Nurses Cite Duke as "Top Hospital" for Professional Development
Nurse clinician Joan Cahill helps Duke patients and families cope with complex medical treatments such as chemotherapy.
"You have to be able to educate the patient and caregiver not just about side effects, but more importantly, how to manage those side effects and promote optimal health while
undergoing treatment," said Cahill, who works at the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke.
To enable Cahill and other nurses to stay current on the latest research and treatments, Duke offers many professional development resources such as conference reimbursement,
on-site certification courses at reduced cost and allowing nurses who have worked at Duke at least one year to pursue advanced degrees at the Duke School of Nursing, with up to 90% tuition assistance.
A national survey of registered nurses recently ranked Duke one of the "top hospitals" in the 2008 Readers' Choice survey conducted by ADVANCE for Nurses, a biweekly magazine for
registered nurses of all specialties. Duke earned honors for its professional development, quality of care, organizational culture and retention efforts.
"Duke's professional development opportunities far exceed a lot of other hospitals and that cannot be underestimated when you work in an area like oncology," Cahill said.
Mary Ann Fuchs, Duke University Hospital & Health System's chief nursing and patient care services officer, said Duke is proud that nurses consider it among the best places to work.
Duke consistently earns accolades from groups such as the North Carolina Nurses Association and national publications such as Modern Healthcare.
Professional development, Fuchs said, is key to enhancing the quality of patient care and creating one of the world's best healthcare systems.
For more information about professional development resources available to Duke nurse, please see the web sites below:
— Joan Cahill, Nurse Clinician
"We need our nurses to be experts at delivering care because we are a specialty-based organization," she said. "Through professional and career development opportunities,
we've developed a comprehensive system that recruits and retains staff, and then develops that staff by providing opportunities to learn new skills and progress in their careers. We
call it the clinical ladder."
To make it easier for nurses to climb the "clinical ladder," Duke offers professional development and continuing education
in areas such as clinical applications, leadership development and technology.
"The ladder is designed so that a nurse can be an expert clinician and stay at the bedside, or they can purse an education or management path," Fuchs said.
Duke nurses can tap into new resources such as the Registered Nurse Tuition Assistance Program and the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program at Duke's School of Nursing.
In addition, Duke presents 36 Friends of Nursing annual awards; each winner receives a $1,000 educational stipend.
"We are so lucky and proud to have a program like Friends of Nursing, which recognizes achievement and provides support for continuing professional development for Duke Medicine nurses," Fuchs said.
Cahill, the nurse clinician who helps people recovering from brain tumors, recently used a Friends of Nurses' stipend to travel to an international research conference in Dublin, Ireland.
"Being supported by your employer helps you feel valued, encourages further education and a willingness to learn," Cahill said. "Patients and families feel empowered through knowledge; so do I."
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