Crossing our quality chasm: heeding the case for graduate preparation of nurse managers and leaders.

As outlined by the Institute of Medicine's Future of Nursing, it is expected that nurses in direct care will be baccalaureate prepared. What then should be the expectation for educating nurse managers? This article compares the Baccalaureate Essentials with the American Nurses Credentialing Center and American Organization of Nurse Executives certification examination content for nurse managers to evaluate if baccalaureate education prepares these leaders for management roles in order to provide additional support for graduate education of nurse managers.