Charge Nurse Leadership: Face-to-Face Training Versus Blended Training

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of the project was to compare the self-assessment of charge nurses’ leadership perceptions after an online resource was added to face- to-face training (blended learning) with their self-assessment of leadership skills gained from the current, strictly face-to-face, training program.

METHODOLOGY
The northeastern pediatric medical center where the capstone project took place has held the leadership course in the face-to-face format every quarter over the last five years for charge nurses new to the role (having five or fewer years of experience). The setting for the blended learning program included support from an IT specialist on the capstone project team, as well as a nurse educator who coordinated the charge nurse program using RNsConnect Internet. Participants completed the Leadership Practices Inventory pre and post, although only post results were used in this study. The face-to-face course enrolled nine participants, six of whom completed the LPI, while the blended program had 15 participants and six of them completed the LPI.

KEY FINDINGS
No statistically significant differences were found between those who participated in the face-to-face versus the blended training program. All in all, blended learning (involving the additional use of online resources) did not significantly improve the development of the charge nurses’ leadership practices.