Twenty years of experience with a clinical ladder: a tool for professional growth, evidence-based practice, recruitment, and retention.

A clinical ladder program was introduced in a 257-bed facility 20 years ago. The program, developed by nurses for nurses, has evolved as integral to the facility's recruitment and retention, professional development, and evidence-based practice initiatives. This clinical ladder program has been used to encourage staff nurses to reach outside of their comfort zone to develop new skills. In this way, it has served as a means to identify leadership potential as a tool toward succession planning. The program provided evidence for the institution's Magnet designation (2004) and again for its bid for redesignation in 2008.