Working at St. Patrick Hospital

There's a reason you chose nursing. It was Providence

Providence St. Patrick Hospital attracts driven, compassionate and talented health care professionals. Our commitment to patient-centered care, shared governance and our Mission sets the tone for an exceptional career experience.

Discover the atmosphere that will nourish your passion and inspire your best work. Providence is calling.

Shared Governance

St. Patrick Hospital values shared leadership, participative decision making and nursing autonomy. Direct-care RNs serve as members of St. Patrick's Shared Governance Councils and are able to take knowledge back to their peers on their units. In addition, St. Patrick Hospital's nurses are involved in numerous multidisciplinary task forces, committees and work groups throughout the organization. View our Shared Governance Model

Professional Development and Continuing Education

St. Patrick Hospital encourages nurses to continually strive to improve their practice via professional development and education. Nurses who seek additional clinical expertise or advanced credentialing are supported in their efforts through tuition assistance, educational resources and flexible scheduling, and are subsequently rewarded through compensation and other non-monetary forms of recognition. The hospital also provides numerous structures that support lifelong learning, including The Learning Center, which is an ANCC-accredited provider of nursing continuing education.

Nursing Clinical Scholarship

St. Patrick Hospital is committed to building and sustaining nursing Clinical Scholarship, including research, evidence-based practice, quality improvement and innovation. Clinical Scholarship is encouraged by the Chief Nursing Officer, directors and managers. Shared Governance councils rely on scholarship for identifying best practices and measuring quality outcomes. By building and sustaining a Culture of Inquiry, St. Pat’s nurses continuously improve practice.

Research and Evidence-Based Practice

For ten years, the Research & EBP Council has supported nursing research and evidence-based practice projects. Several St. Patrick's nurses participate in a rigorous year-long nursing research program as a Nursing Research Scholar. They have studied diverse topics, including Falls Prevention, Night Shift Health Behaviors, Liberating Structures, Patient Engagement with Reduction of Harm and Nurse Perceptions of the Electronic Health Record.

St. Patrick Hospital continually strives to improve the safety, effectiveness and efficiency of health care delivery through the integration of evidence-based practice. This integration is fostered throughout all levels of nursing practice and has played a key role in improving patient outcomes. Direct-care nurses are encouraged to ask clinical practice questions and are given the support and tools to investigate these questions in the Unit Based Councils, Clinical Practice Council and the Research & EBP Council. The EBP Bootcamp trains 12 individuals per year to work in a team to answer a pressing clinical question and put it into practice if supported by evidence. The hospital’s Learning Center is a terrific asset, supporting Clinical Scholarship with access to thousands of journals and titles across the Providence system.

Nursing Role in Medical Research

In addition, registered nurses serve as clinical trial managers through the International Heart Institute of Montana Foundation. They support trials in The Montana Cancer Institute and with investigator-initiated studies, as well as working with the University of Montana.

Healthy Practice Environment

Providence St. Patrick Hospital is committed to the development of a healthy practice environment by limiting our hospital’s environmental impact, encouraging healthy practice relationships between departments and work/life balance.

Recognition

St. Patrick Hospital participates in regular reward and recognition programs aimed at recognizing caregivers for high quality patient-family centered care.

  • Spirit of Nursing Award - awarded annually to a RN who embodies our mission of Know me, Care for me, Ease my Way
  • Outstanding Caregiver Award - awarded annually to an HCA, CNA or technician who embodies our mission of Know me, Care for me, Ease my Way
  • Quality Award - awarded eight times each year to individuals or departments who are identified as high performers in nursing quality
  • Innovation Award - a quarterly award bestowed upon a person, group or department that has an especially effective idea that changes structures, processes or outcomes in our care delivery
  • DAISY Foundation Award - a quarterly award that goes to a clinical nurse honoree who personifies our remarkable patient experience; nominations come from patients, families and visitors
  • Be Extraordinary Everyday (BEE) - a quarterly award to recognize certified nursing assistants, medical assistants and technicians for the supportive care they provide patients and families

Quality and Safety

Nurses participate in the evaluation of unit specific quality measures and are actively involved in quality improvement projects to sustain or improve our metrics. Nurse-sensitive quality indicators such as clinical quality, patient satisfaction and nurse satisfaction are measured by comparing our performance to national quality benchmarks. Our nurses continually evaluate our structures and processes to ensure our Hospital Quality outcomes exceed national quality benchmarks.

Community Engagement and Health Promotion

Providence St. Patrick Hospital is very engaged in community health initiatives, which provide staff with many opportunities to participate in athletic events, health expos, conferences, educational initiatives, volunteer activities and more.