Charge nurses play a critical role in healthcare leadership but often assume the position without structured training, impacting their confidence and effectiveness. This Doctor of Nursing Practice project developed and evaluated an eight-week Charge Nurse Mentorship Program designed to enhance leadership competencies through didactic training, mentorship, and shadowing experiences. Pre- and post-program assessments using the Leadership Efficacy Questionnaire (LEQ) demonstrated significant improvements across all domains: Leader Action Efficacy increased by 63.5% (p =.008), indicating enhanced decision-making confidence; Leader Means Efficacy improved by 33.3% (p =.008), reflecting better resource utilization; and Leader Self-Regulation Efficacy rose by 43.3% (p =.008), signifying greater emotional resilience.
Mentor feedback supported these findings, highlighting the need for continued leadership coaching. This project underscores mentorship as a scalable, cost-effective strategy to strengthen charge nurse readiness, retention, and succession planning. Future research should explore long-term leadership development impacts.
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