Title : Unlocking potential: A nurse-driven model for Ed leadership development
Abstract:
The emergency department faces a critical leadership gap, contributing to staff burnout and high turnover. To address this, we developed and implemented a six-month, nurse-led leadership program designed to cultivate future leaders from our own frontline staff. This initiative provided participants with structured mentorship, direct exposure to operational duties (budgeting, staffing), and hands-on experience leading huddles and a capstone Quality Improvement (QI) project. Pre- and post-program data demonstrated profound success. Participants' self-assessed confidence in core leadership competencies more than doubled, with an average score increase of +1.95 points on a 5-point scale. The program's impact on leadership activation was immediate, with 100% of graduates stepping into a leadership role: one as night ER ANM position, while the other two have remained at bedside and become the chair and co-chair of the ER's unit-based council. This initiative proves that empowering frontline staff to create solutions yields highly relevant and effective leadership development. The model provides a scalable, low-cost, and high-impact strategy for improving staff retention, boosting engagement, and ensuring robust succession planning. This presentation offers a replicable blueprint for any ED seeking to improve retention, boost engagement, and proactively "grow their own" leaders.
