The JPS Health Network nursing team has been recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center with its prestigious Pathway to Excellence designation.
Elisabeth Rodgers, RN Clinical Manager at JPS, said Pathway to Excellence is the premier designation a nursing program can receive, showing a positive nursing practice environment and the structural foundation of a healthy workplace.
“What this says to our community is that we have a great nursing program,” Rodgers said, adding that it’s also great recruiting tool for prospective employees. “What it says to nurses is that JPS is a great place to work.”
Wanda Peebles, JPS Executive Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, said when nurses have a great deal of satisfaction about their work environment, that’s good for everyone.
“When you have an engaged workforce, they provide quality and safe patient care and provide a great patient experience,” Peebles said. “This is huge thing for nursing. This represents all of the things I’ve worked for to help make JPS a great place to work and a great place for patient care.”
Pathway to Excellence is a designation that recognizes a health care organization’s commitment to creating a positive practice environment that empowers and engages staff, according to the ANCC. It’s a lengthy and rigorous process to gain the designation that includes a year of work including compilation of hundreds of narratives about things nurses have done to demonstrate excellent care and how they’re supported by leadership. After that, nurses must take a survey and the majority must agree or strongly agree with the conclusion of the submission.
JPS provided more than 1,600 submissions of narratives written by leaders along with other documentation to show how the health network is meeting those standards. More than 75 percent of nurses who completed a May survey validated the results in all 28 categories.
“This is an acknowledgement of how important nursing is to our organization,” said Patricia Alridge, Executive Director of Women’s Services. “We had the whole organization behind us. The survey is about nursing and the commitment that nursing has to excellent patient care. When nurses are happy and nurses feel their voices are heard and their concerns are listened to, the research shows that the quality of care is higher.”
Jeri Ames, RN Clinical Manager, said JPS nurses are thankful for the support they get.
“Pathway validates what we as nurses already know: that what we do makes a difference to our patients, their families and the community because JPS has raised the bar for how we meet our mission,” said Ames.
Monaliza Gaw, Executive Director of Quality, said she encouraged the Nursing Department to seek the Pathway to Excellence designation because she could tell from her first day on the job that JPS nurses have what it takes.
After the designation was announced Monday afternoon, Gaw hugged Rodgers and high-fived nurses in a crowded conference room. Nurses from across the health network celebrated with noise makers and cupcakes.
“I knew they deserved it,” Gaw said. “There was no doubt. Everything our nurses do shows that they’re committed to giving patients the best care possible.”
The Pathway to Excellence designation is good for three years, until 2021.