Nurses share their voice in the design of AdventHealth's nursing professional practice model

The design of a professional practice model is a health care industry leading practice that provides an illustrative framework for nurses, describes the elements and values that comprise their role, increases nurse engagement, and improves quality of care.

Focused on providing exceptional, whole-person care to those they serve, AdventHealth’s nursing team set out last year to create a professional practice model (PPM) that would unify the health system’s nurses around delivering patient- and family-centered care. Now, the PPM is rolling out systemwide as every AdventHealth nurse’s visual pledge to care for patients as if they were their own loved ones.

“Our nursing professional practice model represents the values and beliefs that guide how AdventHealth nurses practice today. It is aligned with our service standards – Keep Me Safe, Love Me, Make It Easy and Own It – and is a tangible expression of our mission, care and dedication to clinical excellence,” said Trish Celano, associate chief clinical officer and chief nurse executive for AdventHealth.

"When I think about the PPM that we designed, I'm constantly reminded of the type of nurse I need to be for my patient."

During the model’s co-creation session, chief nursing officers had the opportunity to hear directly from nurses and nurse leaders from each of AdventHealth’s markets. Together, they were able to find unique ways of incorporating AdventHealth’s beliefs and values into a visual model that works for their nursing practice.

“The deep thought and conversations that went into the verbiage and artistic design of the model had the intent of reflecting our practice as nurses at AdventHealth,” said Malorie Corhn, registered nurse at AdventHealth Hendersonville. “We wanted to display all the aspects because we represent more than one area.”

The heart-shaped model communicates how work at the unit level drives quality and safety consistency using evidence-based practices to guide the philosophy, culture and decision-making of all AdventHealth nurses. 

"When I think about the PPM that we designed, I'm constantly reminded of the type of nurse I need to be for my patient,” said Jeena Patel, a registered nurse at AdventHealth Zephyrhills. “I think basing our PPM around our service standards makes it so easy to remember to be the best and do the best for our patients.”