Co-teaching in higher education provides an environment conducive to developing leadership capacity in undergraduate nursing students. A mixed method research design was developed to explore how the complexity of the co-teaching experience influences leadership development of nursing students enrolled in the ‘Nurse as Educator’ course. The inquiry was guided by the question, what impact does co-teaching in a nurse education course have on the development of leadership in professional practice? Initial findings from the first of research are shared in relation to examining attributes of co-teaching, strengths and challenges, as well as how the experience of co-teaching has influenced student understanding of leadership in professional practice.