The Career Core of Successful Scientific Leaders in Nursing – Their Motivators and Strategies

• Main Authors: Garmy P, Forsberg A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2020-07-01
• Series: Journal of Healthcare Leadership
• Subjects: nursing; leadership; nursing science; grounded theory; qualitative research
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/the-career-core-of-successful-scientific-leaders-in-nursing-ndash-thei-peer-reviewed-article-JHL

Pernilla Garmy,1,2 Anna Forsberg2,3 1Faculty of Health Sciences, Kristianstad University, Kristianstad 291 88, Sweden; 2Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, Lund 221 00, Sweden; 3Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, SwedenCorrespondence: Pernilla GarmyDepartment of Health Sciences, Lund University, 221 00 Lund, Sweden/Faculty of Health Sciences, Kristianstad University, Kristianstad 291 88, SwedenEmail [e-mail]: No studies explore the career core of successful scientific leaders in nursing, a context where role models and career support would be desirable. To achieve a successful academic career, there is a need for an in-depth understanding of how successful scientific leaders in healthcare think in order to guide junior researchers through their early careers.Aim: To explore the main concern of successful scientific leaders in nursing and their mind-set, motivators and strategies for dealing with it.Methods: A strategic group of 24 scientific leaders in nursing (professors and associate professors) in the United States (US) (n=12) and Sweden (n=12) was interviewed. The transcribed text was analysed using grounded theory.Results: The core category, fulfilment, summarizes a process where the generated grounded theory is presented through four main categories: create, struggle, interact and maintain, illustrating how the informants dealt with fulfilment, which was their main concern. The theoretical link between the strategies is professional dedication through reflection, characterized by a will to go beyond themselves to be clinically useful and implement their research.Conclusion: Successful scientific leaders in nursing construct a foundation for professional fulfilment by doing good for patients and improving the healthcare system maintaining being creative and interacting with others, all of which involve a great deal of struggle.Keywords: nursing, leadership, nursing science, grounded theory, qualitative research