How are you curating your legacy as a nurse educator and leader?

Abstract

Across nursing education, I meet remarkable colleagues whose leadership is felt every day—but rarely fully documented. Their wisdom lives in syllabi, committee meetings, informal mentoring, and countless “invisible” acts of care and courage. I created the Nursing Legacy Leadership Toolkit as a reflective resource to help nurse educators and leaders: Document contributions across practice, education, scholarship, policy, and professional service Organize evidence and artifacts (courses, initiatives, publications, awards, mentoring) Identify patterns, themes, and turning points in their leadership journey Synthesize their story into manuscripts, portfolios, or legacy narratives that can be archived and shared. The toolkit includes:

Reflective prompts to clarify your leadership identity and values

Five legacy domains with guided questions

A Legacy Contribution Log template to capture impact and artifacts

Metareflective prompts to move from a list of activities to a coherent narrative

A suggested outline for turning your reflections into a publishable manuscript or chapter

My hope is that this resource supports you in making your invisible work visible—and in gifting your story to future generations of nurses and nurse leaders.