Clinical Advancement Program for Nurses

The Clinical Advancement Program (CAP) at Children's Hospital Colorado celebrates and promotes nursing clinical excellence, providing structure and process for career advancement as a valued clinical nurse team member. Across the program's four distinct tracks of professional practice, direct care nurses are recognized for their service as clinical experts, clinical scientists, team leaders, as well as patient and peer educators.

We launched this program to better recognize our nurses’ hard work, expertise and leadership in reimagining and realizing child health – because their whole-hearted dedication to our patients is what makes Children’s Colorado different.

Program design

The Children’s Colorado CAP has a solid foundation, grounded in evidence from the literature, external benchmark peer institutions and experience of team members with the program. Specifically, our program is modeled after Dr. Patricia Benner's novice to expert continuum, framed in the Magnet® Model components and aligns with our Children’s Colorado Professional Practice Model.

Children’s Colorado CAP guiding principles:

• Accessible
• Evidence-based and benchmark informed
• Transparent process and outcomes
• Integrated with professional practice and performance evaluation
• Engage, retain, and inspire nursing professionals

Children’s Colorado is truly a special place to work. We are committed to providing our nurses with opportunities for career growth and advancement.