Systems retain nurses by retooling career ladders

To retain bedside nurses and build internal pipelines, health systems are modernizing their career advancement programs. AONL member Mandy Richards, DNP, RN, CNE at Intermountain Health and president of Intermountain Children’s Health in Salt Lake City, collaborated with front-line leaders and educators to create a program to foster professional growth and career advancement within direct patient care. Front-line nurses use the program to refine their expertise and augment their skills at the bedside. In addition, AONL member Gail Vozzella, DNP, RN, senior vice president and CNE at Houston Methodist, says her system recently re-evaluated its four-level advancement program to recognize and support the development of front-line nurses. Houston Methodist enhanced consistency across campuses, strengthened system-wide nursing governance and updated criteria to correspond with practice environments. (Becker’s Hospital Review article, 11/11/25)