Emergent nursing leaders are often identified and promoted into leadership because of their excellent clinical skills. Undergraduate nursing school curriculum may include leadership content, but may not provide sufficient skill development to ensure confidence and the ability to lead in the healthcare environment. Nurses who move into management often find leading to be one of the biggests challenges of their careers. Lack of adequate leadership education and mentoring in a community hospital inspired the development of the yearlong Leadership Development Academy (LDA) for emerging leaders in healthcare. After several cohorts successfully completed the program, it was determined the LDA should be thoroughly evaluated to ensure the program and teaching methods met the needs of the participants. Boyer’s theory of scholarship, Benner’s theory of novice to expert, and Wagner and Weigand’s theory of return on investment were used to evaluate the LDA. The setting, perspective, intervention, comparison, and evaluation framework was used to develop the project plan; the ACE Star Model of EBP was used to support the process of evaluating the LDA. Evaluation of the LDA was based on feedback from graduates of the LDA conducted at the Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center campus in 2014. A letter of participation/consent, which listed the objectives of the evaluation, the voluntary nature of participation, the use of audio recording technology, and confidentiality of information was provided to and reviewed with each participant by the principal investigator (PI). During the 30-minute evaluation interviews, participants were asked to provide feedback to specific questions about the LDA program and teaching methods. Qualitative results were compiled and evaluated by the PI. Evaluation of the LDA to ensure the content and teaching methods met the needs of the participants-good investment of their time-was the goal of this scholarly project. Analysis of the results revealed participants were enthusiastic in their recommendations that the program be not only continued but expanded in scope. The participants evaluating the LDA program and teaching methods considered the LDA effective. The skills of the participants were improved through education, mentoring, and introspection. Results indicated the participants found the program enjoyable and educational. Behavioral and organizational changes reported by participants were due to increased confidence and competency as leaders after completing the LDA. All participants planned to continue the mentoring relationship and leadership development because of the potential positive career impact. Possible changes to future LDA programs include lengthening class time to allow for in-depth discussion, leader shadowing, increased mentoring opportunities, and continued education.
