Nursing  Leadership at F.F. Thompson Hospital believes in the promotion of professional advancement at the clinical level, and along with the Nursing Practice Council members, members of the leadership team have developed a Professional Advancement System (PAS) to support nurses during their career. 

The purpose of the Professional Advancement System is to promote clinical expertise at the bedside, support and foster the growth and development of the clinical nurse, increase the leadership competency of clinical nurses and promote a strong relationship within the profession of nursing. 

Dr. Patricia Benner's, "Novice to Expert," introduced the concept that nurses develop skills and understanding of patient care over time through a sound educational base as well as a multitude of experiences. Benner's Novice to Expert nursing practice framework offers insight to the opportunities and challenges concerning the implementation informatics technology. Benner's competency levels give a description of information technology integration into practice. For example, Benner's concept of the novice or advanced beginner level nurse focuses on the immediate needs for each action for a clinical situation based on rules, protocols and practice guidelines, whereas the proficient nurse establishes situation specific priorities. Understanding the various levels is important in the integration of informatics into curriculum because it allows the nurse educator to gain insight of expectations for each level's competency

The four levels of the advancement system (novice, competent, proficient and expert) are attained based on clinical experience and delineated leadership competencies. Levels of advancement relate directly to the theoretical and practice models on which the system is predicated.

PAS Level    Benner’s Model        AACN Synergy Model
Level 1           Novice
Level 2          Competent                         Level 1
Level 3          Proficient                            Level 3
Level 4          Expert                                 Level 5

clinical context model 1- Novice, 2- A​​​​​advanced Beginner, 3- Competent, 4- Proficient, 5-

Thompson Hospital’s nursing Professional Practice Model, Synergy, directly correlates with the advancement level of our nursing staff.

Thompson Hospital’s nursing Professional Practice Model, Synergy, directly correlates with the advancement level of our nursing staff