| Literature suggests there is a lack of nursing leadership and better leadership preparation is required. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to gather the thoughts, opinions, and suggestions of faculty and students of a baccalaureate nursing (BN) program regarding preparation of baccalaureate students to meet leadership expectations upon graduation. Qualitative case study research uses several sources of evidence, rather than a single source (Yin, 2012). A survey, interviews, focus groups, and document review were conducted making a case study an appropriate method for this research. The perceptions of 25 students and 20 faculty participants (n=45) plus information from program documents were gathered. Interviews and focus groups, with semi-structured questions, were conducted in addition to an electronic survey. Data were organized using NVivo(TM), Survey Monkey(TM), and Microsoft Excel(TM) programs, plus manual coding. Findings were based on the words and specific responses of the participants. Themes identified from the data include: (1) leadership education needs to begin in year one of a BN program, (2) complexity science, leadership, and nursing have overlapping similarities validating complexity leadership in nursing as a leadership model, (3) additional leadership education is needed, and (4) leadership is needed in nursing. |
