Effective succession planning in nursing: a review of the literature.
OBJECTIVE
This review summarizes and evaluates succession planning initiatives in nursing and proposes a new, comprehensive succession planning model for nursing.


BACKGROUND
A major challenge facing nursing is maintaining leadership capital. In the U.SA. and elsewhere, this challenge is complicated by current and projected nursing shortages and uncertainty associated with political, economic and social factors affecting health-care delivery. Evaluation databases and the Internet contributed information to this review. Because the problems of identifying, recruiting, developing and retaining nursing leaders are related to the global nursing shortage, sources from several countries and international organizations were used.


RESULTS
The current and projected global nursing shortage and economic, political and social factors affecting health-care delivery world-wide make effective succession planning an absolute necessity for the nursing profession.


CONCLUSIONS
Nursing leaders must plan for succession at all management levels. To validate benefits of this planning, three topics for future research are suggested.


CONCLUSIONS
Succession planning should incorporate the identification, recruitment, retention, development, coaching and mentoring of potential nurse leaders as early as high school. Communication, cooperation and coordination between academia and practice that complements the academic preparation of new nurses is essential.
Department of Nursing, Bethel University, McKenzie, TN 38201, USA. griffithmb@bethelu.edu
Mary Bess
MB
Griffith
D002983:Clinical Competence; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006285:Health Planning / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality; D007857:Leadership; D016294:Models, Nursing; D017146:Models, Organizational; D009718:Nurse Administrators; D009729:Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D035501:Uncertainty; D014481:United States; D000078329:Workforce