Transformation of a nursing culture through actualization of a nursing professional practice model

Leading and effecting meaningful change in a nursing division culture, such as the type required to achieve Magnet designation, entails senior nurse executives to be well-acquainted not only with the facts and figures of their business but also with the nuances, myths, and cultures that either enable or block a change from occurring. Expert nurse leaders embrace the story being told by data on dashboards and the quality outcomes achieved and look beyond those points of information out to the edges of their division. These nurse executives also seek to understand the pivotal, perhaps seemingly inconsequential things (notions, beliefs, cultural beliefs, and stories) that will block or tip a culture to change and achieve success. At the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP), a Magnet-designated organization, the road to Magnet was not straightforward. Instead, the path was a winding, learning journey. Through authentic leadership and the conception and actualization of a professional practice model, the HUP Nursing Excellence in Professional Practice (HUP NEPP) model, Magnet designation was achieved and a nursing culture was transformed.