Maryann F. Fralic

Forging today's practice-academic link: a new era for nursing leadership.

In rapidly evolving health care scenarios, it is more essential than ever to have nursing viewed as a profession that has its clinical practice and academic arms united. It is necessary to keep schools of nursing entwined with what is evolving clinically and to keep clinical nurses closely involved with trends and issues in contemporary nursing education. To address this need, top nursing leadership must point the way. This article details one such model that was developed at Johns Hopkins, linking the service and education activities through the Institute for Johns Hopkins Nursing, a vehicle created for this purpose. Both sides shared a vision, both sides contributed willingly, and both have realized positive returns.

Retooling the nurse executive for 21st century practice: decision support systems.

Health care financing and care delivery systems are changing at almost warp speed. This requires new responses and new capabilities from contemporary nurse executives and calls for new approaches to the preparation of the next generation of nursing leaders. The premise of this article is that, in these highly unstable environments, the nurse executive faces the need to make high-impact decisions in relatively short time frames. A standardized process for objective decision making becomes essential. This article describes that process.

Patterns of preparation: the nurse executive.

The contemporary nurse executive is a hybrid — a blend of nurse and businessperson. The type, nature, and quality of educational preparation will determine the effectiveness of the nurse executive and the influence and impact that person will have on the organization. In this article, the author highlights the scope of responsibility of the nurse executive, models for con-ceptualizing the role, and the essential skills. The need for quality graduate programs in Nursing Administration, closely articulated with business and management schools, is forwarded as essential to nursings ability to prepare its own leaders.