Symposium 8

: Raising the importance of effective leadership in nursing was acknowledged prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO (2020) report on the State of the World’s Nursing acknowledged the need for strengthening nurse leadership. However, little evidence had been published about the Executive Nurse role, and its impact. It is known from studies prior to the pandemic that austerity and failures in care placed increasing pressure on Executive Nurses with calls for clear strategies of support for nurse leaders ( Kelly et al 2016). As influential leaders for nursing, Executive Nurses can provide leadership and clear messages to the nursing workforce, by being present in decision making and being visible in their role. Therefore, generating in-depth understand of their experiences during COVID-19 both in terms of leadership and in how they have received leadership from others is important for the future of the wider nursing profession. Building on recent doctoral research, which explored leadership preparation within nurse education ( James et al 2020), and the Stroger Study, this research focused on the learning from the pandemic response and what can be built upon from these senior role holders as we move into a recovery phase. Understanding this from the perspective of Executive Nurses during this time of public health emergency in healthcare, provides an evidence base to learn from experiences and inform future leadership strategies for nursing. This study provides empirical evidence identifying effective nurse executive leadership strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic, and provides recommendations for strengthening the nurse executive role in the future.