A Systematic Review of Interventions Aiming to Promote Leadership Skills among Nursing Students: From In-Class Strategies to Curriculum Revisions

Abstract

Introduction: Leadership skills are key to providing safe and standardized care in complex clinical settings. Nursing instructors and educational institutions' understanding of successful teaching techniques for enhancing leadership skills allows for the implementation of suitable measures to increase teaching efficacy and leadership competencies among nursing students. The objective of this study was to systematically review studies on educational strategies aiming to develop leadership skills among nursing students.Methods: A systematic review was conducted to recruit studies published between 2000 and July 2023 in PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Scopus using a combination of predetermined keywords. Two independent reviewers screened and selected studies, and methodological quality was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) scale and mixed-methods appraisal tool (MMAT).Results: Nine out of 419 articles were selected based on the PRISMA protocol and entered the structured review process. Most studies were conducted in the university and clinical environments, and the duration of training interventions in most of the studies was more than six months. Effective teaching methods for enhancing leadership skills among nursing students included student-oriented conferences, student-led dedicated education, integrating leadership development programs into the curriculum, hosting leadership development courses, utilizing interactive mobile applications, such as mPreceptor, and implementing the near-peer supervision educational model.Conclusions: Implementing different educational strategies based on the capacities and facilities of educational institutions can improve leadership skills in nursing students. Our findings maybe interested in lecturers and university professors who look for developing nursing leadership education.