title: Enhancing frontline clinical leadership in an acute hospital trust.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To report on a leadership programme for ward managers in one National Health Service Trust that aimed to enhance their contribution to the delivery of the organisation's key objectives to support excellent patient experience.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Effective ward leadership has been recognised as vital to the quality of care, resource management and interprofessional working. However, there is evidence that, at present, front-line nurse leaders are ill equipped to lead effectively and lack confidence in their ability to do so.
  
  
  METHODS
  The project aimed to provide a tailored programme for ward managers to develop their portfolio of skills to perform this pivotal role. The course contained two key elements: an integrated teaching programme to enhance leadership knowledge and skills and action learning to facilitate application to individual's own leadership practice. Both were underpinned by a change project where each individual identified, undertook and evaluated an innovation in practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-two ward managers completed the leadership programme. Participants completed semi-structured questionnaires after each taught module. Action learning was evaluated through a combined structured and semi-structured questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All participants evaluated the programme as increasing their repertoire of leadership skills. Following completion of the programme, ward managers continue to work together as an evolving community of practice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ward managers' development is enhanced by a programme integrating theory, action learning and completion of a ward-based project.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ward managers cannot be effectively developed in isolation. Leadership development is best supported where the organisation is also committed to developing. A leadership development programme that incorporates knowledge from within the organisation with external expertise can be an effective method to enhance front-line clinical leadership.
authors.affiliation: University College Hospitals London NHS Foundation Trust, 250 Euston Road, London, UK. natasha.phillips@uclh.nhs.uk
authors.forename: Natasha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: Geraldine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Byrne
mesh_terms: D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000458:organization & administration*; D007857:Leadership; D011361:Professional Competence; D006113:United Kingdom
keywords: action learning; communities of practice; nurse leadership; organisational learning; ward manager; ward sister