Innovation in Nursing Leadership: A Skill That Can Be Learned

Innovation and creativity are part of everyday life for the bedside nurse. Nursing clinicians continuously innovate and create to meet each patient's unique needs. However, policies, regulations, and drama can inhibit that creativity when clinicians move into management. Three nurse leaders discuss their journeys to bring innovation into their leadership practices through participation in a yearlong program, the "Executive Fellowship in Innovation Health Leadership."The authors share insights gained after they participated in a cohort of health care leaders who took part in this yearlong fellowship. Details of the fellowship program are discussed, along with the benefits of entering such a program. Three separate innovation projects are reviewed. In Iowa, an Assistant Vice President of Nursing led the restructure and development of a support role to remove unnecessary tasks from nurse managers. In California, a Director of Education, Practice, and Informatics took a personal journey to enhance her senior leadership skills. In Florida, a Chief Nursing Officer created a program designed to teach nurse leaders to be innovative in health care. Each author addresses the innovation model/methodologies that they applied in the execution of their individual projects.