International Nursing Leadership Institute
AIHA’s International Nursing Leadership Institute tapped into a wide range of adult education methodologies to create an integrated learning experience that focuses on skills acquisition and professional development.
Between 1999 and 2003, 56 nursing professionals received more than 12,000 hours of training through the Institute and, in turn, have committed to passing along their new knowledge and skills to colleagues at hospitals and clinics throughout the region. Of these nurses, 23 were subsequently promoted to leadership positions due, in part, to the skills they developed through the program.
Additionally, AIHA offered Institute graduates an opportunity to continue work on projects that benefit their partnership or local communities through a competitive small grants program. Twenty-three of the graduates submitted proposals and 11 hailing from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine were awarded funding for projects that focused on association building, clinical practice, leadership, and curriculum development.
The International Nursing Leadership Institute (INLI) is a yearlong learning experience in which NIS and CEE nurses can develop the skills and knowledge necessary to be successful leaders in today’s health care environment. Institute faculty utilize varied teaching methodologies to create an integrated curriculum, graduating the participant into an ongoing community of colleagues and peers. Borrowing from several successful adult learning models, INLI provides a unique opportunity for future health care leaders to excel. Three classes have graduated between 1999 and 2002.
Class I included 15 NIS and five CEE nurses, each of whom developed a specific project that would enhance healthcare on a regional level. A goal of the INLI program is to develop a cadre of nurse faculty in the NIS and CEE countries. Several INLI graduates have achieved this goal by co-teaching, teaching, and facilitating sessions for subsequent classes. Class II included nurses from AIHA’s primary health care partnerships in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Like their colleagues, they developed projects specific to their own regions. Global outreach for the nurses included participation in the International Council of Nurses (ICN) Centennial Celebration in London for Class one and for Class two, the ICN meeting in Copenhagen.
Guest faculty have enhanced the learning process. Sigma Theta Tau International, an Organization committed to fostering excellence, scholarship, and leadership in nursing to improve health care worldwide, offered workshops to create the underlying infrastructure needed to professionalize nursing, with a focus on academic excellence and nursing research. Leah Curtin, publisher and author, provided writing workshops, and Kirsten Stallknecht, immediate past president of the International Council of Nurses (ICN) addressed the members of Class II. In Class III Anita Lymburner and Vicki George from the American Nurses Association American Nurses Credentialing Center presented the American Nurses Association Scope and Standards for Nurse Administrators. These are the basis for the quality indicators and standards of nursing practice used to build programs of nursing excellence through the Magnet Recognition Program of the American Nurses Association.
To provide an opportunity for the nurses who completed INLI training to continue work on projects that benefit their partnership or local communities, AIHA opened up a small grants competition for 56 INLI graduates. Through a competitive application process, 23 graduates submitted proposals and, of those, 11 nurses were awarded funding for projects focused on association building, clinical practice, leadership, and curriculum development. The graduates represented Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine.
INLI faculty included these respected U.S. nurse leaders:
- Ann Marie Brooks, RN, DNSc, MBA, FAAN, FACHE
- Sharon M. Weinstein, M.S., CRNI, RN, FAAN
- Jane Younger, MSN, RN