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International audience; Aim This paper is a report of a descriptive study of nurses' and midwives' clinical leadership development needs. Background Nurses and midwives are expected to fulfill a leadership role at all levels, yet efforts to strategically support them are often unfocused. An analysis of clinical leadership development needs can provide the foundation for leadership initiatives to support staff. Method A mixed methods design was used. A questionnaire was sent to 911 nurses and midwives and 22 focus groups comprising 184 participants were conducted. Data were collected between March and June 2009 across all promotional grades of nurses and midwives in Ireland. Repeated measures ANOVA with Greenhouse-Geisser adjustment was used for post-hoc pair wise comparisons of the subscale dimensions of clinical leadership. ANOVA with Tukey's post-hoc method was used for comparison between grades on each individual subscale. Thematic analysis was undertaken on the focus group data. Results Results reveal that needs related to development of the profession were highest for all grades. The staff grade expressed a higher need in relation to 'managing clinical area', 'managing the patient care' and 'skills for clinical leadership' than managers. Qualitative analysis yielded five themes; 'clinical leadership and leaders', 'quality service'; 'clinical leaders' roles and functions'; 'capital and competences for clinical leaders' and the 'context of clinical leadership'. Conclusion. Clinical leadership concerns quality, safety and effectiveness. Nurses and midwives are ideally placed to offer the clinical leadership that is required to ensure these patient care outcomes. Development initiatives must address both leader and leadership competencies.