Outcomes of implementing career ladder programs in nursing: A systematic review

Career ladder is a grading structure which facilitates career progression for clinical nurses. The aim of this study was to determine the outcomes of implementing career ladder programs in nursing. In a systematic review، all papers published during (1994-2014) regarding career ladder programs in nursing were included. The electronic databases including: Medline، Elsevier، Proquest، Google scholar، Pub Med، Ovid، Science Direct and Nursing consult were searched using the terms: Clinical Ladder، Career Ladder، and Nursing. Also «Data Extraction form» which developed based on research aim، was used for data collection، from 40 related papers and research projects، 17 articles were excluded due to lack of inclusion criteria. Finally، 23 papers and research projects were included in this study. Implementing career ladder programs resulted in enhancing experienced nurses’ retention، reducing turnover، increasing job satisfaction، decreasing the costs of new employee replacement and improvement of learning environment in clinical settings. Evidence supports the advantages and benefits of implementing in nursing career ladder. However most of their results of these papers one or two outcomes such as job satisfaction and intent to stay on clinical environment. Further research is recommended on career ladder consequences of implementing in nursing.