Bowen Hospital’s Professional Development and Recognition Programme (PDRP)

Our Recognition Pathway builds on the initiative Bowen Hospital took in providing nursing staff with professional portfolios in 1999. The Pathway was developed by a Steering Group comprised of nursing staff and management representatives. Its goal is to provide the opportunities, incentives, motivation and feedback nurses seek when they are advancing in their practice and professional development. It is a recognition and reward system that includes financial reward.

Overall, we expect that the Recognition Pathway contributes positively towards an environment that attracts and retains nurses of a high calibre, through outcomes that include:

• Enhancement of nursing commitment to best practice, reflected in the standard of care patients receive and their satisfaction with that care.
• Nurses’ uptake of opportunities to meet learning and development needs.
• Nurses’ satisfaction with their own choice of position on the Pathway.
• A professional nursing culture characterised by staff supportiveness and cohesiveness.
• A system that records nurses’ fulfilment of continuing competence requirements through the Pathway’s appraisal and panel application processes.