Nursing in Oregon

PeaceHealth has growth opportunities for clinical nurses at all stages in their careers.

Ask around and you’ll find it’s common for a caregiver to start with us as a CNA or nurse tech and stay at PeaceHealth for their full career. Some do so while earning their RN, BSN or advanced practice degrees. Others enjoy the flexibility we offer to move between departments or locations. It's a great way to gain experience with different specialties and patient populations while staying with a Mission-driven organization.

If you’re new to nursing, you’ll find:

• Support to build your practice. This includes formal programs like residencies and having both a preceptor and a nursing mentor who've got your back. But we know that informal support can make a huge difference, too. Your co-workers are always there to help you navigate nursing’s daily joys and challenges.
• Chances to have your voice heard and impact the future of healthcare through PeaceHealth’s shared governance model. You can get involved in problem-solving and process improvement from the unit level up to hospital- and system-wide.
• Educational opportunities that include tuition reimbursement, conference attendance and certification support.
• Opportunities to apply for grants, design and conduct evidence-based studies. It's all possible with help from research and innovation leaders at the Institute for Nursing Excellence.

If you’re an experienced nurse, you’ll find many ways to advance your career, improve patient care and explore new or related practice areas. These include:

• Tuition reimbursement, scheduling support and partnerships with local colleges so you can keep working while getting an advanced degree. You can stay with clinical nursing or pursue fields that contribute to healthcare leadership such as business, strategy and administration .
• Opportunities for additional certifications through professional boards and organizations across the country.
• Fellowship programs that allow you to transition from one specialty practice to another.
• Chances to have your voice heard in process improvement and impact the future of healthcare. You can get involved from the unit level up to hospital- and system-wide through PeaceHealth’s shared governance model.
• Opportunities to apply for grants, design and conduct evidence-based studies through the Institute for Nursing Excellence.
• A Professional Nurse Advancement Program created by and for caregivers. It rewards and recognizes nurses like you for their increased expertise and impact while delivering direct patient care.

PeaceHealth’s recognition of the value of nurses extends beyond each individual caregiver. We know — and the research backs us up — that the role of the clinical RN is one of the most trusted and pivotal at the point of care.

This isn’t just in terms of quality outcomes or patient experience. It's also key to the overall experience of the families and community members we serve.

In short, nurses are at the heart of our care. To acknowledge this, PeaceHealth created the Institute for Nursing Excellence. It offers support for RNs to practice at the highest level of their scope — and to drive decision making in the organization — while continuing to bring their love and care to our community.

The Institute allows nurses to explore many branches on their career paths. It also gives RNs ways to put their creativity, energy and talent toward improving our nursing practice and our patient care.

The Institute's structure mirrors the evidence-based models of top medical centers such as Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic and University of Washington, with a key difference. It's deeply rooted in PeaceHealth’s Mission and Values as a community-based health system with a commitment to social justice.

The Pacific Northwest is not just where PeaceHealth is located. It’s part of who we are. Our Mission began here and our roots run deep in our communities.

Ask our RNs why they settled here, and they’ll often mention the quality of life possible in our corner of the world. There's something for everyone: Boundless natural beauty, a reasonable cost of living, and cultural offerings to meet your needs whether you’re on your own or have a family to consider.

Camping, hiking, fishing, paddling, skiing, cycling and surfing are all within a day’s drive. And our great indoors can be just as satisfying. You’ll find farm-to-table restaurants, historic landmarks, boutiques, sporting events, concerts, plays and entertainment for every taste.

Whether it’s our staffing models, safety processes or ideas for how to put research-based evidence into practice, nurses have a voice here.

You’ll find RNs making their mark in our focus on clinical excellence, patient experience and continuous improvement. And we’re always looking for fresh ideas and perspectives to advance our Mission.

You might have an impact by serving on our nursing leadership council. Or sharing the latest scientific research with your peers in a poster session. You might put your problem-solving skills to work on a unit-based leadership team. Or join the group of nurses that design our Professional Nurse Advancement Program. Each contribution like this helps PeaceHealth better serve its patients and caregivers.

Ask our longtime nurses or our newcomers what they love about their jobs, and they’ll often say, “it’s my team.”

Respect, compassion and courage are attributes that bond our caregivers with each other. Current nurses also love that work-life balance gets more than lip service here. They appreciate:

• Managers who care about them personally and professionally.
• Staffing levels that allow them to feel safe throughout their shifts.
• A strong connection to the communities they serve.
• Many chances for professional development/advancement.
• A spirit of kindness shared regardless of role in their unit.

Building and maintaining an inclusive culture is foundational at PeaceHealth. As a 130-year-old Catholic health system, we carry forward our founding sisters' drive for social justice and health equity.

Our DEI work is rooted in our shared Mission and the Values that we bring to every interaction:

• Respecting the human dignity and worth of each person.
• Attending to the whole person in body, mind and spirit.
• Improving the lives of all people, especially the poor and vulnerable.
• Working collectively for the common good.
• Healing the conditions that impede wholeness.

As a demonstration of our resolve, we're enacting the Catholic Health Association's We Are Called pledge for health equity. Highlights of this work include:

• Training caregivers on how to deliver culturally competent and responsive care.
• Removing race as a proxy for a patient’s health risk in our clinical algorithms, to lower chances of health disparities.
• Offering confidential, trauma-informed group therapy for BIPOC leaders and caregivers.
• Expanding our employee assistance program to support caregivers’ spiritual, legal and financial well-being along with their mental and physical health.
• Hosting monthly caregiver wellness sessions.
• Providing virtual individual counseling for caregivers.
• Building a sense of belonging through caregiver resource groups (identifying with or allies of AAPI, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, LGBTQ, social justice, women’s issues and veterans).
• Partnering with the Emerging Leaders Institute to place potential BIPOC leaders in internships.
• Creating a mentorship program that connects BIPOC high school students with PeaceHealth professionals in their area of interest.
• Advocating at the local, state and national levels for policies that reduce health disparities and inequities.

For more details about our DEI efforts, listen to this webcast. In it, you’ll hear how we're working to counteract systemic racism and support historically marginalized communities.

We recognize that it takes long-term commitment to become fully inclusive, and that our communities all start from different places. Despite our differences, we are like-hearted — united in our courage to help and to heal. That’s why everyone who works here isn’t just an employee — they’re a caregiver, dedicated to elevating the level of care in the communities we serve.

PeaceHealth also knows that offering care to people when they’re sick isn’t enough. We work closely with community partners on innovative programs to address social determinants of health. Stable housing, family nutrition, access to affordable healthcare and substance-use prevention are among the initiatives we support.

Personal connections and professional growth make PeaceHealth a destination for nurses. Put simply, they stay here because we see them and support them.

We could boast about our awards for promoting wellness and work-life balance. Or being named one of the healthiest workplaces in the country year after year. But it’s more than that.

PeaceHealth recognizes that nurses put their whole hearts into the care they give. We in turn owe it to them — and by extension, their families — to do everything possible to further their success:

• Competitive Pay
• Compassionate culture
• Relocation assistance
• Partnerships with local nursing schools
• Commitment to innovation through the Institute for Nursing Excellence
• Mentorship and career guidance
• Nursing recognition and awards
• Resources for self-care and mental health
• Counseling for employees and their families
• Scholarships and tuition reimbursement
• Professional development opportunities
• Certification support
• Attendance at national conferences
• Research opportunities
• Nurse-driven workflows and care delivery systems