You've spent your fair share of time at bedsides, providing direct and compassionate care to patients. Now, you're ready for a change of scenery. For many nursing professionals, advancement into a leadership role is a natural progression. But how, exactly, do you make that transition — and how can you keep your clinical edge even as you move away from bedside nursing?
Even if you're still enjoying your time as a bedside nurse, there are many reasons to aspire to a leadership role.
As a nursing leader, you can enjoy the satisfaction that comes with knowing you're making an impact on a large scale. From advocating for quality improvement in nursing to taking part in nurse mentorship programs, you can truly extend your reach and support as many patients as possible. Leadership roles also open doors to policy development and organizational decision-making, allowing you to shape healthcare delivery at every level.
Through a nursing leadership position, you can combine your own vision and purpose as a healthcare professional with your personal and professional strengths to improve patient care and inspire teams. By aligning these elements, you’ll foster a more cohesive, values-driven approach to nursing that promotes both team morale and long-term career fulfillment.
Are you ready to become a leader in nursing? Consider performing a self-assessment and setting both short- and long-term goals.
Take time to reflect objectively on your career thus far in nursing. What are some of your strengths, and how could those apply to a future leadership role? What are some areas where you could improve? Whether you need to work on your communication or delegation skills, setting goals to sharpen those skills is a must.
Portfolios aren't just for artists; nursing professionals can also benefit from maintaining portfolios that document their certifications and achievements. If you're pursuing a leadership role, be sure to include specific examples of ways you've successfully led and motivated teams. You can also list positive outcomes, such as improved patient satisfaction scores, reduced staff turnover, or measurable gains in care quality.
In addition to developing leadership skills for nurses, there are specific credentials that could help you prepare for the demands and opportunities of nursing leadership roles.
If you already have an undergraduate degree in nursing, such as a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), it may be time to pursue a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) or even a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP). For those who already have an MSN, consider additional certificates to sharpen those essential leadership and nurse manager skills, such as a certificate in nursing education. These focused programs can help you stay current with evolving healthcare standards and expand your expertise in specialized areas.
In addition to formal degrees and certificates, other specialized licenses and/or certifications to explore as an aspiring nurse leader include:
As a fresh nursing leader, there are several core management skills that are critical as you get your bearings and prepare to make positive change.
You already have plenty of experience working with others as a bedside nurse, but being a nurse leader will require an even stronger ability to connect with others — including people from different backgrounds and walks of life. In leadership, this means fostering trust, promoting inclusivity, and creating a supportive environment where every team member feels valued and empowered to deliver their best care.
Nursing leaders may take on more responsibility when it comes to nursing budget management, operations, and finance within their respective facilities. A strong business acumen and solid understanding of budgetary issues can help with these responsibilities.
Patient and worker safety are top priorities in any healthcare facility. Nursing leaders must ensure that teams have access to the right training, equipment, and resources needed to safely deliver quality care. A robust knowledge of healthcare industry regulatory requirements is also a must for maintaining compliance. Managing Joint Commission readiness helps nursing leaders ensure that staff are confident, compliant, and ready to deliver exceptional care during patient surveys.
Even as you move out of bedside nursing, it's important not to forget your roots. The most effective nursing leaders tend to be the ones who remember what it's like to serve on the front lines.
Following evidence-based decision-making (EBDM) and root cause analysis in nursing are critical to optimizing patient outcomes and quality of care. These approaches also help reduce costs and promote a culture of continuous improvement.
The nursing field doesn't exist in a bubble; nursing professionals and leaders must constantly work alongside other healthcare professionals, ranging from physicians and surgeons to specialists. With this in mind, nursing leaders should focus on fostering interdisciplinary collaboration to enhance patient outcomes and improve efficiency.
Effective communication in nursing management is a must, ensuring that information is delivered clearly and accurately when it matters most.
Aspiring nursing leaders should work on improving their enterprise communication skills, including active listening, which focuses on fully tuning into others' thoughts and perspectives. Strong communication at the organizational level also involves presenting ideas clearly, adapting messages for diverse audiences, and fostering collaboration across departments.
Nursing leaders are tasked with mastering upward, lateral, and frontline messaging:
After becoming a nurse leader, here are some targets you can focus on to make a positive impact.
The first 90 to 180 days as a nurse leader are all about building and stabilizing your team. This should include being clear about expectations, processes, and systems. During this period, focus on learning your team’s dynamics, identifying strengths and areas for development, and creating consistent communication channels.
Ideally, your first three to six months on the job will include a high-impact project that focuses on improvement in one or more areas. This may be something as simple as implementing a new software app or platform to help nurses resolve a shared pain point. By implementing a high-impact change early in your leadership debut, you can start strong and continue moving forward with that momentum.
Be sure to prepare teams for new policies, tools, or procedures. Effective change management in nursing leadership can help ease transitions, reduce resistance, and shorten adjustment periods. One proven approach is the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) model. PDSA cycles in healthcare allow leaders to test, evaluate, and refine changes while improving patient outcomes.
As part of your professional growth, it’s important to think ahead about succession planning in nursing — identifying and mentoring emerging talent who can step into leadership roles in the future.
Building an advisory circle involves connecting with nursing leaders and other healthcare professionals that you can trust for guidance, mentorship, and skill development. It may include mentors, peers, educators, and interdisciplinary collaborators who offer diverse perspectives on leadership challenges.
Maintaining your own well-being while cultivating the long-term well-being of patients and staff requires a strong sense of personal sustainability. This can be achieved by prioritizing your own self-care, providing support to your team members (such as through staff development in nursing opportunities), and fostering a healthy organizational culture where your team members feel valued. These can also serve as valuable turnover reduction strategies.
These days, strong leadership skills alone may not be enough; capable nurse leaders also need to be proficient in the use of digital tools and technologies to do their jobs more efficiently.
Nurse leaders in today's digital environment may work with the following tools on any given day:
With more data being collected and used to inform decision-making in healthcare, the next generation of nursing leaders needs to have a strong sense of data ethics. This includes robust knowledge of the most up-to-date governance and compliance standards for data privacy.
Nurse leaders can't expect others to automatically notice the impact of their work. Thus, if they want to advance further, they’ll need to document their successes.
Depending on their goals and objectives, nurse leaders may define and track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as:
Inspiring positive change and documenting these results can help nurse leaders advance their careers. Many pursue roles such as:
You don't necessarily need a graduate degree to move into management in nursing positions. Many nurses transition into charge or unit manager roles with a BSN and proven experience/results. However, an MSN, Master of Health Administration (MHA), or leadership certificate can increase competitiveness while preparing you for director/Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) tracks.
The leadership certification you pursue will depend on your target role. If you're interested in a management position, then a CNML may be your best bet. For broader administrative leadership roles, you might consider NE-BC/NEA-BC paired with a Lean Sigma Green Belt for quality projects.
You don't need a formal title to gain management experience in nursing. You can develop this experience by leading a unit project (such as reducing falls), precepting new staff members, or even volunteering to chair a committee. Document your baselines, interventions, and measurable outcomes to demonstrate your effectiveness.
Balancing responsibilities is a common challenge for nursing leaders. Many find that maintaining limited clinical exposure can help strike that ideal balance. This may include shadowing, picking up occasional shifts, and bedside rounding. From there, you can use frontline feedback and data reviews to inform decisions and sustain trust as a nursing professional.
Generally, nursing leaders should prioritize safety and staffing above all else, with relevant KPIs including falls and Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injury (HAPI) data. Other KPIs worth tracking include HCAHPS communication domains, turnover and vacancy, schedule adherence, and labor cost per unit of service.
Conflict is inevitable in any fast-paced work setting. Nursing leaders can use intent-impact-next step language, set team agreements, and mediate with clear timelines to keep team members on track. Likewise, giving bite-size and regular feedback while knowing when to escalate issues to human resources (HR) can also help manage conflict in the workplace.
You can prepare for nursing leadership interviews by developing a strong portfolio that demonstrates your ability to yield results, including anecdotes that are directly tied to KPIs. You can also include examples of difficult conversations and/or scenarios you've handled, with detailed summaries of the steps you took.
Serving as a nursing leader can be a challenging yet fulfilling way to make a lasting difference in the lives of patients and fellow nurses alike. The key to succeeding as a nursing leader is to pursue the credentials that will help you build the skills and knowledge you need to effectively lead and motivate teams.
At Indiana Wesleyan University, we're proud to offer a number of nursing degree and certificate programs that prepare bedside nurses for nursing leadership roles. Whether you're ready to earn your BSN, MSN, or even a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), our convenient, flexible online program options help you advance your education without putting your professional life on hold. Get in touch to request more information or apply now!
