Strengthening Nursing Leadership Through Global Mentoring 

2 min read

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Thousands of nurse leaders worldwide are proud to call themselves Sigma nurses, many of whom participated in the 47th Biennial Sigma Convention held in November 2023 in San Antonio, Texas. Among them was American University of Armenia (AUA) College of Health Sciences (CHS) Lecturer Talin Gulgulian representing Armenia and CHS. Founded in 1922 by six nursing students, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing (Sigma) has more than 100,000 active members and 600 chapters at institutions of higher education and healthcare partners in a wide range of countries, from Armenia, Australia, and Botswana to Thailand, the United States, and Wales. Sigma members include clinical nurses and administrators, educators and researchers, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and others working to achieve the organization’s vision of transforming the global healthcare system. Sigma’s mission is to develop nurse leaders everywhere to improve healthcare systems. Its core values are Love, Courage, and Honor. 

Armenia was at center stage at the 47th Biennial Sigma Convention in San Antonio, with one of its team members, Talin Gulgulian’s abstract on the convention agenda for an oral presentation titled: Be Bold: Creating Visible Nursing Leadership Through Global Mentoring and Collaboration. The convention was dedicated to the crucial role of mentorship in preparing and equipping future nurse leaders in the healthcare profession. Each pair of mentor-mentee representing various regions across the globe portrayed how the Global Leadership Mentoring Program has directly impacted performance and visibly enhanced participants’ leadership aptitudes in their respective positions. Emphasis was placed on the process of discovery, achievement, and failure, which is where growth occurs. Moreover, constructive and meaningful oversight occurs through reciprocity between mentor and mentee — a paired relationship where diversity of perspectives, strengths, interests, and personhood form the basis of mutually supportive interactions, whereby each person in the pair gets a chance at assuming a leadership role. Gulgulian emphasized that all nurses have leadership potential and possess the ability to lead at the micro and macro levels and be bold in taking action to reach the ultimate goal of better health for all populations worldwide. 

You can view a short video depiction of the Convention and Gulgulian’s presentation at the following link.

The CHS team expresses gratitude for the AUA Professional Development Grant that made Talin Gulgulian’s participation in the conference possible. 

The AUA Turpanjian College of Health Sciences works actively to improve population health and health services in Armenia and the region through interdisciplinary education and development of health professionals to be leaders in public health, nursing, health services research and evaluation, and health care delivery and management.