Diving in: Using a "Shark Tank" approach to teach business skills to future DNP leaders.

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) education prepares graduates to lead clinical improvement and innovation across practice settings. Advanced clinical knowledge, leadership skills, and the development of quality/safety competencies uniquely prepare the DNP program graduates to drive organizational change. Adding business and financial competencies to the skill set of DNP graduates strengthens the impact and value of their role on financial, quality, and operational outcomes. The Organizational Systems and Healthcare Financing course in a DNP program was redesigned to engage learners using an innovative approach to teach business and financial principles. This paper aims to (a) describe a novel "Shark Tank" approach whereby students develop and "pitch" their business proposals to a panel of healthcare executives; (b) share examples of impactful change projects by student teams; (c) report DNP course and program evaluations including students' satisfaction and perceptions of value and knowledge gained in business principles; and (d) report opportunities for bidirectional mentorship, faculty recruitment, and succession planning. The success of this innovative team-based approach for teaching business/financial skills better prepares future DNP leaders and has implications for other DNP programs. Using this teaching strategy created opportunities for faculty recruitment, succession planning, and bidirectional mentorship of DNP-prepared nurse leaders.

The effectiveness of a leadership development program on self-awareness in practice.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to describe the changes in behaviors as reported by nursing leaders following participation in a leadership development program (LDP). BACKGROUND: There is a scarcity of research examining changes in leadership behaviors following LDP participation. A growing body of literature links critical behaviors and traits to outcomes among nurse managers and executives. Literature supports that leadership behaviors can be learned in educational programs if the environment is right and if the talent and capacity are present. METHODS: Focus groups and online responses were guided by a structured interview protocol to elicit responses from the participants of the behavioral changes that have occurred in them as a result of their participation in an LDP. RESULTS: Seven themes describing leadership behaviors were identified. These self-reported behaviors were present 5 to 9 months after completion of the LDP.