AONL Nurse Leader Core Competencies
AONL is committed to ensuring that the core and functional competencies remain contemporary, agile and skill and behavioral based in the ever-changing health care landscape for all levels of nursing leadership. The AONL Nurse Leader Competencies provide the framework for the knowledge, skills and abilities associated with effective leadership — from first time leaders to experienced executives. The competencies are reviewed and when needed revised by experts in the nursing leadership field and include representatives from practice and academia.
Core competencies are those required for all nurse leaders and reflect the vision and values of nursing leadership practice. Core competencies are undergoing a revision in 2025 with a projected release date of February 2026.
Functional competencies are those required for all nurse leaders to a specific leadership role and the abilities needed to meet or exceed expectations. The review and potential revision of functional competencies is planned for 2026.
AONL Nurse Leader Competencies Model
The overarching core competencies encompass the breadth and depth of the nursing leadership specialty, across health care settings and leadership roles. The anchoring domain, Leader Within, anchors the five core domains: Business Skills and Principles; Communication and Relationship Building; Knowledge of the Health Care Environment; Professionalism; and Leadership. It is the driver of motivation, beliefs, values and interests, and recognizes that the influence and significance of education, experience and understanding oneself is essential. A circle represents each core domain. The gradient border symbolizes the influence of both the art and science of nursing. The overlap depicts the interrelatedness of the domains in practice. The Leadership domain’s placement in the center supports and enables this interrelatedness of requisite knowledge, skills and abilities between and among the core domains. Within each domain are core competency statements that represent the core of nursing leadership practice.
Download the Nurse Leader Core Competency Model
Nurse Leader Competency Assessments
Self Assessment | 180 Assessment | Organizational Assessment
New assessment platform! AONL has partnered with Pointerpro to provide assessments on a new platform to enhance the user experience for individuals and organizations.
Improved reporting capabilities include:
- Dashboards
- Benchmarking
- Data Insights
Functional AONL Competencies
Core Competencies serve as the foundation for nursing leadership practice. The competencies are applicable in all levels of leadership though the mastery of the competency may change with experience and development. Please reference the Core Competencies while the functional competencies are in revision.
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