Building leadership capacity through peer career coaching: a case study.

Today's demanding healthcare environment requires resiliency, creativity and innovation in delivery of patient care and service. Hospitals must create a workplace where staff are supported to develop professionally as knowledge workers. In 2003, University Health Network (UHN) partnered with donnerwheeler, career planning and development consultants, to provide a program for its 2,700 registered nurses. One component of this project, a peer coaching program called Coach Mastery, is profiled in this case study, which describes how it was implemented and the successes, challenges and outcomes in building internal leadership capacity and supporting staff development through career planning and development.