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Eligibility Requirements

The candidate must meet all of the following criteria to be eligible to participate in the Professional Performance Ladder:

  1. Current registered nurse employee working in a full-time or part-time (0.6 FTE or higher) position, a minimum of 1750 hours, hours actually worked, not paid for, during the 12 months previous to the date of application. The hour threshold in this paragraph is pro-rated for part-time employees based on actual hours worked, not on base FTE.
  2. Performance rating of 3.0 or higher in all categories of the candidate’s most recent annual staff performance review form.
  3. Have achieved and maintained national certification related to area of clinical practice.
  4. Has maintained a positive work record including no suspensions for the three years prior to application. Note: An employee can be deemed ineligible for consideration if they have received a verbal counseling in the three years prior to application. Eligibility will be at the discretion of the Chief Nursing Executive (CNE) based on individual case-by-case review. Each of these cases will be discussed with SEIU. The final determination of eligibility will be influenced by:
    1. How old the discipline is,
    2. The number of disciplines,
    3. The severity of the offense, and
    4. The relevance of the discipline to competent and safe clinical practice.
  5. Working at Alameda Health System for a minimum of 2 years as a registered nurse.

Note: The employee must maintain these requirements after the application/portfolio is submitted to remain eligible for consideration and compensation.

Guidelines for Application

  • The RN candidate should first complete the application form during the defined two-month application period and submit it to the Professional Development Council (PDC). The candidate’s portfolio must be submitted to the PDC within twelve months of submitting the application.
  • Within two months of submitting the application form (including approval by the nurse manager/director for any projects), the candidate is strongly encouraged to meet with the clinical education department staff to:
    • Discuss the application process.
    • Have questions answered.
    • Receive guidance/support in determining exemplar topics.
    • Review progress of the portfolio prior to submission to suggest enhancements
    • Discuss nurse manager/director approved projects.
    • Applications are available on the Alameda Health System intranet or from the Clinical Education Department.
    • The application/portfolio must be typed. Electronic submission of the completed application is encouraged and is submitted to the chief nursing executive administrative assistant.
    • Candidates are responsible for ensuring that the submitted application/portfolio is complete and accurate.
    • Candidates should retain a copy of the portfolio for their records prior to submission.