The Nursing Professional Development (NPD) Leadership Academy, a 12-month mentored program offered by the Association for Nursing Professional Development (ANPD), recently concluded its 2020-2021 course of instruction. The academy prepares NPD practitioners to fulfill leadership roles within their organizations. The leader role is one of the seven essential NPD practitioner roles identified by the Nursing Professional Development: Scope and Standards of Practice (Harper & Maloney, 2016).
Applicants for the NPD Leadership Academy undergo a rigorous application process. Each applicant submits a curriculum vitae, a letter of support from their organizational leader, and a letter of interest explaining how they will use what they learn in the program to reach their professional goals. In addition, applicants outline a proposed best practice initiative they will develop throughout the NPD Leadership Academy program that aligns with both ANPD's and their organization's strategic plan. Finally, ANPD's Education Committee scores applicants based on a rubric focusing on their engagement with ANPD, their proposed best practice initiative with measurable outcomes, their initiatives' alignment with the ANPD's strategic plan, and the level of support offered by the applicants' organization. Seventeen applicants were selected to participate in the 4th NPD Leadership Academy cohort.
This year's 2020-2021 NPD Leadership Academy participants completed an array of best practice initiatives that explored innovative ideas such as virtual education, orientation redesign, resiliency programs, diversity and inclusion programs, and mentoring and coaching programs. These best practice initiatives resulted in measurable outcomes as highlighted in Table 1.
Once more, because of the challenges presented by COVID-19, ANPD made the difficult but necessary decision to shift its in-person convention to an online experience. The 2020-2021 NPD Leadership Academy graduates and their mentors were recognized during Aspire to Inclusivity and received a certificate, pin, and electronic badge acknowledging their dedicated participation in the NPD Leadership Academy. Their posters were presented in an electronic format so that attendees could still enjoy viewing the amazing initiatives completed by the graduates.
This year, ANPD welcomed 10 new participants to the 2021-2022 NPD Leadership Academy's 5th cohort. The program launched on April 28, 2021, with an asynchronous kickoff webinar outlining the expectations of the academy and explaining the requirements for the best practice initiative. The academy will continue to host several live webinars, presented by subject matter experts, focusing on leadership in NPD practice, measurable outcomes, NPD department operations and budget considerations, and the legal and technology-based aspects of NPD services. There will also be two pulse checks to allow participants to network with each other and the leadership academy mentors.
It is the hope the 5th cohort will be recognized at the in-person Aspire to Trailblaze in San Antonio, Texas, March 22-25, 2022. During that time, ANPD will resume a live NPD Leadership Academy kickoff, live leadership academy poster presentations, and a concurrent panel session providing four graduates with distinction with the opportunity to present their outstanding projects.
The call for applicants for the 2022-2023 annual NPD Leadership Academy will go out mid-September 2021. If you would like more information on the inception of the NPD Leadership Academy or its application process, refer to Preparing Nurse Leaders in Nursing Professional Development: Association for Nursing Professional Development Leadership Academy (Bodine, 2019). If interested in participating in an upcoming NPD Leadership Academy or becoming a mentor, please e-mail Jennnifer L. Bodine at mailto:[email protected] for more information.
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