The Australian College of Nursing (ACN) Mid-Career Nurse Leadership Program provides nurses who are passionate about advancing their careers with the skills to lead change in the nursing profession. Participants are supported through personal development, career coaching and learning sets. The program’s inaugural participants undertook a five-day intensive course in Canberra in June 2019 and have continued to be supported with learning sets and coaching while they complete a project or quality improvement initiative. Our Mid-Career Nurse Leadership Program NurseClick series profiles four of the inaugural participants’ experiences in the program.

Kylie Hasse MACN is an Australian Army nurse who was inspired to apply for the Mid-Career Nurse Leadership Program after a conversation with ACN Director of Strategy Tania Dufty FACN at an ACN event in Canberra. ‘’I saw the program as a formal way of working out my leadership style,” she said. Participating in the program has greatly assisted Kylie in formulating her own understanding of nurse leadership. “The program solidified confidence in my own leadership ability and gave me practical tools and touch points of people to go to for advice,” she said.

As part of the program, Kylie has access to a mentor who has played a vital part in developing her leadership skills. She highlighted this provided her with a valuable perspective from a highly experienced individual from different nursing background. “Having somebody outside my organisation I can go to for advice is amazing,” she said.

Kylie also highlighted how the interaction with high-profile leaders of the Australian nursing profession during the five-day face-to-face intensive course in Canberra has made her more confident to create new connections. “I am now more confident approaching senior nurse leaders and expanding my personal network,” she said.

On a practical level, Kylie has gained valuable knowledge on how to solve and work through challenging situations which arise in her workplace. Furthermore, she identified the value of being exposed to a variety of perspectives of how nurse leadership operates in different settings. “Understanding how other systems function has helped me better understand my own system,” she said.

Looking forward, Kylie is about to begin the next chapter of her nursing career by taking on a new role as a health centre manager. She believes the program has provided her with the skills and confidence to adapt to the challenges that will come with her new position. “Personally, I feel the program has laid really strong foundations and made me confident to work in an environment that is totally new to me,” she said.

When asked to identify the highlight of her experience in the program, Kylie singled out the incredible connections she made with the other inaugural participants. “The peer group we have is fabulous, I’ve got the greatest group of new friends out of the program,” she said.

Kylie is an exceptional nurse leader and we are honoured to have her as a member of our ACN tribe. You can follow in her footsteps by applying for our next intake of the Mid-Career Nurse Leadership Program. 

*This article has been sourced from Australian College of Nursing NurseClick Blog.