The Pathway to Excellence Experience: One Psychiatric Hospital's Journey

Psychiatric nurse executives and managers face an ongoing challenge to create positive professional work environments that support the recruitment and retention of the best nurses. The Pathway to Excellence program is an organizational credentialing program that designates a hospital as a workplace of choice for nursing. This article describes one psychiatric hospital's journey to become and maintain a Pathway to Excellence designation in the midst of transition. Challenges faced and novel approaches used, along the journey, are shared. The use of Appreciative Inquiry techniques has led to positive changes and heightened energy among nurses. Our experiences suggest that effective shared governance is central to a hospital's Pathway to Excellence success. We attribute the steady increase in the retention rate of nurses, in large part, to the Pathway to Excellence program.