Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #96926

Ann H. Cary, PhD, School of Public Health & Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts, 325 Arnold House, 715 N Pleasant St, Amherst, MA 1003, (413) 545-6630, cary@schoolph.umass.edu and Glynnis LaRosa, RN, MPH, Senior Public Health Advisor, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 305 South Street, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130.

Learning, Mentoring, Leading: The National Mentoring Partnership for Leadership Competency

Competency development in the public health workforce and among public health nurses in particular has been endorsed by the Council on Linkages and the QUAD Council for Public Health Nursing. The University of Massachusetts AMHERST (UMA) School of Nursing and School of Public Health and Health Sciences has teamed with the Association of State and Territorial Directors of Nursing (ASTDN) in a national leadership mentoring project for entry and rising public health nurse leaders. In an effort to address the public health nursing shortage issue and establish a public health nursing workforce that is competency-based, the national program matches public health nursing leaders at the state and territorial levels with MS/MPH students. The focus of the partnership effort is on career development and leadership strategy as a way to attract and retain advance practice nurses to the field of public health leadership. Detailed biographical and leadership perspectives are provided by the partners and matches are developed at the initiation of ASTDN mentors. The MS/MPH program is online and thus the matches are not limited by geographic consonance but rather by issues of mutual interest among the mentors and students. The partners agree to sustain the leadership partnership for the duration of the students' academic tenure. This presentation will review the components of the national program, the basis of the leadership framework, the developmental nature of the evolving partnership between the sponsoring entities, and the challenges and opportunities in executing the program. Perspectives from participants will be shared with the audience.

Learning Objectives:

• 1.Articulate components of the national partnership for leadership development of MS/MPH students from UMass Amherst and the Association of State and Territorial Directors of Nursing.
• 2.Define the developmental nature of collaborative partnerships
• 3.Describe challenges and opportunities in executing a national partnership for leadership development.

Keywords: Leadership, Competency

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.