Nurse retention increases with clinical advancement program

Children’s Hospital of Colorado in Aurora increased nurse retention after making clinical expertise a primary factor in its clinical advancement program, according to an article in the Journal of Nursing Administration. Front-line nurses and nursing leaders collaborated to develop objective criteria for clinical advancement through a point system. Previously, the system emphasized evidence-based practice, quality and process improvement and research instead of clinical expertise, resulting in fewer bedside nurses receiving recognition. The program redesign resulted in a quadrupling of participants in the clinical advancement program from 2019 to 2023. Turnover fell from 21.79% from the year prior to the program’s implementation to 17.49% in the year following implementation. In addition, the number of expert clinical nurses who left fell from 11.6% to 7%.