AONL Nurse Leader Core Competencies
The AONL Competency Framework offers a contemporary, adaptable structure that supports nurse leaders across clinical practice, academia and industry. It reflects the complexity of today’s health ecosystem and defines the essential knowledge, skills and behaviors required to lead people, influence systems and advance organizational and professional outcomes.
Core Competencies define the essential knowledge, skills and behaviors expected of all nurse leaders and reflect the vision, values and evolving demands of modern nursing practice. The refreshed AONL Nurse Leader Core Competencies are peer-reviewed and grounded in the strongest available evidence, ensuring they remain relevant, practice-informed and aligned with the future of nursing leadership.
Functional Competency Behaviors: Functional competency behaviors are role‑specific, observable actions that demonstrate how a leader applies a competency in practice, progressing from developing to competent as responsibilities expand from supervisor to nurse manager, director, CNO and CNE. They articulate the increasing scope, complexity and systems‑level influence expected at each leadership level, ensuring a clear developmental trajectory yet founded on the same Nurse Leader Core Competency Statement. The Functional Competency Behaviors are under review and revision in 2026.
AONL Nurse Leader Competency Model
At its core, the Leader Within domain serves as the foundational source from which all other competencies/domains emerge. It represents the internal landscape, self awareness, emotional intelligence, values, motivation and the integration of education and experience, that cultivates and sustains a leader’s growth. Building upon this foundation, the Leadership domain occupies the center of the model, functioning as the active integrator that connects and enables all other domains. Its central placement reflects the cross over of leadership, where vision, influence, decision making and accountability intersect with Professionalism, Communication & Relational Leadership, Knowledge of the Health Care Environment and Business Skills & Principles. Together, these domains form a cohesive, future ready framework that equips nurse leaders to navigate complexity and lead effectively in any setting.
Download our Nurse Leader Core Competencies
The AONL Nurse Leader Core Competencies are available to members through their AONL login. If you’re not yet a member, discover how AONL membership can support your growth and leadership development here.
The refreshed competency domains and subdomains were redesigned to mirror the expectations, responsibilities and pace of today’s nurse leader. Grounded in evidence and shaped by broad expert input, they also equip leaders with the capabilities needed to thrive in the future of health care.
AONL Core Competency Domains and Subdomains | |
| AONL CORE COMPETENCY DOMAIN | COMPETENCY SUBDOMAINS |
LEADER WITHIN  |
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LEADERSHIP  |
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PROFESSIONALISM  |
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COMMUNICATION AND RELATIONAL LEADERSHIP  |
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KNOWLEDGE OF THE HEALTH CARE ENVIRONMENT  |
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BUSINESS SKILLS AND PRINCIPLES  |
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The AONL Nurse Leader Core Competencies create a clear throughline from each competency statement to exemplar developing and competent leadership behaviors, ensuring leaders can see how expectations translate into observable practice. This alignment reflects the realities of today’s nurse leader while preparing the workforce for the future through evidence‑informed, behavior‑based progression across all domains and subdomains. Below are examples of competency statements and associated developing and competent leadership behaviors.
Competency and Leadership Behaviors | ||||
| CORE COMPETENCY LEADERSHIP DOMAIN | COMPETENCY SUBDOMAIN | COMPETENCY STATEMENT | LEADERSHIP BEHAVIORS - DEVELOPING | LEADERSHIP BEHAVIORS - COMPETENT |
| Leader Within | Reflective Practice and Foundational Thinking | Demonstrates reflective practice with self-awareness, openness, authenticity and emotional intelligence | Engages in basic self-reflection after challenging situations. Seeks feedback from peers and mentors to improve interactions. Demonstrates awareness of personal emotional responses in practice. | Engagement scores or climate surveys reflecting trust and respect in teams. Peer or staff recognition of relational leadership. Successful collaboration across teams or disciplines. |
| Professionalism | Professional and Organizational Accountability | Demonstrates alignment between personal values and the organization’s mission, vision and culture | Demonstrates awareness of personal values and actively reflects on their alignment with the organization’s mission and culture. Seeks feedback when navigating ethical dilemmas and invites open dialogue to address areas of misalignment constructively. | Consistently integrates organizational mission and values into all professional decisions and actions. Serves as a role model by promoting ethical alignment, inspiring others to uphold the highest standards of integrity and guiding teams in making values-driven choices that advance quality, safety and organizational goals. Demonstrates leadership by fostering a culture of ethical accountability and transparency throughout the organization. |
| Knowledge of the Health Care Environment | Quality, Safety and Improvement Science | Develops and promotes a just culture and continuous improvement to prevent harm and achieve optimal outcomes | Fosters a culture of safety and continuous improvement. | Champions and instills a pervasive culture of safety and continuous learning, driving proactive harm prevention and achieving optimal patient outcomes across the entire care continuum. |
Download our Nurse Leader Core Competencies
The AONL Nurse Leader Core Competencies are available to members through their AONL login. If you’re not yet a member, discover how AONL membership can support your growth and leadership development here.
Functional AONL Competency Behaviors
AONL made minor updates to the Functional Competencies for 2025 and is advancing additional revisions to ensure all core and functional competencies remain contemporary, evidence‑based and grounded in the skills and behaviors required of today’s nurse leaders.
This ongoing work reflects AONL’s commitment to maintaining a modern, agile framework that supports leadership development across the evolving health care landscape.
Please complete the form below to be notified when the updated functional competencies are released later in 2026.
Nurse Leader Competency Assessments
Self 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
AONL Permission of Use
All AONL competency materials are protected by federal copyright and trademark laws. Individuals may request permission to reprint, use, or integrate portions of the AONL Competency Framework for personal or professional, non‑commercial purposes that align with the AONL mission. To request approval, please complete the permission request form. Most requests are processed within approximately 10 business days.
AONL. (2026). AONL Nurse Leader Core Competencies, Chicago, IL: AONL Accessed at www.aonl.org * accessible at www.aonl.org/competencies * Contact: aonl@aha.org or call (312) 422-2800 ©2026 American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form without written permission of AONL. To request permission for commercial use or reproduction please complete the Permission Request form or email aonl@aha.org.