Leadership: The key to quality outcomes (Reprinted from Nursing Administration Quarterly, vol 24, 2000)

Nurse executives are charged with creating a workforce that provides qualit y care in a creative and cost-effective manner. style of leadership determi nes how nurse executives relate to their professional nurses and ultimately how successful their health care institutions will be. The practice-based theory of nursing leadership called the Integrated Leadership Practice Mode l can be practiced by nurse executives to promote employee satisfaction, as sure that quality care is provided based on standards and competencies, and promote an organizational culture committed to quality. This article propo ses the application of integrated leadership to the practice of nurse execu tives and demonstrates how they can foster and support this model for nursi ng leadership within their nurse managers.