Nursing Professional Development Specialist

Company Overview

Shriners Children’s is an organization that respects, supports, and values each other. Named as the 2025 best mid-sized employer by Forbes, we are engaged in providing excellence in patient care, embracing multi-disciplinary education, and research with global impact. We foster a learning environment that values evidenced based practice, experience, innovation, and critical thinking. Our compassion, integrity, accountability, and resilience define us as leaders in pediatric specialty care for our children and their families.

With 20+ hospitals, outpatient clinics, ambulatory care centers and outreach locations across the globe, we provide excellent care to children up to age 18 regardless of their family’s ability to pay or insurance status. Please click here to learn more about our locations.

CURRENT EMPLOYEES: Please log into Workday Click Here to apply internally through the "Jobs Hub"

Job Description

The Nursing Professional Development (NPD) Specialist influences professional role competence and professional growth of learning in a variety of settings through a systems model. The NPD Specialist supports lifelong learners in an interprofessional environment that facilitates continuous development and learning for the healthcare team. The NPD Specialist is also responsible for utilizing the Standards of NPD Practice and Professional Performance to provide the framework that delineates the expected level of professional performance.

The incumbent in this role in collaboration with Talent Development and Nursing Leadership uses and develops the tools, theories, skills, and knowledge of the specialty to improve the healthcare practices of learners and advance the practice of the NPD specialty. The NPD Specialist has expertise in multiple practice roles including learning facilitator, change agent, mentor, leader, champion for scientific inquiry, advocate for NPD specialty, and partner for practice transition. The NPD Specialist will support the organization in the provision of quality patient care by helping to ensure the clinical competence of nursing staff and foster delivery of evidence-based nursing practice.

Key Responsibilities:

• Onboarding/Orientation: Develops, coordinates, manages, facilitates, conducts, and evaluates clinical onboarding/orientation programs for nursing & other healthcare personnel.
• Competency Management: Assesses, measures, documents and supports competency, and addresses deficiencies in staff members’ competence.
• Education: Creates, manages, implements, coordinates, and evaluates continuing educational activities to address practice gaps for identified target audience developed to achieve specific outcomes to identified gaps in knowledge, skills, or practice.
• Professional Role Development: Identification and development of strategies to facilitate a continuous process of maturation through lifelong learning that allows for role transition, role integration, skill acquisition and succession planning
• Research/Evidence-based Practice/Quality Improvement (QI): Promotes and integrates the science of NPD specialty to continuously improve practice. In addition, promotes research, EBP, QI in patient care settings. NPD Specialist may conduct, encourage, participate in research, EBP, QI, including dissemination of findings.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor in Nursing
• Masters in nursing and equivalent coursework in curriculum development, adult learning theory, learning needs assessment, and learning outcome measurement from an accredited college or university OR Enrolled in an accredited Masters of Science (MSN) in Nursing Education program or Masters in Nursing and receive the Master’s degree within two (2) years of job acceptance.
• Four years of progressively responsible nursing experience, including one year as a
  nurse educator or equivalent elsewhere
• A current CPR/BLS card from the American Heart Association on the first day of employment in position
• National certification in the area of Nursing Professional Development (NPD) required in 1 1/2 years from job start date


Compensation is determined based on years of relevant experience and departmental equity.