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A fully incentivized clinical advancement program for nursing was developed in 2004 with implementation to begin in January of 2005. The program embraces advancement of clinical expertise, education, leadership and evidence-based practice/quality at the bedside. An improvement of nursing outcomes is one of the expected results of the program and will be measured through the Center for Pediatric Outcomes and Quality. Before the merger, neither organization had a clinical advancement program for nursing that was based on fair and objective criteria and that supported the newly formed mission statement of the organization. The program was developed to unite the two campuses toward a common goal: excellence at the bedside. The advancement program is self-directed and self-paced with each level requiring more knowledge and action on the part of the bedside nurse to move up. The importance of evidence-based practice is evident throughout each level of the program. The advancement program development committee realized that a significant amount of teaching needed to be done to bring the culture and language of evidence-based practice to the bedside. The first evidence-based practice introduction class was offered before the official start of the clinical advancment program to lay the foundation and introduce the language of evidence-based practice.