Assessment of Nurse Educator Leadership: Instrument Development and Psychometric Analysis

So I'll get started. So Dr. Barbara Patterson  and I did the initial study where we identified   the competencies for nursing...nurse faculty  leaders and you know when you look at leadership   development and how do you translate this  empirical research into something practical for   someone to use, to develop themselves as a leader,  we decided that we would do the instrument,   develop the instrument to provide a tool that  people could really use to evaluate their own  

personal leadership. And important is to note is  that our definition of leaders when we did the   initial study and as well as when we did  the instrument development was that it's   not just someone who's in a formal leadership  position, but it's someone who is a leader in   many different ways or sees themself as a leader  of nursing education. So we brought in Dr. Morin,   who was an expert in instrument development and  developed a great partnership. So I'll turn it  

over to Karen now. Right. Yes. I was delighted to  be invited to and be part of this team and though   my scholarship certainly hasn't been quite as  directed in leadership, my practice certainly has   been in leadership because I've been so involved  in leadership development programs and so I think   that's a nice way to merge what you've been doing  in your life with the scholarship that's required  

of it. And it's, I've always believed that we are  missing an opportunity in nursing education when   we don't acknowledge and foster the leadership of  faculty writ large, not those that necessarily,   well, those that are in positions of leadership  as well, but all of us I think bring leadership   abilities to the table. And I think the instrument  that's been developed is a really nice way to help   us understand and appreciate what attributes we 

have to bring to the table. That's a great summary   of of the work in the in the tool you developed.  So specifically, if we were going to ask when   we're looking at a tool like this, how or describe  how useful do you believe the tool is, the LEN,   for measuring perceived leadership competency and  diverse populations populations such as people of  

color, LGBTQI, and men specifically. Perhaps  we're seeing what is important for traditional   demographic nurse leaders and missing a new  generation of leaders with different ideas   about leadership. What are your thoughts on this?  Go ahead Karen. Well, I have been thinking a lot   about that question and I don't think, that's not,  we did not elicit those demographics in terms   of describing our particular participants. I think 

it's a really great point. I might say, because   I've really been thinking about this, that these  attributes, when you think about them, the four   major ones I think really are pretty universal. And  so I wonder whether or not I would want to explore   whether or not different populations perceive it  differently. I mean, it's an interesting thought and   one to pursue because I'd love to be proven wrong  as always. But I really wonder about that.  

I was just reading another book on leadership and  and the qualities are things like gratitude   and empathy and resilience and I would argue  that irrespective of who we are we all bring   those to the table so that's, I'll yield to Anne. I  agree 100% with Karen. I do think there's value   in looking at the data to see whether there are  significant differences and I think we'll have the  

opportunity going forward. Already we're getting  a lot of nurse researchers asking for use of the   instrument and so we will have, as they share their  raw data with us, we will have the opportunity to   possibly explore other populations that it's used  with. And even we've asked by   individuals globally to be able to translate the  instrument and explore it from that perspective   as well. So I, my initial sense is, as Karen says,  that these are really very global competencies  

but there might be differences. And   we just had a discussion about our next   steps with the instrument development. One  is that we are going to publish data that   we have related to an international study  that we did with the instrument looking  

at the psychometrics. But one of the things  that has been, as a dean, on my mind has been   have things changed since the pandemic with  nursing education leadership and particularly   related to resilience, crisis management, preparation for crisis management, and how   does that play into leadership competencies, not  only for someone who's in a formal leadership   role like I am, but for faculty you know  who had a pivot really quickly and who   are still experiencing the effects of the 

pandemic on students and their learning deficits. Well, oh go ahead Karen. No, and I'm  thinking as as we move forward with this is to   also gather some of that information to which  you referred in terms of identity, right, of   our respondents, so that will be really helpful  so, anyway. Yeah, I appreciate, I'm happy to hear   that the tool is is being adopted by others  and hopefully podcasts like this will help   encourage others to look at the tool and its 

relevance for them and use it. I see, you know,   I guess the question for me and why I  had that question in there was thinking about,   you know, as a gay male myself, do I see empathy  and gratitude differently in how I practice   leadership, right? And my suspicion would be  probably yes, a little bit, and so that would be   some information that would be really helpful to  reveal if there is any kind of difference and if   so, how does that translate then into the delivery, 

right? Correct. So the attribute you could probably   have a universal definition but how it plays out  maybe different. And we know that already when we   look at male-female communication, leader  communication. We see that for certain. So it   is an interesting perspective and one worth  pursuing for sure. Yeah, the attribute doesn't   change much, the definition of it, but how it is expressed or displayed could look   differently depending on the demographic, right. 

And I think about the the instrument development   and we use the test statements that came from  the original study and the development of this  

instrument. So perhaps even as we see differences  like we should see differences, right, as we look   at different populations, it might be helpful  for us to go back and do qualitative studies   with these groups to go back  and do another Delphi to see whether we   can refine these task statements a little bit so  that they're more applicable to a wider variety   of populations. Right. How would nurse

leaders use this tool? And again,    a nurse leader not being like a formal definition but how we self-identify maybe   as a leader. How would someone in that position use  these leadership competencies in their nursing,   with their nursing faculty? I'm all about faculty  development and so I think, I mean, and I know that   deans are always about faculty development so  I think this is, it's it's a tool in the toolkit   of assessing your abilities as a leader and there 

are many, many, we know that. So I look at this as an   additional one. And what's nice about this from my  perspective: remember, I'm the one that was brought   on the newest kid on the block here, is the is  the fact that this is nursing and so we have   gathered information about nurses. So I  love Kouzes and Posner but Kouzes and Posner is a   broader, a broader perspective, you know different  perspective, and the fact that this instrument was   developed based on input from nurse faculty 

I think makes it a strength. And then I would   have the conversation and say, gee, let's  have all of you have leadership essential .  Let's look and see where you are and how we can  help you develop further you mentioned Kouzes and Posner. That just brings back a lot of memories  from about 12 years ago at the Nurse Faculty   Leadership Academy. I mean, that's one of the  frameworks that is embedded in me that continues   to this day. Yeah and their model too is really 

global as well. So you know, when you think about,   when you think about the the traits. I'm trying to  remember exactly the use, it's an inventory, so   yes inventory, but so you know, model the way  like it's just very global but it is how you   implement it in your own practice as a leader in  terms of how maybe is more reflective of your own

identity. As we're talking about this, wouldn't it  be fun to them say, okay, we've looked at the   instrument, we've developed and then compare  it to see whether what are the attributes? Do they surface over time so that  we know that there's some great consistency   in terms of that or maybe there are really  important differences, right, in how we perceive   leadership as nurses and so that would a great 

exercise, another study to do. For our listeners   there's a lot of opportunities here to to work  with this tool and help develop this tool and   refine it, right. And you've got two great leaders  here that probably would be very encouraging for   that. Any any final thoughts or anything you want  to leave our listeners with that we didn't cover  

related to your article? I think just, you know,  one thought is that I really encourage   faculty that are listening to this to pursue  their own leadership development in whatever   way they want to go forward as a leader, whether  it is a formal role or just being a leader in   their school, in their course, whatever it is.  It's so badly needed in nursing education and   nurses that come from practice that go into  nursing education bring a lot to the table in  

terms of leadership skills already. So we just  really encourage people to take that plunge. I   would agree. I read a book that said act like a  leader and then think like a leader. If you keep   acting like a leader eventually you realize  that oh, maybe I am a leader, and you can move   forward. So I echo Anne's comments. All of us have  leadership potential and I think it's up to   us to be able to examine that and appreciate  it and as faculty we have a responsibility  

to demonstrate that. I want to thank both of you  personally for your championing leadership and   nursing education over the years and having you  both as guests today has been very beneficial   for not only myself but I know our listeners  they'll be very excited to to listen to your   perspectives. I appreciate your time and expertise  in broadening our understanding of the work that   you've been doing and how we can introduce 

some of this work in our own institutions. And   to our listeners, I just want to mention again  that if you had not had the opportunity,