What is an Administrative Nursing Fellowship?

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In nursing school, we learn so much information about the profession, but there is a specialty that is often overlooked: Nursing Leadership. The first taste that most of us get of nursing leadership is during our first year after school. We know in general what their job duties are, but how did they get there? If you are like me, then your next question is how do I get there?

Many, like myself, have envisioned themselves as a confident nursing leader impacting the lives of not only patients, but also fellow nurses the minute we stepped into a hospital on a our first day. A little ambitious? Yes, probably. But it isn't something to be ashamed of.

My first step to becoming that confident leader that I always dreamed of being was researching what education I needed. I started my MBA in Healthcare Management with the hopes of getting into an Administrative Fellowship Program, more specifically, one Administrative Nursing Fellowship Program. Saying the words "Administrative Fellowship" to other nurses was like speaking a foreign language. When proclaiming my goals/dreams to others, I often found myself going into an hour long conversation about how a program like this would get me to where I want to go, but was still left the faces of confusion from anyone I tried to explain this to. Everyone wanted to know "Why leave bedside?" "What is it?" " Is it paid? Yes of course!". Luckily in March 2019 I got that called that I got the position I've been wanting since nursing school and in July 2019 I became an Administrative Nursing Fellow.

This job has been everything I could have dreamed of and more. In the past 5 months, I have been a part of system-wide initiatives, led projects, and gained an immense amount of leadership training. A program like this allows me to smoothly transition into a nursing leader role over the course of 12 months. Here's a more proper definition of what an Administrative Nursing Fellowship is:

"...designed to help guide you into operational/nursing management positions through intensive system-wide training and exposure to the major functional areas."

After seeing just how many nurses don't know that this is an option, it has led to me making it my mission to spread the word. I want nurses to not feel like there is one way to get into leadership. I can now confidently tell anyone interested in nursing leadership to highly consider this type of program.

https://www.ochsner.org/careers/career-paths/administrative-fellowships/nursing-concentration

Ochsner Webex FLYER-Nursing Concentration.pdf