Assessing leadership in nurse practitioner candidates

Objective The aim of this study was to explore the concept of leadership as it applies to nurse practitioners (NPs) and examine the issues around assessing NP candidates in Australia for leadership qualities. Setting Currently in Australia, registration as a nurse, midwife, enrolled nurse or nurse practitioner is conducted at the state or territory rather than the national level. Nurse practitioner is a protected title in Australia. To practice as a nurse practitioner in Australia, candidates must be endorsed or authorised by the nurse registering authority in the relevant state or territory of Australia. The NP candidate can be based in both hospital and community settings, caring for both inpatients and outpatients, over a range of specialty areas. The context of this paper is Victoria, Australia. Currently there is no national process for the registration of NPs. Each Australian state or territory determines its own requirements. Subjects Nurse practitioner candidates in Victoria, Australia. Primary argument Clinical leadership is difficult to define and assessment of NP candidates for leadership qualities can be subjective and inconsistent. Leadership is often confused with management and those who are seen by their colleagues as leaders are not necessarily in senior positions. NP candidates applying for endorsement or authorisation to practice as a nurse practitioner are assessed for competency in leadership by the nurse registering authorities with no clear defining criteria. Many of the leadership indicators may fall under a different Standard of Competency for NPs (ANMC 2006). Conclusions Those who are seen as leaders do not necessarily fulfill consistent and predictable criteria. Many NP candidates will not have achieved clinical leadership as outlined in the ANMC standards for Nurse Practitioners (2006). Definition of leadership has been notoriously difficult across nursing and other disciplines. The concept of transformational leadership appears to fit the NP model appropriately, although measurement of transformational leadership is as equally problematic as the traditional view of leadership. Until an acceptable definition of clinical leadership for an NP is developed, assessing NP candidates for this quality should be creative and flexible, and recognition should be given that leadership qualities may be in developmental stage.