About Us
Message from the Chief Nurse Executive
Welcome to Stanford Nursing,
As our care network expands, we continue to lead national and global healthcare through collaboration, innovation, compassion, and excellence.
Our nurses collectively drive outstanding patient outcomes and enhance community well-being across the continuum of care. From inpatient to ambulatory settings, Stanford Health Care (SHC) is where compassion meets science to heal, one patient at a time.
At the core of our mission are our strategic pillars: Our Care, Our Customer, Our People, and Our Performance. These principles guide us in improving health outcomes, patient experience, and team wellness while ensuring quality, safety, and equity in care.
About Us
Overview
Strategic Plan
Enabling the Organization
Nursing Annual Report
Initiatives, Future Plans, Accomplishments
Professional Practice Model
Beliefs, Values, Theories, and Systems
Watson Caring Science
Jean Watson’s Caring Science Theory
Stanford Nurse Alumnae
University Liaison Service
Our greatest strength is our people. We are committed to fostering an inclusive culture where diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) are integral to everything we do.
Together, we are shaping the future of healthcare and making a lasting impact on our patients, community, and one another.
Warm Regards,
Dale E. Beatty, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FADNL, FAONL, FAAN, Caritas Coach®
Chief Nurse Executive & Senior Vice President - Patient Care Services
Stanford Medicine Health Care
Stanford's leadership in the new era provides unprecedented professional opportunities for nurses.
Whether at the bedside or in outpatient settings throughout the growing Stanford network of care, nurses have a critical role to play in achieving our transformational vision.
OUR MISSION
To Care. To Educate. To Discover.
OUR VISION
Healing humanity through science and compassion, one patient at a time.
OUR VALUES
"Nursing Excellence Requires a Caring HEART”
Care Delivery & Clinical Practice
Our care delivery system is patient-centered, integrated with up-to-date science and research, and is aligned with Jean Watson’s Theory of Caring Science.
As evidenced by our Professional Practice Model (PPM), nurses create caring interactions with patients, families, communities, and populations whose health is dependent on the unity of the mind, body and soul.
Watson Caring Science lays the foundation for nurses to holistically approach, connect with, and heal our patients, families, and community.
Watson Caring Science
Beginning in 2007-2009, Stanford Health Care embraced Watson Caring Science as our philosophical and theoretical framework.
This holistic theory-guided practice of human caring and love has been influential in the promotion of patient-centered care, nursing excellence and professional leadership.
Learn more here.
Professional Development
At Stanford Health Care (SHC), nurses are nurtured as leaders at every level and are actively supported in their professional growth.
Our comprehensive structural empowerment programs include transition-to-practice initiatives—such as the Nurse Residency/New Graduate, Acute Care, Critical Care, Oncology, and Advanced Practice Provider Fellowships—as well as our Shared Leadership Council, all designed to elevate nursing practice and enhance patient care.
According to the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), structural empowerment provides nurses access to resources, information, and opportunities critical to success. These programs cultivate an environment where nurses can continue to thrive.
In addition, SHC maintains strong academic partnerships, engages in community outreach, and offers a clinical ladder program to challenge nurses to continually advance their practice.
Nurses receive ongoing support through our dynamic mentorship programs, Friends of Nursing (FON) grants and scholarships, monthly Nursing Grand Rounds (NGR) for inpatient and ambulatory care, and the Leadership and Management Academy (LAMA).
SHC nurses also benefit from a multitude of opportunities for professional development and are encouraged to join and engage with professional nursing organizations, including Sigma Theta Tau’s first-ever practice-only chapter, based at Stanford.
Professional Nursing Role
As professionals, nurses are empowered leaders and clinicians who facilitate the transfer of knowledge on behalf of the patient.
The nursing role at SHC is firmly entrenched in the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Magnet Model, consisting of the pillars of:
- Transformational leadership
- Structural empowerment
- Exemplary professional practice
- New knowledge and innovations
- Empirical outcomes
These evidence-based components drive nursing care, innovations, and quality improvement initiatives. At SHC, nurses are encouraged to assume a spirit of inquiry, sparking innovations and evidence-based advancements across the organization.
Shared Leadership Council (SLC)
The Shared Leadership Council (SLC) at Stanford Health Care fosters excellence through evidence-based, interprofessional shared governance, empowering frontline clinicians in collaborative decision-making to drive patient care improvements and enhance professional practice.
With 53-unit councils and 10 ambulatory service line councils, SLC supports transformational leadership, professional growth, and succession planning, developing future nursing leaders.
Aligned with the ANCC Magnet® Model and Stanford’s Professional Practice Model (PPM), SLC integrates Jean Watson’s Caring Science theory, emphasizing compassion and holistic care through the 10 Caritas Processes®.
This integration reinforces SLC's commitment to evidence-based practice, equity, and the pursuit of optimal patient outcomes. SLC exemplifies how shared governance transforms healthcare culture by promoting staff engagement, job satisfaction, and a healthy, inclusive community.
Collaborative Environment
The SHC environment and culture is characterized as a healthy work culture with collaborative interdisciplinary relationships in an academic setting and is focused on compassion, safety and justice.
Nurses are integral interprofessional team members who are encouraged to use their strong voice to ensure patient-centered care.
Education & Research
Excellence in patient care is supported through ongoing educational programs and services with strong links to nursing academic community resources. The educational foundation of nursing practice is based on concepts of adult learning theory and the Dreyfus Model of skill acquisition adapted to nursing by Patricia Benner.
The discovery of new knowledge via research is strongly supported and guided by SLC’s Research Council and the Office of Research Patient Care Services (ORPCS). The integration of cutting-edge new knowledge and innovations into practice are guided by our robust clinical research programs and evidence-based practice (EBP) endeavors that integrate nursing EBP models with proven performance improvement strategies.
People
People are at the very center and heart of our model.
Individuals as patients or in groups as families and communities are our primary focus and reason for being. Providing human-centric care is the foundation of what we do at SHC.
We also care for ourselves and colleagues as we honor and respect all our loving and caring relationships, keeping in mind the values of our caring HEART- Honesty, Excellence and Education, Advocacy, Respect, and Teamwork.