Keeping the Center: Leadership Resilience Through Shared Learning

In 2015, the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) launched the inaugural Nurse Director Fellowship. The fellowship is a year-long professional development program designed to provide an immersive educational experience for nurse directors. The only program of its kind, the Nurse Director Fellowship strives to support the Institute of Medicine's Future of Nursing report's recommendation to prepare and enable nurses to lead change to advance health. The core curriculum focuses on strengthening leadership, enhancing the ability to lead change, developing innovative strategies for addressing challenges in the health care system, and the need for continued life-long learning to sustain the next generation of successful nurse executives. Experts in health care and other fields, including leadership, influence, and advocacy, offer a robust action learning environment. Diverse, shared learning experiences are utilized to strengthen leadership skills over multiple domains. Throughout sessions, participants are challenged to push boundaries, get out of their comfort zone, and allow themselves to become vulnerable within the group. Through shared learning, they develop leadership resilience to withstand the challenges that lie ahead.