Professional Practice Model
The vision and mission of VCU Medical Center reflect the unyielding organizational commitment to excellence, safety and compassion. The Professional Practice Model (PPM) provides a framework for the delivery of patient care and illustrates the alignment and integration of nursing practice with the mission, vision, philosophy and values of the organization. The schematic for VCU Medical Center's PPM, a portico, was selected by a group of more than 60 clinical nurses and nurse leaders over decade ago. The portico is a meaningful and historic symbol at VCU Medical Center, signifying the medical center's historic St. Philip's portico, the entrance of the first African American hospital, which is preserved within the facility as an expression of respect and honor for the Medical Center's past.
Today, as depicted in the PPM schematic, the nursing practice environment at VCU Medical Center is built on a foundation of shared governance and underpinned by a culture of respect, recognition and reward. It is supported by the professional nursing values of caring, knowledge, leadership, and collaboration, which are the pillars of nursing practice, regardless of setting, and evidenced in care delivery. The model promotes continuity, consistency, and a common way of describing and understanding VCU Medical Center nursing, wherever nursing is practiced. As represented in the stairway of the portico, patients, their families and members of the community enter into the practice environment to restore their health and the health of loved ones. Relationship Based Care, illustrated on the frame of the open doorway, portrays the care delivery system at VCU Medical Center in which nurses, through reflective practice (relationship with self), establish a therapeutic and meaningful relationship with the patient, persons of significance to the patient and members of the community (relationship with the patient/family) in collaboration with the broader healthcare team (relationship among the healthcare team) to achieve excellence. The tenets of Relationship-Based Care have resulted in an empowered nursing workforce that has continually strived to improve patient safety and clinical quality and assure a positive patient experience.