National Delphi Study to Determine Competencies for Nursing Leadership in Public Health

Abstract

Purpose: To identify competencies needed by nurse leaders in public health programs. Design: Five‐round national Delphi. Sample: Convenience sample of members of major public health nursing associations and nurse and non‐nurse public health leaders in the USA. Methods: Mailed survey in 1994‐7995 using a modified snowball technique based on a modification of the Pew Foundation health professions’competencies for Round I. Four additional rounds produced consensus. Findings: Initially, 62 competencies were identified. Factor analysis resulted in four factors: political competencies, business acumen, program leadership, and management capabilities; 57 competencies were clustered in the four groupings and accounted for 91.4% of the variance. Conclusions: Graduate schools in nursing and public health must prepare students with broad‐based competencies from a variety of disciplines. Findings of this national survey provide a database for curriculum development and evaluation ofprograms to prepare nurse leaders for roles in public health‐based delivery systems.