PROGRAM | NICHE

NICHE Program • Age-Friendly Leadership

Leadership Training Program

Better Leadership. Better Outcomes. Better Care.

Lead an Age-Friendly revolution. Equip your clinical leaders with the skills, tools, and evidence to transform geriatric nursing across your entire organization.

Program Overview

What is the NICHE LTP?

NICHE LTP — Healthcare professionals walking together

Age-Friendly Leadership

A practical leadership program built for evidence-based outcomes.

The NICHE Leadership Training Program (LTP) equips clinical leaders with skills to implement the NICHE practice model in their organizations. Participants work alongside NICHE faculty and mentors to examine principles of organizational change and clinical quality improvement — critically assessing their organization's capabilities to deliver evidence-based nursing care for older adults and developing the skills to implement the NICHE practice model, beginning with at least one pilot unit.

Discover how the NICHE LTP can unlock your leadership potential to optimize nursing care for older adults.

Upcoming Cohorts

October 2026

Cohort

Registration Closes

September 01, 2026

Welcome & Orientation

October 06, 2026

Class Meetings

Oct 13 – Dec 01, 2026

Graduation

December 08, 2027

February 2027

Cohort

Registration Closes

December 29, 2026

Welcome & Orientation

February 02, 2027

Class Meetings

Feb 09 – Mar 30, 2027

Graduation

April 06, 2028

June 2027

Cohort

Registration Closes

April 28, 2027

Welcome & Orientation

June 01, 2027

Class Meetings

Jun 08 – Jul 27, 2027

Graduation

August 03, 2028

Program Focus Areas

Focus 01

Age-Friendly Care

Learn how to lead care models that better support older adults across your unit, aligned with CMS Age-Friendly Measures.

Focus 02

Evidence-Based Outcomes

Use proven leadership methods to improve outcomes, consistency, and team performance across your healthcare system.

Focus 03

Unit-Level Solutions

Get practical tools to solve the hardest challenges facing your unit — from staff performance to patient care and culture.

Key Benefits

What NICHE LTP Helps You Do

Strengthen leadership capacity around age-friendly care across your unit and organization

Support evidence-based outcomes across teams and units through proven clinical frameworks

Improve leadership confidence in the most difficult care environments and highest-acuity settings

Give leaders practical, evidence-based tools to solve the hardest unit-level challenges

Participation Requirements

Team Enrollment Required

Registrants must be part of a team of 3 or more individuals.

Team enrollment ensures effective and lasting organizational change. Registrants do not need to be new to NICHE — any team can enroll at any stage in their organization's NICHE program progression.

â Note: Individual registrants are not accepted. All participants must form a team before registering.

Program Structure

What You Can Expect

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Orientation & 8 Weekly Class Meetings

All sessions conducted via Zoom video conference, accessible from your organization.

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Self-Paced Assignments

Assess unit readiness and identify quality improvement priorities in the nursing care of older adults.

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Expert Mentoring Calls

Connect with expert geriatric nurses from the NICHE member network who facilitate program implementation activities.

Time Commitment

4 – 5 hrs / week

Attending classes, completing assignments, and leading NICHE program implementation initiatives at your organization.

Leadership Impact

Better Leadership = Lower Turnover + Higher Safety Scores.

Evidence-based leadership directly improves unit outcomes, staff retention, and patient safety.

Program Completions

What LTP Participants Finish With

64 NCPD Contact Hours

Nursing Continuing Professional Development contact hours upon program completion.

Clinical Change Project & Plan

A project and implementation plan guiding NICHE activities in your organization.

Poster Presentation

Present your clinical change project outcomes to the NICHE community.

Practice Portfolio

Submitted to the NICHE Member Recognition Program for professional recognition.

Signature Program Element

Clinical Change Project

Apply. Implement. Evaluate. Present.

The clinical practice improvement project offers participants the opportunity to apply skills learned during the LTP to design, implement, and evaluate a new initiative aimed at improving performance. You will be supervised by LTP mentors drawn from the NICHE member network — representing the highest level of expertise in modern geriatric nursing.

The change project culminates in a presentation and summary report, with a portfolio submitted to the NICHE Member Recognition Program.

â³ Download the full LTP Program Guide (PDF)

Member Voice

Mount Sinai proudly champions NICHE because it strengthens our commitment to delivering exceptional age-friendly care for older adults.

Beth Oliver, DNP, RN, FAAN

Chief Nurse Executive • Mount Sinai

Enroll Now

Ready to build stronger age-friendly leadership at your organization?

Discover how NICHE LTP supports your leaders, your staff, and your patient outcomes — with a program built for real-world clinical environments.

Questions? Contact us at support@nicheprogram.org