LAUSR

Abstract Aim This study aimed to clarify nursing leaders' perceptions of nursing leadership education and practice. Background Leadership is an essential competency that is required in nursing practice. It is also necessary to pay more attention to the development of nurses' leadership to improve patient safety and outcomes. Methods Participants were 15 nursing leaders. We adopted qualitative content analysis for data collected through individual and/or focus group interviews and analysed using the process of coding, condensing and categorizing. Results The results revealed the following five major themes with categories: (1) nursing leadership—commitment to nurses, the nursing profession and the organisation; (2) nursing leadership abilities—competency and compatibility, personality and traits; (3) importance of nursing leadership education to enhance educational efficiency and to nurture next‐generation nursing leaders; (4) difficulties in nursing leadership education: lack of perception and difficulty of implementation; and (5) strategies for nursing leadership education: contents and methods. Conclusions Nursing leaders' perception of nursing leadership was extended to nurses, organisations and nursing professions. Competency, capability, innate personality and traits are required nursing abilities that are acquired through education. Implications for Nursing Management Experience and theoretical‐based nursing leadership education should be introduced gradually and systematically from the beginning of nurses' careers.