Building Nursing Leadership Capacity: An Australian Snapshot

Leadership is a highly prized commodity across a range of contemporary industries, and healthcare is no exception where the stakes are high.1 and 2 Healthcare, previously viewed as peripheral to many other societal structures, is now front and center, largely due to increasing costs and the increased consumption of gross domestic product.3 Australia is a culturally diverse and pluralistic society supporting a system of universal healthcare that is accountable and transparent.4 There are over 200,000 nurses in Australia, working in hospitals, clinics, aged care facilities, and schools, and these individuals are integrally important to the effective and functional health system. Moreover, Australia is intensely aware of the effects of globalization and the importance of a global strategy for human resources for health.5 and 6