Professional Nurse Development Opportunities

Professionalism is a belief system in which members have shared competency standards and ethical values. In nursing, it is an essential ingredient in achieving a healthy work environment, which allows for safe patient care, high quality outcomes and staff satisfaction. Activities that promote professionalism include advancing one’s own education and attaining specialty certification.

Opportunities for professional development at Henry Ford Hospital include the Professional Nurse Advancement Program (PNAP), tuition and specialty certification reimbursement, and the Nurse Residency Program (available to all new graduate nurses).

PNAP is the professional development ladder for clinical nurses who work a minimum of 20 hours each week with 50 percent of the time in direct patient care. The ladder is comprised of four levels, with specific eligibility criteria for each.

Henry Ford Hospital’s Nurse Residency Program provides recently graduated nurses the opportunity to develop the critical thinking skills, knowledge and abilities of a new nurse. This residency supports development and mentoring of new nurses during their first year of practice.