A blueprint for leadership: designing and implementing an experiential program to cultivate authentic, servant nurse leaders

The nursing profession is at a pivotal moment, facing challenges that demand innovative solutions. Among the most pressing challenges is a nursing shortage that coincides with a rapidly evolving healthcare landscape characterized by technological advancements, complex patient needs and heightened expectations for quality and safety (Sinha, 2024; Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025). Given these challenges, there is a need for practice-ready nurse leaders (Bernardes et al., 2025). To ensure nursing programs are preparing students for practice, the AACN introduced The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education (The Essentials) in 2021 (AACN, 2025). This framework requires accredited nursing programs to adopt competency-based education (CBE) to ensure that students demonstrate proficiency across ten domains.

Creighton University, a midsized private university, partnered with the Harper Foundation, a local foundation, to create the Harper Nursing Scholars Program (HNSP), an innovative four-year initiative designed to attract academically talented students and cultivate authentic, servant nurse leaders to address these needs. Table 1 lists the competency and sub-competencies that were considered in the development of the HNSP. Sub-competencies that are not listed in the table are met in the greater nursing curriculum.

This article describes the design and implementation of the HNSP, highlighting the program’s theoretical underpinnings, curricular structure and initial outcomes.

Nursing students identified leadership as paramount characteristic of professional nurses and reported that course work, innovative teaching methods, extracurricular activities and continuing education help to build socialization and leadership skills and traits, supporting The Essentials: Domain 10 (Aydogdu, 2023; James, Watkins, & Carrier, 2022). Connecting theory to practice while cultivating meaningful leadership experiences for students is critical to student leadership development (Dos Santos et al., 2021).

The HNSP integrates two distinct leadership theories into its foundational design. Authentic Leadership Theory (ALT) establishes the foundation by focusing on the leader’s internal moral core (self-awareness and internalized values) to ensure that their actions are genuine and ethically guided (George, 2003). Cultivating self-aware and self-reflective leaders is essential, as their authenticity correlates with improved safety outcomes and a more supportive clinical environment (Bernardes et al., 2025). Participating in and reflecting on authentic leadership simulations helped bridge the gap between theory and practice, showing that students are more likely to act ethically in real-world situations (Lvina, 2025; Stover & Seemiller, 2017; Sunderman, McCain, Orsini, Adebayo, & Cheng, 2025). Authentic leadership leads to higher levels of self-efficacy, job satisfaction, support, job engagement and job stability for nurses (AbuAlRub, Mrayyan, & Bani-Younes, 2026; Bamford, Wong, & Laschinger, 2013).

In contrast, Servant Leadership Theory (SLT) centers on the leader’s external orientation, emphasizing the priority of followers’ needs, interests and development over the leader’s own (Greenleaf, 1970). Servant leadership reduces nurse burnout and emotional exhaustion by increasing psychological safety, job autonomy and job satisfaction (Faraz, Xiong, Mehmood, Ahmed, & Pervaiz, 2023; Ma et al., 2021; Westbrook, Nicol, Nicol, & Thornton Orr, 2022). Servant nurse leadership results in higher safety and hospital ratings, impacting quality of care and patient outcomes (Malak, Mirza, Rundio, & Mirza, 2022). Including SLT in nursing education is positively associated with spirituality and the development of emotional intelligence for students while providing students with a framework for social justice and advocacy (Abu, 2025; Anderson, 2016; Maglione & Neville, 2021).

These two theories are mutually reinforcing: a leader’s authenticity establishes the credibility and ethical grounding needed to ensure their service remains focused on the growth of others rather than self-interest. The empirical evidence of ALT and SLT in nursing practice and education helped connect theory to practice and guide the creation and development of the HNSP. The first two years of the HNSP lay the foundation for authentic leadership, while the second two offer opportunities for students to grow as servant leaders.

A foundational gift for the HNSP of $5.2 million supports $40,000 annual scholarships and programming for 30 students across four cohorts. The program director dedicated a year prior to implementation to designing the four-year program. Theoretical frameworks, CBE and the programs’ foundational pillars – leadership, advocacy, research and service and justice – guided the curriculum design. The purpose of the program is to form academically talented students into reflective and compassionate practitioners, innovative scholars, confident advocates, and authentic and ethical nurse leaders through hands-on learning, enrichment opportunities and a curriculum rooted in the Jesuit tradition.

After aligning ALT and SLT with empirical evidence in nursing, education and clinical practice while considering The Essentials, the following learning outcomes were written to help guide the HNSP planning process and program implementation:

1. Demonstrate enhanced self-awareness and leader identity.

2. Apply a framework for ethical decision-making.

3. Execute evidence-based scholarship and problem-solving.

4. Embody a servant leadership orientation for social justice.

5. Integrate professional socialization and competency-based leadership.

High school seniors admitted to the CON with a minimum GPA of 3.8 are invited to apply for the program because they have demonstrated the academic ability to be successful in the rigorous nursing curriculum. The application includes answering an essay prompt and participating in a 1:1 interview.

Each academic year offers Keystone Activities, which are mapped to ALT and/or SLT, and CBE and career development activities such as dinner meetings, interview practice and resume review.

First-year students participate in three keystone activities. During an overnight retreat, students foster a sense of community while exploring and sharing their personal gifts and CliftonStrengths® (Gallup, 2025) to deepen their self-understanding. They practice journaling as a tool for reflection, self-care and introspection. In a course, “Caring for Yourself and Your Community,” students develop awareness of self in relation to others and the community, demonstrate effective communication skills and practice effective self-care. Finally, students reflect on and discuss Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life (Burnett & Evans, 2016). Students respond to questions taken directly from the book reflecting on their Workview, Lifeview and the integration of the two (pp. 34–37).

Sophomore scholars participate in four keystone activities. In preparation for two book discussions, students write two discussion questions and a short reflection addressing ideas from Heroic Leadership: Best Practices from a 450-year-old Company that Changed the World (Lowney, 2003) and With Winning in Mind (Bassham, 2012) that they will carry with them throughout their leadership journeys. Students attend the Nebraska Nurses Association’s (NNA) Day at the Legislature, a workshop at the capitol where students learn how nurses influence health policy and meet with legislators (NNA, n.d.). Finally, students take a course, “Ignatian Leadership: Ethics and Reflection.” This course empowers students to cultivate an inclusive leadership identity and a commitment to meaningful community impact through reflection and alignment of personal strengths with ethical values. The addition of this course, when combined with two existing nursing leadership courses, qualifies each scholar for a “Leadership Concentration,” demonstrating students have received advanced knowledge and experiences preparing them to be nurse leaders.

During their junior year, scholars participate in a leadership simulation and begin their two-year HNSP capstone project. Over the course of this mentored capstone, students undergo a comprehensive project by identifying a nursing-sensitive issue, synthesizing evidence-based literature, to develop strategic interventions through the lens of one of the four HNSP pillars: leadership, advocacy, research, or service and justice.

For the final year, senior scholars travel to the Dominican Republic for a week-long service and justice nursing immersion and participate in a leadership-shadowing experience. During the shadowing experience, students are paired with a recognized nurse leader in the community and analyze the leader’s decision-making and values-alignment to refine their own leadership model, ultimately identifying specific behaviors and techniques to adopt in their professional roles. Students finish the program by disseminating their capstone presentation. Table 2 illustrates the mapping of keystone activities.

Although the HNSP is only in the second year of implementation, it has demonstrated several significant and surprising outcomes.

Meaningful early results align with the first two program outcomes: demonstrating enhanced self-awareness and applying a framework for ethical decision making. A review of retreat reflections from ten students across two cohorts revealed four key developmental themes. Enhanced self-awareness allowed students to identify unique personal strengths while simultaneously learning strategies for self-compassion and grace. Their leadership concepts evolved as they recognized that diverse talents lead to different leadership styles, shifting from external motivations toward an intrinsic, purposeful approach. Community formation was sparked by the discovery of shared social justice interests, with students finding a collective mission. Finally, scholars adopted concrete reflective practices, committing to daily journaling and the intentional use of empathy to support and connect with their peers. Additionally, students met the objectives for the “Caring for Yourself and Your Community” course, book club discussions and reflections and legislative workshop, demonstrating that they have meet the mapped competencies and program outcomes.

During the interview process, many students stated that they were unaware that nurses could be involved in leadership until they were invited to apply for the program. This program has elevated the nursing profession, by introducing well over 500 high school students to the idea that nurses are leaders, before starting their nursing education.

A surprising outcome of the program’s implementation is the positive effect on faculty morale and engagement within the CON. The three large-scale, on-campus interview days facilitated extensive interaction between CON faculty and highly motivated prospective students. Following these events, anecdotal feedback from faculty members included feeling a sense of optimism regarding the future of the nursing profession and a renewed sense of professional vigor attributed to the high engagement level and eagerness demonstrated by the prospective students. This shift suggests that the program may have a positive effect on faculty engagement.

The introduction of the HNSP represents a transformative shift in undergraduate nursing education for the university, merging academic rigor with intentional leadership development. For other institutions aspiring to replicate this model, the following recommendations are offered.

Successful implementation requires institutional alignment, financial support and the appointment of a program director. The critical enabler of this program was a $5.2 million gift from a local foundation.

The selection criteria should be anchored in academic excellence. The 3.8 high school GPA requirement serves as a vital benchmark for identifying students with the academic ability necessary to succeed. The use of standardized rubrics for both the essay and interview phases maintains objectivity. Copies of the rubrics and essay question are available upon request from the author.

Anchoring the program in ALT and SLT guides the freshman to senior year programming of keystone activities. Mapping keystone activities to learning outcomes ensures theoretical alignment. Aligning the curriculum and learning outcomes with The Essentials competencies facilitate professional socialization and workforce readiness.

Outcomes will continue to be measured as students progress through the program to determine program effectiveness. The findings from these analyses may be used to inform the development of broader leadership CBE education for all nursing students. Also, engaging students after graduation through longitudinal surveys is another area to investigate how the program impacts practice.

Harty, A. (2025, July 13-16). Cultivating nurse leaders: The impact of a scholars program on undergraduate education. [Conference session] Rise Together: Leadership in a New Light, Association of Leadership Educators, San Diego, CA, United States.

The author would like to acknowledge the use of NotebookLM as an organizational aid in the creation and formatting of the two tables. After the tables were created, the author verified accuracy and clarity and made appropriate edits.