Supporting the role of the nurse consultant – an exercise in leadership development via an interactive learning opportunity

This paper discusses how a group of consultant nurses were supported over a period of three years by a process of interactive learning. The purpose of this learning was to help them develop the personal and professional abilities necessary for them to achieve success in the role. These personal and professional abilities are not new clinical skills, but the skills of leadership, self-awareness, confidence, self-belief and value clarification and a clear mental model of what it is they want to be within healthcare. An evaluation of the action learning methods reveals their success in helping the participants to achieve some competence and awareness in these personal and professional abilities, to reach a comfort zone in the role. However, the analysis also reveals the polarities and paradoxes such practitioners will have to negotiate if they are to achieve success and establish themselves within the role.