Dear Editor,

I really enjoyed your article "Developing the Leadership Skills of New Graduates to Influence Practice Environments: A Novice Nurse Leadership Program."1 I truly believe that preparing new nurses for leadership roles is imperative in today's health care environment. With the continuing nursing shortage, younger, less-experienced nurses are going to be required to step into roles that can be somewhat intimidating. Although I think that the Novice Nurse Leadership initiative is a terrific idea and should be adopted by all organizations, I would go one step further by saying that this leadership-role-grooming process should take place in the academic environment. I am aware that most nursing curricula encompass leadership courses, but I am not convinced that with the direction that health care is leading today that novice nurses are genuinely prepared for what they are facing in the real world of nursing. Research shows that with the implementation of leadership development programs, nurses report feelings of empowerment and increased self-confidence.2 I feel that the implementation of leadership development programs must be before nurses leave the academic environment and enter the profession of nursing.

-Anita Doyle, BSN, RNC-OB

Baylor Regional MedicalCenter

Grapevine, Texas

[email protected]

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