Development, Implementation, and Satisfaction With a Nurse Practitioner Professional Ladder: A Children's Hospital Experience

Anna Evans; Kellie Loera; Deborah Harris; Susan Carson; Leticia Boutros; Carol Okuhara

doi:10.1016/j.pedhc.2018.06.008

Development, Implementation, and Satisfaction With a Nurse Practitioner Professional Ladder: A Children's Hospital Experience

J Pediatr Health Care. 2019 Jan;33(1):111-116. doi: 10.1016/j.pedhc.2018.06.008. Epub 2018 Sep 15.

Authors

Anna Evans¹, Kellie Loera², Deborah Harris³, Susan Carson⁴, Leticia Boutros⁵, Carol Okuhara⁶

Affiliations

¹ Anna Evans, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.. Electronic address: aevans@chla.usc.edu.
² Kellie Loera, Manager, Advanced Practice Nurses, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.
³ Debbie Harris, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.
⁴ Susan Carson, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.
⁵ Leticia Boutros, Manager Perioperative Services, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.
⁶ Carol Okuhara, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Lead, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.

PMID: 30228033
DOI: 10.1016/j.pedhc.2018.06.008

Abstract

This article describes the development and implementation of a nurse practitioner professional ladder (NPPL) at a large freestanding urban pediatric hospital. The NPPL was created to recognize advanced practice registered nurses and differentiate levels of clinical expertise, role development, leadership, and professional contributions into a three-tiered approach, designated as NP I, NP II, and NP III. The results of a nurse practitioner satisfaction survey at Year 2 and Year 4 after the development of the NPPL are summarized. The NPPL helped create an empowering environment for continued nurse practitioner professional growth.

Keywords: Advanced practice registered nurse; clinical ladder; nurse practitioner.

MeSH terms

Career Mobility
Education, Nursing, Continuing
Employee Performance Appraisal / methods*
Hospitals, Pediatric*
Humans
Leadership
Nurse Practitioners / education
Nurse Practitioners / standards*
Nursing Education Research*
Personal Satisfaction*
Professional Role*
Program Development