Carilion Career Advancement Program (CAP)

Nursing Services

Career Advancement Program

Interested in CAP? Join a Teams meeting with a CAP member to discuss through September and October!

Meeting List 

Meeting Link

Carilion Clinic’s Career Advancement Program (CAP) uses the REACH Professional Practice Model to increase Registered Nurse (RN) professional development and retention by concentrating on patient outcomes and excellence in practice.

Advancement to RN 2, 3 or 4 is voluntary and earned on an annual basis upon completion of criteria and submission of an application. RNs are eligible to advance if they are a clinical, direct patient care nurse, preceptor, or Clinical Team Leader at any Carilion hospital or ambulatory practice. Nurse Residents, International Nurses and Travel Nurses are not eligible to advance.

• Applicants have the option of either a spring or fall application submission deadline.
• The spring application deadline will be March 31 of each year, with the bonus paid in May.
• The fall application deadline will be September 30 of each year, with the bonus paid in November.
• CAP submissions must be separated by at least 9 months.
• Criteria activities must have been completed within the past year before submission of the application.

CAP Bonuses

• RN 2     $1500
• RN 3     $2500
• RN 4     $3500

Important Information for CAP Applicants

• Criteria activities must have been completed within the past year before submission of the application. Narratives from previous years will not be accepted.
• "New! Criteria from a higher level may be used to fulfill a category in a lower level.
• ALL Activity Expectations for the chosen criteria must be clearly addressed in your narrative. The Activity Expectations are listed in the middle column of the criteria for each level.
  • For example, if the criteria is participating in a council or committee, the Activity Expectations state the narrative must include
    • Goals of committee/council
    • Description of assignments you completed as an active member
    • Description of what the committee/council accomplished during the submission period
    • Description and supporting evidence of how you communicated information from the committee/council to your unit/department/practice (copies of emails, photos of bulletin boards, etc.)
• If the Activity Expectations ask for a summary or graph of data that is being monitored, this information must be included. Copies of audit forms cannot be submitted in the place of a graph or summary of data.
• The Naming Convention for CAP Documents must be followed.
  • If possible, submit all Required Criteria in the same file named “Required” (preferred method).
    • If submitting the Required Criteria individually, name the files based on the criteria:
      • Education
      • Certification
      • Competencies
      • Continuing education
      • Staff meeting attendance
      • Experience
      • Performance
  • For the individual REACH Criteria, name the file based on the number of the criteria chosen and a brief description. For example,
    • Research R3 Narrative or R3 Narrative
    • Education E1 Narrative or E1 Narrative
    • Advocacy A5 Narrative or A5 Narrative
    • Clinical Practice C4 Narrative or C4 Narrative
    • Human Touch H2 Narrative or H2 Narrative
  • If there are additional documents to go with a narrative for a criteria, name it with the category and criteria number and a description of what it is. For example, Education E1 Attendance or E1 Attendance
• Length of service may be used as a substitute for 1 item in a category of the applicant’s choice. Applicants using this option must meet the following length of service definitions:
  • RN 2: 5 – 10 years of service
  • RN 3: 11 – 15 years of service
  • RN 4: 16+ years of service

Follow each of the steps below in order by selecting the tabs below to expand each section and note that you do not have to use the templates provided in Step 2 of this process - you may use them in your application or as a guide 🙂

📁 STEP 1:  Review the Reference Manual and expectations for the level that you are applying for

See the CAP Reference Manual below for complete information and instructions.

CAP Reference Manual

RN2 Activity Expectations

RN3 Activity Expectations

RN4 Activity Expectations

📁 STEP 1a:  Narrative Examples

See the CAP Reference Manual above for complete information and instructions.

RN2 Narratives:

• RN2 Research Narrative Example
• RN2 Education Narrative Example
• RN2 Advocacy Narrative Example
• RN2 Clinical Practice Narrative Example
• RN2 Human Touch Narrative Example

RN3 Narratives:

• RN3 Research Narrative Example
• RN3 Education Narrative Example
• RN3 Advocacy Narrative Example
• RN3 Clinical Practice Narrative Example
• RN3 Human Touch Narrative Example

RN4 Narratives:

• RN4 Research Narrative Example
• RN4 Education Narrative Example
• RN4 Advocacy Narrative Example
• RN4 Clinical Practice Narrative Example
• RN4 Human Touch Narrative Example

 📁STEP 2:  Review each of the R.E.A.C.H. Templates

The templates below are to be used as indicated in the Activity Expectations documents to provide a concise report of how you met the criteria. Use of the Report Templates is optional.

Research Report Template

Education Report Template

Advocacy Report Template

Clinical Practice Report Template

Human Touch Template

 📁STEP 3:  Review the Process

Gone are the days where you needed to submit your application through a form - now everything is located in one central location!  The Carilion Career Advancement Program Committee is hopeful that this process will make it much easier for you to create, update, and track your CAP application throughout the entire process!

CAP Submission Job Aid 

Questions? The CAP Committee can be contacted through email at cap@carilionclinic.org 

🥳 STEP 4:  Apply or Return to Your Application Here!

Now that you've read through the reference manual, your selected CAP level requirements, and have reviewed the process - I think you're ready to finally do this!

Click below to start your CAP Application:

CAP Fall 2026 Application

• If working remote, please access the remote login tool (apps.carilionclinic.org) to connect to a virtual desktop. The application will not load if you are not connected to the Carilion network.
• For additional assistance/job aids regarding remote login, please visit the TSG remote login hub on Inside Carilion

Still have questions?  Contact us at cap@carilionclinic.org

🤔 Looking for More Information and/or Resources? Below are additional tools you may find helpful as you complete your CAP Application.

CAP Human Touch: Volunteer Activities

CAP tracking time with students

CAP ideas for Research Level III and IV

Evidence Analysis & Summary Tool

Journal Club Guidelines

Introduction to CAP presentation 2023

Naming Convention for CAP Documents

Within REACH Publication

Questions? The CAP Committee can be contacted through email at cap@carilionclinic.org 

Here is a Recent List of Nursing Certifications from the ANCC 🎓

📑 CAP Hub Build v230110.2