| This qualitative study explored the concept of leadership for the generalist nurse in acute care practice through the perceptions of generalist nurses, nurse administrators, and nurse faculty. Challenges in current generalist nurse practice include more complex patients with shorter lengths of stay, advancements in technology, and increased responsibilities in a chaotic healthcare environment. According to the Institute of Medicine's report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health (2011) all nurses are leaders even the nurse at the bedside. The leadership components needed for effective generalist nurse practice was determined through an interpretive phenomenological analysis of participant data. In addition, the educational preparation and continuing development of leadership for generalist nurses were explored. A model of the generalist nurse as a leader developed from participant data consists of the overarching components: (a) effective communicator, (b) clinical decision making, and (c) approach to care dispositions. Analysis of participant data provided a rich description of an exemplary generalist nurse leader. Leadership is an essential component of generalist nurse practice. To change the mindset of generalist nurses to include leadership will require a transformative change with support and innovative educational approaches from both healthcare institutions and academia. |
