Developing and Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Leadership Integrated Educational Program for Master's Nursing Students in Taiwan

Abstract

Nursing students with master degrees have the strong potential to serve as future leaders in medical teams. Implementing a well-developed and integrated educational program for nursing leadership at the master's level can strengthen the leadership of advanced practice nurses and promote a positive nursing practice environment. To develop a leadership integrated educational program for master's nursing students and conduct a preliminary evaluation of the effectiveness of this program in cultivating leadership competencies in these students. Phase 1: A modified Delphi survey conducted on 14 experts with clinical or academic backgrounds was used to identify the teaching objectives and strategies of the leadership integrated educational program. Phase 2: These teaching objectives and strategies were embedded into nine compulsory courses within a current training program for master's nursing students at a national university. The core elements of the leadership integrated educational program were incorporated into each compulsory course. The objectives of each compulsory course directly reflected the objectives of the integrated program. The leadership integrated educational program was implemented for one academic year, and its effectiveness was evaluated using a quasi-experimental test with a single group pre- and post-test design. A self-developed, 10-item "Master Nursing Student's Leadership Competence Scale" covering four core elements was applied to measure the self-reported leadership competencies of the participants. A paired sample t-test was applied to analyze the differences in leadership competencies between pre- and post-intervention. A consensus on the teaching objectives and strategies of the leadership integrated educational program was achieved in the first round of the Delphi survey. The overarching teaching objective of the leadership integrated educational program was to "lead the healthcare team with the leadership and competencies, and demonstrate the advanced nursing practice skills for improving quality of care." In addition, the four core elements under the overarching goal, i.e., personal characteristics, leading people, business management, and vision building, were proposed. Forty-eight master's nursing students participated in this study. The results showed the average total score of leadership competency was 42.33 ± 12.16 (potential range: 10 - 70), indicating that the participants had a middle level of leadership competency prior to program participation. After participating in the Leadership Integrated Educational Program for one academic year, the average total score for leadership competency increased to 51.27 ± 9.74, indicating that the participants still had a middle level of leadership competency. Nevertheless, the 8.94 increase in the post-intervention score was statistically significant (p < .01). Moreover, the scores for each subscale (personal characteristics, leading people, business management, and vision building) had all increased significantly increased from 13.52 to 15.71, 12.65 to 15.35, 8.15 to 10.31, and 8.02 to 9.90, respectively (p < .01). This study offers proactive recommendations for reforming master's degree programs in nursing. The proposed multidisciplinary-expert-informed leadership integrated educational program may be used to strengthen leadership competencies in this student population. Furthermore, the findings provide a benchmark for developing an effective nursing leadership integrated educational program that may be incorporated into domestic master's degree programs.