The Nurse Leadership Institute of Virginia (NLI) is the only program addressing Virginia’s nursing shortage by providing intensive leadership training for nurse managers to inspire, teach and empower them to become emerging leaders and catalysts for change.

The program helps nurse managers develop effective leadership skills with the hope of reducing turnover of both nurse managers and their staffs, said Denise Daly Konrad, director of the NLI, a 2007 initiative of the Richmond Memorial Health Foundation. “There is a nursing shortage across the U.S. and in Virginia. The Institute aims to keep nurses in nursing,” she said.

Teamwork stressed
Rocquel Crawley graduated from the program in 2008. Crawley has an MBA and a BSN, she is an RNC-OB (Registered Nursing Care in Obstetrics), and she is VCU Medical Center’s director of nursing and operations, ambulatory care.

“I think building and maintaining an effective team and the value of good communication were two of the biggest things I got from the program,” said Crawley, who was promoted to her current position as director of nursing after completing the NLI program.

“It is about being able to communicate at all different levels – from CEOs to directors to nurses,” she said. “It helped prepare us to address concerns, share ideas and handle conflict resolution.”

Nine-month program
The nine-month program involves five face-to-face sessions as well as distance/teleconferencing activities with 150-plus nurses from across the commonwealth. Topics range from leadership skills to decision making, communication, budgeting and finance.

“This institute is not just about being a manager, but about being effective leaders,” Crawley said.
For many in the program, spending time away from work is critical to reaping the full benefits of the program. Nurses meet at The Roslyn Conference and Retreat Center off River Road in Henrico County for several days. Work BlackBerries and cell phones are discouraged.

Isolation helped focus
“We were away from work and could stay focused on ourselves,” said RN Christina Monk, who holds a BSN and is nurse manager/unit director at Carilion Clinic in Roanoke. Monk graduated from the program in May 2009. She added that staying at the Roslyn Center where there is no television really helped her focus.

“There is nothing in our job that is quiet – but this was,” she said. “And they also focused on balance and how to take care of yourself and not get burned out.”

The program also encourages participants to network across the board with those in critical care, ambulatory care, emergency care and long-term health care. “Sometimes in management it is easy to become isolated and not talk to other managers,” Monk said. “Through this program, we developed camaraderie with other managers.”

Networking important
Crawley said she also appreciated networking with other nurses. “It is great to hear about other people’s issues and concerns and it made us realize no matter where you work, we all share the same concerns in our day-to-day operations,” she said.

Networking is further nurtured after graduation from NLI as the institute sends graduates e-mails and Web links about ongoing educational opportunities.

Monk received an e-mail about the Transforming Care at the Bedside project in Arizona. She applied and her team was selected as one of 30 hospitals nationwide to participate this February. “I would never have known about his without the networking of the NLI,” she said.

“The Nurse Leadership Institute is about being connected; collaboration and relationships,” said Monk, who is also mentoring a nurse from another hospital through the NLI program. “When you interact with other hospitals you get a wealth of knowledge and learn new ways to do things that you can take back to your hospital. It is a very supportive environment, and NLI makes sure those kinds of opportunities are available.”

Crawley added that NLI training has far-reaching effects. “It is a great way to prepare nurses to become effective leaders that will positively impact the nursing profession.”