13: COACHING TO SUPPORT DOCTORAL ROLE TRANSITIONS ■ 313her new role and learned to balance her interactive and solo work time (Smith
Glasgow et al., 2009).
The themes listed earlier, from learning to say “ no ” to developing a per-
sonal style of leadership presence, plus the issues named in these two specific
case examples, are all challenges that are likely to appear in one form or another
in institutions that undergo role shifts and leadership transitions.■ CASE STUDIES: Two Individual Case Examples (continued)
■ SUMMARY
The DNP is an evolving field that involves twists, turns, and transitions for both the
individual as well as the professional itself. As the DNP increases its presence in our
shifting health care system, its opportunities for leadership and influence abound. To
optimize the DNP’s position, attention to leadership development is vital. Increasing
the leadership skills, and also the leadership conscious, multiplies the DNP’s contribu-
tions to the general public, individual patients, and the whole nursing profession.
To date, the nursing profession has not frequently engaged the use of executive
coaching to help grow its future leaders. The authors would also encourage the DNP
graduate to take advantage of leadership fellowships such as the National League for
Nursing LEAD Program, Leadership Development Program for Simulation Educators,
and Executive Leadership in Nursing Education and Practice, American Association
of Colleges of Nursing Leadership for Academic Nursing Programs (LANP), and the
Johnson & Johnson/Wharton Fellows Program in Management for Nurse Executives,
which many times offer individual executive coaching sessions. The AANP Leadership
Program is a new 12-month program developed for nurse practitioner leaders who are
currently serving in clinical, administrative, or educational roles and who demonstrate
the potential to assume roles of increasing national leadership both within the AANP
and throughout the nation. The AANP will recruit nurse practitioners from across the
United States and provide them with experiential leadership development through
both face-to-face and electronic learning opportunities. However, with the advent of
the DNP’s new role, it is the right time, and wise, for the DNP graduate, as well as for
other leaders in the nursing world, to seek support for leadership excellence. Our expe-
rience tells us that executive coaching can help individuals manifest their talents and
resourcefulness and maximize their personal and professional potential. It can inspire
and support the nursing profession as it attends to its mission of creating strategies and
solutions that improve and heal the human condition.
■ CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS
- What professional transitions have you already experienced in your career development?
What were the challenges you faced in making those transitions? - If you were promoted into a position of authority over those who are current peers, what
challenges do you think you would face? - What are the likely transition challenges that the DNP will face in the near future?