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Nurse leader interview essay and findings presentation

Formally interview a nursing leader who is an RN with a BSN or higher in a leadership position, covering education and background, leadership style and how it developed, future planning and sustainability, and current issues facing nursing locally, nationally and globally, then present the findings under the supplied headings.

Aug 14, 2026

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 14, 2026

Written by

Aaron Bishop

MA, Education

assignment interpretation and research-methods coaching across disciplines

Reviewed by

Dr. Nathan Cole

PhD, Rhetoric & Composition

Argumentation and thesis development

On this page

Interpret the task
Assignment instructions
Deliverables
Proposed outline
Research plan
Reference shortlist
Final review

Choosing the leader, and listening past the answers

Two constraints on the interviewee are stated and both matter. The leader must be an RN with a BSN or higher and in a position of leadership, and the brief adds that you should ensure the individual has enough responsibility to answer the questions. That second condition rules out a charge nurse who has never worked on succession planning or thought about global trends. Choose someone whose scope actually reaches the questions, and if the only person available is more junior, adjust by asking what they see rather than what they decide. The interview is also to be conducted formally, in professional dress and manner, which is not a formality: a scheduled, prepared interview produces answers with substance, while an informal chat produces material you cannot organise under the supplied headings, because the answers arrive in the wrong shape and cannot be gone back over.

The headings are provided, so the differentiator is what you do with the answers. A weak submission transcribes them; a strong one reads them against something. When your interviewee describes their leadership style, name the theoretical model their description actually fits, which is often not the label they used — plenty of leaders describe transformational behaviours and call it being hands-on. When they describe how the style evolved, look for the events that produced the change, because that is the development the assignment is named after. When they discuss sustainability and developing new leaders, connect it to the succession and retention pressures the literature documents. And treat the local, national and global framing as three distinct scales rather than one question asked three ways: a staffing pressure looks different as a unit vacancy rate, a national workforce projection and a global migration pattern, and a strong essay says so.

Likely learning objectives

Inferred from the brief — check these against your own rubric.

01
Select an interviewee whose scope of responsibility matches the questions asked.
02
Conduct a prepared, formal professional interview.
03
Identify the leadership model an interviewee's described behaviour actually fits.
04
Trace how experience shaped a leader's development.
05
Distinguish local, national and global framings of a nursing issue.

Assignment instructionsQuoted verbatim

Read the full question

Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

Development of Nurse Leaders Interview Essay Development of Nurse Leaders Interview Essay Nursing leaders work in a variety of positions: managers in hospitals, directors at various levels within clinical and non-clinical settings, executives within healthcare organizations, etc. For this assignment, students will conduct an interview to explore the characteristics and functions of nursing leaders. Students will then present their findings. The nursing leader must be an RN, have a BSN degree or higher, and be in a position of leadership. Part I: The Interview The interview should be conducted formally using professional dress, tone, and manners. Interview questions should focus on leadership style, development of the nursing leader, and current issues and trends facing nursing and healthcare at local, national, and global levels. Students will learn from the interview experience, so take the time to complete this portion of the assignment with enthusiasm. Ensure the individual being interviewed has enough responsibility to be able to respond to the following questions. You will use these headings to organize and present your findings. Introduction Describe your education, nursing background, and current and previous positions. Leadership Style Describe the leadership style you identify with and most commonly use in your practice. How did you develop your leadership style? How has your leadership style evolved with experience? Future Planning How are you working towards sustainability for your practice setting in developing new nursing leaders? To what professional organizations do you belong? How are professional organizations impactful in developing nursing leaders? Current Issues and Trends Describe current challenges you are facing in nursing and healthcare (today and in the past 2-5 years.) How do these challenges impact your practice setting? Describe the impact of these challenges at the local, national, and global levels. (For example, if staffing is a concern for the practice setting is it because of a local trend? Is this a tourist community in which the population fluctuates making finding and keeping qualified, dedicated staff a difficulty? Is this a challenge because this type of facility is impacted by local, national, or even global politics and economic circumstances?) Part II: Presentation of FindingsYou may present your findings as a paper Paper Must be at least four pages, excluding the title and reference page All options require at least three recent references (published within the past five years) submitted in APA style.Use these headings to organize and present your submission. Introduction: Provide enough information for the audience to get a sense of the leader you interviewed. Leadership Style: Discuss the interviewee’s leadership style. Future Planning: Describe and explain the interviewee’s future planning and professional development. Current Issues and Trends: Describe the challenges discussed during the interview. Explain how they impact practice and the local, national, and global community. Conclusion: Reflect on what you discovered or learned during the interview. How does this experience impact you as a future BSN prepared nursing leader? Describe related changes to your practice you have implemented or plan to implement as you move forward with your practice and career. Development of Nurse Leaders Interview Essay

Turn the brief into deliverables

01
An interview with an RN leader holding a BSN or higher.
02
Findings on education, nursing background and current and previous positions.
03
The leader's identified style, how it developed and how it evolved.
04
Their approach to sustainability and developing new nursing leaders.
05
Current issues and trends at local, national and global levels, organised under the supplied headings.

Background, style, sustainability, trends, analysis

Introduction: the leader

Education, nursing background, current and previous positions.

Leadership style

The style identified, and the model their described behaviour actually fits.

How the style developed and evolved

The experiences that formed it and the events that changed it.

Future planning and sustainability

How they are developing new leaders for the practice setting.

Issues and trends at three levels

Local, national and global, each with its own content.

Analysis and what you learned

What the interview showed that the literature alone would not.

Leadership theory to read the answers against

Recommended databases

American Organization for Nursing Leadership
StatPearls via NCBI Bookshelf
PubMed and CINAHL
State and national workforce reports
Course leadership text

Search sequence

1.
Read the main leadership models so you can classify what you hear.
2.
Prepare the questions in advance under the supplied headings.
3.
Read national nursing workforce projections before the interview.
4.
Find one global workforce or migration source for the third level.
5.
After the interview, map each answer to a model or an evidence source.

Reference shortlist

These are authoritative starting points, not a ready-made bibliography. A qualified reviewer must confirm that each source fits the assignment and supports the claim beside which it is cited.

Nothing here is cleared for citation until you have read it.

01
Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Roles
StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf · 2024
The scope of the leadership positions an interviewee may hold, which is what the selection criteria turn on.
02
Nursing Shortage
StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf · 2024
The workforce pressure that gives the sustainability and succession answers their context.
03
Nursing and Patient Safety
AHRQ Patient Safety Network · 2024
The outcome stakes behind the local-level issues a unit leader will raise.
04
Health Occupations
MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine · 2024
Role and career-path definitions for the education and background section.

Review before submission

Common mistakes

Interviewing someone whose role cannot reach the sustainability and trends questions.
Transcribing answers without analysing them against any framework.
Accepting the interviewee's own label for their leadership style uncritically.
Treating local, national and global as one question answered three times.
Omitting the supplied headings and imposing your own structure.
Reporting the evolution of the style without the events that caused it.

Submission checklist

The interviewee meets the RN, BSN-or-higher and leadership position criteria.
All supplied headings are used to organise the findings.
The described style is matched to a named leadership model.
The development and evolution of the style are both covered.
Local, national and global levels are each addressed distinctly.
The essay analyses rather than transcribes.

Use this guide to plan and review your own work. Follow your institution's rules and read our academic-integrity policy.