Leadership Experiences in Undergraduate Nursing Education: A Student Perspective

Registered nursing is a profession which recognizes that all nurses should demonstrate leadership skills within their various roles. Leadership is vital at all levels of health organizations to provide positive outcomes for not only clients, but also to achieve positive results for interdisciplinary teams, and larger societal systems to which health care is intricately connected. Nursing leadership and management are two distinct concepts that are often misunderstood by undergraduate nursing students. The purpose of our paper is to emphasize that leadership in nursing must be fostered beginning at the undergraduate level. In addition to providing leadership education in the clinical realm, it is also important for nursing professors to provide the undergraduate students with learning experiences on this topic outside of their formalized studies, by facilitating their involvement in leadership activities associated with nursing organizations and research