Professional Development
Enhancing Professional Practice, Supporting Career Goals
St. Peter's nurses believe professional development is a lifelong process of active participation in learning activities that assist in developing and maintaining competence, enhancing professional practice, and supporting achievement of career goals.
Professional Goals and Annual Assessment
- An annual appraisal utilizes a self, peer, manager feedback system and documentation audits.
- Individual performance goals are mutually established by the nurse and the supervisor/manager at the time of the professional appraisal and re-evaluated on an ongoing basis.
Promotional Opportunities - Professional Advancement Program
Promotional opportunities are available through the Professional Nursing Practice program. RN 3 and RN 4 can be achieved through sustained excellence in nursing practice.
- RN 3 uses her/ his expertise to serve as a role model, preceptor, and coach. The RN 3 is a certified nurse and assumes a leadership role within the clinical practice area.
- RN 4 is a certified nurse with a Bachelor’s degree in nursing. She/he actively and positively influences the team and forms mentoring relationships; participates and leads activities that improve systems for quality patient care.
Grants/Scholarships
Through funding and administrative support, nurses at St. Peter's are assisted to continue their education and earn advanced degrees. Funding is offered through a variety of grants and scholarships. Nursing Scholarships are awarded three times a year to full- or part-time SPH employees enrolled in BS, MS or Doctoral Nursing Programs. Scholarship applications are reviewed by the Professional Practice Council. Awards are based on the applicant's performance review, essay response, and contributions to St. Peter's Hospital.
Certifications
Board Certification indicates a nurse's commitment to evidence-based, high quality professional nursing practice. Each March, nurses of St. Peter’s Hospital proudly celebrate Certified Nurses Day, honoring registered nurses from bedside to boardroom who have earned board certification in a specialty area.
St. Peter's encourages and supports national board certification for all nurses in the organization. Certification preparation classes, formal and informal, take place within the hospital.
Innovative Roles
Innovative Programs Ensure Evidence-Based Patient Education and Care
Diabetes Resource Nurse
To ensure that consistently accurate, evidence-based care and education are provided to the patients admitted to St. Peter’s Hospital with diabetes or in pre-diabetic status, an innovative Diabetes Resource Nurse (DRN) program has been developed in St. Peter’s.
Through the DRN program, bedside nurses learn best practices related to the education and care of patients newly diagnosed with diabetes as well as those who have lived with the disease for many years.
The DRNs return to their home units after completing the diabetes education series to act as expert resources for patients, their families and nursing colleagues, informing and instructing them about the most recent evidence-based practices in the care of the patient with diabetes.
Continuing education is provided to the DRNs through the year by the SPH Endocrine Team. The DRNs also collaborate with the hospital’s clinical care coordinators (C3s) to make sure newly diagnosed patients are referred to the community support they need.
Pain Resource Nurse
The Pain Resource Nurse (PRN) program provides Registered Nurses in St. Peter’s with the opportunity to develop the knowledge and skills to function as a resource and change agent within the organization. The PRN disseminates information, interfaces with other healthcare providers, patients, and families with the goal of facilitating quality pain management for all patients.
The PRN complements the organizational pain management processes. The PRN serves as a champion of quality improvement efforts, role models best practices, advocates and educates within his/her scope of influence.
Education and Preparation Programs
OR Orientation Program
Created to Prepare All Nurses, New Graduate to Experienced
St. Peter’s offers an 8-month orientation program for nurses entering the OR specialty area. New Graduates are welcome.
The program includes precepted classroom and clinical experiences. During the multi-week orientation program, nurses rotate through the varied OR specialties, learning the skills necessary to be a competent practitioner within the OR area.
St. Peter’s Health Partners’ (SPHP) Preceptor Workshops
Developed to Assist Staff to Welcome and Engage New Clinicians
Because St. Peter’s recognizes the importance of the preceptor to the new staff member, SPHP provides a one-day workshop for Clinical Staff who will act in this leadership role.
Nursing Research
St. Peter’s nurses are committed to developing, expanding and advancing nursing research. Within SPH nurses:
- Collaborate with peers as well as with members of the professional healthcare team to promote/develop/expand and advance scientific research and quality improvement projects
- Engage in mentoring relationships with Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNSs) and Clinical Nurse Educators (CNEs) that result in the initiation, conduct and dissemination of scholarly research and quality improvement project outcomes.
SPH nurses present their scholarly work at national and international conferences as well as the Annual Nurses’ Day of Inquiry each autumn.
To support the development of nursing research, any nurse whose project is accepted for either poster or podium presentation at the national, international or specialty organization level is supported financially with travel and conference costs covered by SPH.
Nursing Research Council
In 2005, a Nursing Research Council (NRC) was formed by SPHP nursing leaders through collaborative efforts with academic leaders at Russell Sage College. Focus of this Council is to encourage, guide and support nursing research within SPHP.
Nurses’ Day of Inquiry (NDOI)
The annual Nurses' Day of Inquiry is a celebration of nursing research and quality improvement outcomes. Collaborating with St. Peter’s in the creation and ongoing presentation of this event are the Foundation of New York State Nurses and Russell Sage College Department of Nursing. In addition to St. Peter’s Health Partners’ nurses, attendees include nursing leaders, academic nurse educators and nursing students from throughout the Northeast.
NDOI keynote addresses are provided by nationally recognized nursing practice and research experts.
Research and Evidence-Based Practice Projects
Nurses participate in and lead individual, group and hospital-wide research and evidence-based practice projects that add to personal growth and improve patient outcomes. These projects are presented annually at the St. Peter’s Nurses’ Day of Inquiry.