Building Nurse Leaders Through the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Open School Student Quality Leadership Academy

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement is an independent not-for-profit organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is a leading innovator in health and health care improvement with a global following. One important part of the IHI is the development and evolution of the ''Open School.'' Launched in September 2008, the online community currently includes hundreds of thousands of students worldwide. The goals of the Open School are consistent with the IHI initial concepts: to build will for change, seek out innovation, share expertise, and build leaders. Each year, the Open School awards scholarships to select students to attend a Leadership Academy. The Student Quality Leadership Academy allows students to network with other future nurses, physicians, and health care administrators and explores how they feel about leadership. This is important to nursing aswe will need to replace many leadership positions in the future, but often new nurses are uncertain about leadership roles.