordinary things through inspiration and motivation towards a common goal (Callaghan, 2007).