Frontline Nurse Engagement and Empowerment: Characteristics and Processes for Building Leadership Capacity.

Improving health care quality is the responsibility of nurses at all levels of the organization. This article describes a study that examined frontline staff nurses' professional practice characteristics to advance leadership through the understanding of relationships among practice environment, quality improvement, and outcomes. The study design was a descriptive quantitative design at 2 time points. Findings support the use of research and quality processes to build leadership capacity required for positive resolution of interdisciplinary operational failures.