Setting the Stage for Success: Mentoring and Leadership Development

The New Careers in Nursing (NCIN) Program funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has expanded enrollment in schools of nursing with accelerated nursing programs and increased diversity in the nursing workforce. As the demand for highly educated and skilled nurses continues to grow, accelerated nursing programs are thriving and increasing in number. The growing cadre of nontraditional nursing students has challenged nursing faculty to institute innovative teaching methods to develop accelerated students' leadership skills and to provide mentoring resources for newly licensed nurses to guide the successful and complex transition from the student to professional practice. To support its grantee schools and their scholars, the NCIN National Program office has supported the development and distribution of toolkits and other resources and solicited request for proposals to recognize outstanding contributions. The Program Innovation grants are intended to support nurse faculty educators working to develop and enhance educational projects to implement innovative approaches to accelerated nursing education that can be taken to scale and replicated in a variety of educational settings. The Legacy Award honors a program that describes lasting impact on the school as a result of participation in the NCIN program. Two of these projects are described with emphasis on leadership development and transition to practice.