ASPIRE Program for Nurse Advancement

Baylor nurses can advance their careers in our ASPIRE program – Achieving Synergy in Practice through Impact, Relationships and Evidence. This professional nursing program recognizes registered nurses’ contributions to patients’ outcomes. ASPIRE empowers our nurses to continue to develop expertise in caring for specific patient populations in a track of their choice. The program recognizes the influence nursing actions have on clinical and patient outcomes.

Nurses earn a cash bonus ($2,000 to $5,000, depending on the level achieved) after successfully completing the program.

This voluntary program is for staff RNs at the bedside.

ASPIRE’s purpose is to:

• Empower nurses to recognize and communicate the difference they make for patient outcomes.
• Differentiate professional nursing practice in terms of accountability, autonomy and authority related to outcomes.
• Promote collegiality, mentoring and leadership in nursing.
• Foster development of new knowledge, skills and attitudes.
• Embrace innovation and evidence-based decision making.

The program’s three levels are:

• Nurse Colleague ($2,000 bonus).
• Nurse Mentor ($3,600 bonus).
• Nurse Leader ($5,000 bonus).

Some of our current ASPIRE projects are:

• Skin integrity in the orthopaedic population
• Non-pharmacologic adjuncts for pain management in chronic patient outpatients
• Oral care nursing practices to prevent ventilator-acquired pneumonia
• Pain control in the sickle cell population
• Weaning readiness of mechanically ventilated patients in the Medicine ICU
• Post-operative pain management of orthopaedic spine surgery patients
• Fluid imbalance of intra-partum patients
• Anxiety needs of patients in pre-op holding
• Continuum of care and patient handoffs from OR to ICU
• Pain management for neonatal circumcision
• Care of breast cancer patients with axillary node dissection
• Glycemic control in adult trauma patients
• Central line management for infants
• Pain management in bone marrow transplant population
• Skin assessments using the Braden Scale
• NDNQI Pressure ulcer training.