Pioneering through chaos.

The 2014 International Nursing Administration Research Conference, "Pioneering Through Chaos: Leadership for a Changing World," was held at the Texas Woman's University in Dallas, Texas, in the fall of 2014. The program drew more than 100 attendees from 4 countries. The conference informed attendees from both academe and practice about the role of nursing administration in navigating the dynamic healthcare climate. This article will report on the insights from the conference presenters.

Career coaching: innovative academic-practice partnership for professional development.

This article describes an academic-practice partnership that uses career coaching to support the health care system's strategic plans to increase nurses' educational level. Nurses and other employees seek coaching to explore their career path and create an educational plan to accomplish their goal. Career coaching by nursing faculty provides a unique service as they have expert knowledge of various educational programs as well as methods for achieving academic success. The academic-practice partnership is a win-win-win; the health care system achieves advancement of professional nursing practice, employees are supported to advance their education and professional nursing practice, and faculty benefit from immersion in current professional concerns and issues.

Fostering completion of the doctor of philosophy degree through scholarly collegial support.

The doctor of philosophy (PhD) degree in nursing science prepares nurses to be scientists through a rigorous program of scholarship and research. Nurses who complete this degree are recognized globally as researchers who are expected to pursue a career of intellectual inquiry. Today, the internationally small cohort of PhD-prepared nurses contributes empirically to the generation and development of nursing science. There is currently a shortage of doctorally prepared nurses to meet the increased demands for researchers and educators in schools of nursing and experts in patient care. The Institute of Medicine has recommended doubling the number of doctorally prepared nurses by 2020 and has emphasized that nurses achieve higher levels of education and training through an improved educational system that promotes seamless academic progression. However, in the United States, the overall PhD completion rate is only 57%. This article reports on the process undertaken by a collegial support group of students in a PhD in nursing science program who encouraged each other's progress through the dissertation process within a calendar year.

Professional Presentation Skills Development in a Graduate Nursing Program.

BACKGROUND: Expert communication skills are essential for nurse leaders to effectively influence health care. Because effective communication is a learned process, the curriculum should promote the development of presentation skills. An educational strategy was designed to promote the development of effective presentation skills for learners in the Nursing Leadership and Administration (NLA) track of the master's in nursing curriculum. METHOD: Sixteen learners in the NLA cohort were participants in a three-session presentation skills workshop. Following a baseline presentation, participants were taught presentation strategies and skills. Expert evaluators and learner self-assessments rated their presentation skills. RESULTS: Analysis of evaluators' ratings showed statistically significant (p < .001) increases in learners' presentation effectiveness. Analysis of learner self-ratings showed a statistically significant (p = .008) increase in perceived effectiveness of overall presentation skills. CONCLUSION: This unique educational intervention improved nurse leaders' presentation skills. Faculty found that the professional presentation skill workshop was important to learners' success.