Leadership in nursing: The importance of recognising inherent values and attributes to secure a positive future for the profession.

Nursing is a dynamic and challenging profession requiring engaging and inspiring role models and leaders. In today's ever changing and demanding healthcare environment, identifying and developing nurse leaders is one of the greatest challenges faced by the nursing profession. The concept of leadership is a complex and multi-dimensional phenomenon; research conducted for over a century concludes that although it is one of the most observed concepts, no universally accepted definition or theory of leadership actually exists.

The theory-practice gap and skill acquisition: an issue for nursing education.

Matching textbook descriptions of clinical situations with the reality of practice is an ongoing problem faced by members of the nursing profession and is commonly referred to as the "theory-practice gap". This ubiquitous gap is inevitably encountered by all nurses at various times; yet it is widely agreed that it is student nurses--given their novice, rule governed status--who find themselves in the midst of the theory-practice void. This paper will discuss the nature of the theory-practice gap and skill acquisition, in relation to a personal experience of mine as an undergraduate nursing student, and its significance in relation to student anxiety levels, nurse education (specifically the roles of the classroom teacher and clinical educators), teaching methods and the responsibility of the student to become accountable for their own education.