Overview
Nursing is a profession with many possible career paths. Cleveland Clinic’s Stanley Shalom Zielony Institute for Nursing Excellence offers nurses a Professional Nurse Career Pathway that allows them to identify opportunities, explore nursing specialties and create a plan for lifelong learning. Nurses in their first year of employment at Cleveland Clinic have many professional development opportunities that help them acclimate to their department and participate in available programs and initiatives. This allows them to determine areas of interest and get involved. After the first year, there are four career tracks as follows: Leadership, Clinical Expert, Advanced Practice, and Beyond Bedside Care. Each track features developmental courses, experiential learning, and supporting activities.
For more information or questions on our Nursing Career Path, please contact the Nurse Leadership Academy | nurseleadershipacademy@ccf.org
Year One
Whether you are a new graduate beginning your career as a professional nurse or an experienced nurse beginning your first job with Cleveland Clinic, the first year involves many adjustments as you learn a new culture and organizational structure, department expectations and new patient populations. This is also the time to develop relationships with peers and members of the interdisciplinary team and to begin your professional development journey as a Cleveland Clinic nurse.
In addition to completing orientation and residency, the Nursing Career Path guides first year nurses to professional development opportunities that help them acclimate to their department and available programs and initiatives, allowing them to explore, determine areas of interest, and get involved.
Leadership
The leadership track is for aspiring nurse leaders at all different levels of leadership. There is an abundance of educational offerings and leadership experience/exposure opportunities to create a plan that meets the professional leadership goals of staff/clinical nurses, assistant nurse managers, nurse managers and other nurse leaders. Watch the video below to see how K. Kelly Hancock, DNP, RN, NE-BC, FAAN, Executive Vice President and Chief Caregiver Officer at Cleveland Clinic and the Rich Family Chief Caregiver Chair explains how her nursing journey led to leadership, and what it takes to become an effective nurse leader.
Clinical Expert
Clinical nurses serve on the frontline of healthcare, leading and coordinating the care of multiple patients. At Cleveland Clinic, clinical nurses are encouraged to engage in professional development activities and to consider opportunities to become unit-based experts. With training offered in more than 100 different areas of clinical expertise, nurses have a wealth of training options open to them. For nurses seeking to challenge themselves by exploring a different clinical specialty, Cleveland Clinic offers an abundance of specialties from which to choose.
Advanced Practice Nursing
The Advanced Practice Nursing track is for nurses who are or are aspiring to be advanced practice nurses. This track provides advanced practice nurses with professional development activities that support their ongoing growth and development. It also provides nurses who may be interested in becoming an advanced practice nurse with resources to understand the different types of APRNs, educational requirements, and roles and responsibilities.
Beyond Bedside Care
The Beyond Bedside Care track is for nurses aspiring to specialize in a focused nursing practice. These specialty tracks include Nursing Education, Nursing Informatics, Nursing Quality/Accreditation and Risk Management. Additionally, there are tracks for Nursing Research & Innovation, Population Health and Infection Prevention.
