The hospitals recently entered into formal negotiations with our nurses' union, CRONA. As a part of our ongoing commitment to enhance patient care and recognize the contributions bedside nurses make to achieving better patient outcomes and enhancing the overall patient experience, the hospitals recently presented a proposal for the creation of a Professional Nurse Development Program (PNDP).
During the last three years, since the signing of our current contract, we’ve attempted to work with CRONA through a Side Letter to develop a committee to revise our clinical ladder program - which is more than 40 years old. Unfortunately, we were unable to reach agreement on how to proceed in developing a new program. As a result, we’ve conducted significant research about professional development programs and surveyed several hospitals from all across the country regarding how they administer their programs. Many of the programs we’ve seen at other University-based hospitals were adopted more than a decade ago. We feel it’s time for us to catch up and for Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital nurses to re-establish our leadership role in the nursing professional community.
Our Goal
The goal of this PNDP program is to provide a better framework for nursing excellence at our hospitals and to create a structure for our nurses to be rewarded based on their advanced professional nursing practice, while building their professional skills at their own pace. We firmly believe that the establishment of this program at our hospitals will achieve the following outcomes:
- Support you and your professional development.
- Shift our nursing culture to be more in line with national models of professional development.
- Dedicate SHC/LPCH to the pursuit of nursing scholarship and professional development for nurses at all levels.
- Enhance nursing practice and high-quality healthcare by utilizing evidence-based knowledge.
- Recruit and retain the highest quality nurses and continue providing the very best in patient care.
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We have brought the PNDP to the table during negotiations because you, our nurses, are the backbone of our hospitals and this issue is of utmost importance. Like other professions, there has been a cultural shift in how we practice nursing and reward performance. In turn, the hospitals believe it is critical that we shift our current program to remain in line with the future of the profession and to remain nationally competitive. We now have an opportunity with the current CRONA bargaining process to make this a reality.
An Opportunity to Help You GROW!
The establishment of this program will create an environment that further empowers our nurses as valued members of the healthcare team and provides a career path for nurses achieving skill advancement within their professional role. As a result, our culture will recognize and reward nurses who demonstrate excellence and expertise in clinical practice. It will also inspire and challenge nurses to advance their career by expanding their knowledge and taking on complex challenges.
Make Your Voice Heard
We have heard from many of our nurses that you agree this is an important issue and that there is opportunity for improvement. We encourage you to remain actively engaged throughout the bargaining process and let CRONA leadership know your thoughts on changing the clinical ladder structure to best support your professionalism, hard work and dedication to our patients.
We will be addressing the details with CRONA and look forward to working together with CRONA to develop a contract that advances our nursing practice and programs. In doing so, we will further establish our institutions as leaders in patient outcomes with a balanced focus on patient satisfaction, quality, and employment engagement. For updates throughout contract negotiations, please continue to visit www.StanfordPackardFacts.com.
