New mental health leaders must be given leadership development opportunities to support the expansion of critical skills often not conveyed within mental health graduate programs. To meet this need, the Veterans Health Administration piloted a structured national mental health leadership mentoring program focused upon the development of leadership skills in these areas: strategic planning, human resources, systems understanding, administrative operations and program evaluation, and professional and personal development. Thirty-one participants were recruited from among new mental health facility leaders or mental health discipline service chiefs. Statistically significant improvement was found across all 5 skill areas. External validation of the program’s success was also shown, with improvement in local mental health providers’ employee satisfaction and burnout. Implications for other organizational settings desiring to develop mental health leadership mentoring programs are discussed.

中文翻译：

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退伍军人健康管理局 (VHA) 的国家心理健康领导力指导计划：试点评估。

必须为新的心理健康领导者提供领导力发展机会，以支持在心理健康研究生课程中通常没有传达的关键技能的扩展。为满足这一需求，退伍军人健康管理局试点了一项结构化的国家心理健康领导力指导计划，重点是发展以下领域的领导技能：战略规划、人力资源、系统理解、行政运作和计划评估，以及专业和个人发展。从新的精神卫生机构领导或精神卫生纪律处长中招募了 31 名参与者。在所有 5 个技能领域都发现了统计上的显着改进。还显示了该计划成功的外部验证，随着当地心理健康提供者的员工满意度和倦怠的改善。讨论了对希望制定心理健康领导力指导计划的其他组织环境的影响。