Nursing Deans on Leading

Leading as a nursing dean or director is an honor and a privilege. It is also an intense experience that demands a full investment of one’s time, energy, wisdom, wit, and patience on a daily basis. Evidence suggests that serving as the chief nursing officer in an academic setting can be an overwhelming, stressful, and lonely experience. This book serves as a primer and all-purpose guide for nurses who are either new to academic leadership or aspire to academic leadership roles. It provides fundamental information in an engaging and conversational manner, with real-life examples that help the reader to understand and embrace the multifaceted opportunities and challenges of “deaning” and directing. The target audience is novice academic nursing leaders: deans, associate deans, assistant deans, chairs, and directors of nursing programs, departments, and schools. Section I introduces readers to selected aspects of the nursing dean/director role, including the processes of searching for and stepping into a position; day-to-day, for-profit, and interim deaning scenarios; and, finally, the process of stepping up from a dean or director position. Section II covers general responsibilities of nursing deans and directors, including enrollment management, student success, recruitment and retention, academic policies and programs, fundraising, stakeholder engagement, budgeting, strategic planning, clinical enterprises and faculty practice, and executive leadership. The book concludes with a section that covers work–life integration and self-care for nursing deans and directors.