Zablocki VA Health Care System awarded prestigious ANCC Pathway to Excellence designation

The Pathway designation is a global credential that highlights Zablocki VA Health Care System’s commitment to creating a healthy work environment where nurses feel empowered and valued. Zablocki VA Health Care System’s nurses are an integral part of the healthcare team, with a voice in policy and practice. Pathway nurses are engaged, resulting in higher job satisfaction, reduced turnover, improved safety, and better patient outcomes.

“I’ve been with the organization for 18 years, and we’ve been on this journey for a very long time,” said ZVAHCS’s Associate Director for Patient Care Services Tandria Williams. “I have always known that our nursing team here is excellent, and this just validates it across the U.S. with our entire community and practice of nurses and our partnership that we have with our other clinical professionals as well.”

The Pathway to Excellence designation includes all nurses at the Zablocki VA Health Care System’s six campuses, including the Milwaukee VA Medical Center, the Green Bay VA Health Care Center, and outpatient clinics in Appleton, Cleveland, Oconomowoc, and Union Grove. This designation is the culmination of many nurses working at the unit, program, division, and organizational levels to create and sustain frameworks that support shared decision making, leadership, safe work environments, quality education and outcomes, nurses’ well-being, and professional development. The Pathway to Excellence designation demonstrates the organization’s commitment to support these frameworks as the organization continues its nursing excellence journey.

“I’ve never seen a nursing team at this level of excellence in my career,” said ZVAHCS Program Manager for Nursing and Excellence Beth Hammer. “I want to thank all of you for everything you do each and every day and thank all of our interprofessional colleagues for their partnership and support. I look forward to what we can do in the future as a Pathway to Excellence-designated facility.”

The Zablocki VA Health Care System becomes just the 13th VA organization nationwide to receive this prestigious designation. The application process included a 320-page written application, more than 60 nursing excellence ambassadors, more than 50 Pathway work group members and application writers, and more than 900 nurses completing a validation survey that demonstrated Pathway criteria.

“We didn’t do this work for Pathway to Excellence,” Williams said. “This is work that our nurses have always done within this organization, and they really deserve the recognition.”

As a Pathway organization, Zablocki VA Health Care System leads the effort to enhance quality of care, patient and nursing safety, and the future of healthcare delivery. 

“I just want to send a congratulations to all of our fantastic nurses,” said James McLain, executive director of the ZVAHCS. “You all make it happen, and I am incredibly proud of all that you do to provide such great care to our Veterans.”

The Zablocki VA Health Care System will be recognized at the Magnet and Pathway to Excellence conference in October 2025 in Atlanta.

For more information on the Pathway to Excellence recognition program, visit ANCC’s website at https://www.nursingworld.org/pathway

Joseph Trovato, Public Affairs Officer

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