Background:The implementation of research evidence into nursing and midwifery practice and care is inconsistent. Leadership is identified as one of the variables that influences the implementation of evidence-based practice. However, less is known about which type of nursing and midwifery leadership roles are key to enhance implementation, nor the specific strategies that should be used. Aim: To explore how different nursing and midwifery leadership roles enact responsibility for implementing evidence-based practice. Methods: Case study of one metropolitan health network, using a qualitative descriptive methodology. Data collection via semi-structured interviews with fourteen purposively selected nursing and midwifery leaders. Findings: Several sources of knowledge were identified that underpinned efforts to implement evidencebased practice, the most significant of which was policies, procedures and clinical guidelines linked to national and state-level standards. In relation to implementing evidence, two distinct leadership approaches were described: one that was more top-down and formalised to ensure adherence to policies, guidelines and national standards; the other a more enabling, relationship-focused approach to support and facilitate staff to practise in an evidence-based way. A number of barriers to achieving evidencebased practice were identified, in particular an over-reliance on policies and guidelines, which could lead to unquestioning practice, and a lack of time due to the realities of clinical practice and heavy workloads. Discussion: The policy agenda in Australia provides a catalyst for evidence-based nursing and midwifery practice via national quality and safety standards, which inform the development and monitoring of local policies, procedures and clinical guidelines. However, leadership strategies that place too much emphasis on adherence to standards, policies and guidelines, without adequate support and resources to interpret and understand the underlying evidence, can produce unquestioning compliance and rote practice. Conclusions: A combination of managerial and facilitative leadership roles and strategies is needed to achieve complementarity between enforcing and enabling the implementation of evidence in nursing and midwifery practice.

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This article presents the findings from a phenomenological study that explored the understandings of Australian hospital-based nurse educators' experiences of their role. Purposive sampling resulted in 11 nurse educators from four large metropolitan hospitals within an Australian jurisdiction. The participants were asked how they understand their role and translate that understanding into practice. Thematic analysis identified four themes representative of nurse educators' understanding of their role: Becoming an Educator, Capability Building, Panacea, and Tension. A coherent picture emerged from subthemes highlighting that nurse educators were undervalued and value is added. Being undervalued and value adding are translated into nurse educator practice as resilience, being educationally literate, investing, and having a presence. This article identifies a gap in knowledge related to understanding the nurse educator role and informs recruitment and subsequent retention of nurses into nurse educator roles at a time when the nursing workforce in Australia and internationally is about to experience a major shortfall. Findings are specific to the Australian context and are not necessarily generalizable to other hospital jurisdictions. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2018;49(6):274-281.

Nursing students, regardless of setting, require skills in working with people with mental health issues. One way to provide students with learning opportunities within the context of limited undergraduate mental health content and lack of mental health placements is through employment as assistants in nursing (AIN). The purpose of the study was to investigate the use of AINs employed in an emergency department in South Australia to supervise (continuous observation) mental health consumers on inpatient treatment orders. Twenty-four participants took part in the study, with AINs (n = 8, all studying in an undergraduate nursing programme), nurse managers (n = 5), and nurses (n = 11) participating in semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Themes focused on (i) the AIN role, their practice, boundaries or restrictions of their role, and the image consumers have of AINs; (ii) learning through experience, where the AIN role was a practical opportunity to learn and apply knowledge obtained through university studies; and (iii) support, which focused on how AINs worked with nursing staff as part of the healthcare team. Overall, participants believed that AINs played an important role in the ED in supervising consumers on involuntary mental health treatment orders, where their unique role was seen to facilitate more positive consumer experiences. The AIN role is one way for nursing students to develop skills in working with people with mental health issues.