How do good nurses become excellent nurses? By following the example of experts in our own field, challenging ourselves to enrich our knowledge with up-to-the-minute informational resources, and reaping the enriching benefits of active membership in professional nursing associations.
Swedish Covenant nurses offer you excellent health care because we learn from the best. We are supported in our individual development and blossom professionally with the influence of experts, including our own Advanced Practice Nurses. Staff nurses benefit from the direction and guidance of our own specialty Advanced Practice Nurses every day, as they share the fruits of their advanced education, scope of practice, knowledge and skills.
We are proud to have placed Advanced Practice Nurses across all hospital departments. There is an APN in Pediatrics, our Emergency Department, and Cardiology. Two more APN's work in Employee Health, several are in Obstetrics, and five more are active in the HouseCalls program, our mobile medical service. Advanced Practice Nurses have all earned a master's degree in Nursing from an accredited school and special board certification, not to mention years of practical specialized experience.
All of our nurses have access to world-class medical resources, and invaluable internal resources that are always available for the reinforcement of our knowledge. We are all encouraged to make good use of online search engines that allow us to access the results of all the latest studies and other emerging information.
Swedish Covenant nurses can consult databases within the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the national medical research agency, which is responsible for biomedical and health-related research. We can also research expert knowledge through our access to the Cochrane Collaboration, a global network of over 11,500 medical volunteers in over 90 countries who apply a systematic review of clinical studies.
Our management leadership training program is in place to foster the professional development of nurses with leadership potential. Our HR and education departments both have tiers of leadership that are capped off by experts with advanced degrees and years of invaluable professional experience - our Nursing Research Committee is chaired by Trudy DeWaters, PhD, RN, who also directs the nurse practitioner program at North Park University.
At Swedish Covenant, nurses grow professionally from consulting the wisdom of experts within our own ranks, as well as those who teach at local universities, and work with other institutions and organizations.We frequently host expert speakers from universities, to keep ourselves up-to-date on the latest emerging trends and practices in medicine. As a group, we benefit from having nursing students in our work environment because their presence keeps a learning mentality alive in our daily work, and keeps us closely linked with institutions of higher learning.
While joining professional organizations is entirely the choice of each individual nurse, many of us enjoy the benefits of membership in professional organizations like the American Nurses' Association, which represents and fosters the professional development of the United States' 2.9 million registered nurses. Additionally, every nursing speciality has its own affiliated professional organization, so some of our nurses grow in their field through their association with groups like the American Organization of Nurse Executives, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American College of Cardiology.
We are supported in our personal and professional growth by the guidance of experts, all the latest information, and the enriching benefits of membership in professional organizations. That means the quality of the nursing care we give you will only get better — as will you.
To learn more about our Journey to Magnet Excellence, click here. For more information about Nursing at Swedish Covenant Hospital, please call the Nursing Administration office at (773) 878-8200, Ext. 5600.
