Background: Nurses are provided resources and guidance early in their careers, but they need continued support, opportunities, and assistance to professionally develop and make next steps in their car..
more »Background: Nurses are provided resources and guidance early in their careers, but they need continued support, opportunities, and assistance to professionally develop and make next steps in their careers. Literature has shown that nurses report professional development as fundamental to the profession of nursing (Mlambo et al., 2021). Moreover, supporting nurses with development and career advancement has been shown to aid in retention (Williamson et al., 2022).
Purpose/Objective: The Best Fit for Nurse Advancement (BFNA) program was developed and implemented in 2022. The program’s purpose is to provide experienced nurses with the opportunity to explore professional development and career progression. The 6-month cohort introduces participants to advanced roles through a professional panel and shadowing experiences. Additional content covers tuition reimbursement, realistic job preview of advanced roles, scope of practice and role descriptions, mentorship, strategic planning with outcomes, mock interviews, resume building, education requirements, and graduate school visits.
Evaluation: A program evaluation is completed at the end of each cohort. The revised Casey Fink nurse retention survey is conducted at the beginning and end of the program (Buffington et al., 2012). Employee retention data and career advancement are tracked for two years following program completion.
Results: In 2022, two cohorts (n=15) completed the BFNA program. Participants were 87% female and, on average, had 5 years of nursing experience. Free text responses related to professional goals in the next year fell into two categories, career/job progression and education. To date, there have been 93% organization retention, 4 (26%) have accepted a new leadership position, 3 (20%) have enrolled in graduate school, and 86% have applied or taken on additional leadership responsibilities.
Implications: Successful implementation and feedback from BFNA program have shown its positive impact on nurse’s growth and organization retention. The program will continue with two cohorts per year and track nurse retention, education enrollment, and career advancement.
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