Building a global collective identity to advance knowledge uptake and sustainability - the RNAO Best Practice Spotlight Organization (BPSO) Program

The Best Practice Spotlight Organization® (BPSO®) Program (https://rnao.ca/bpg/bpso)  has global reach and impact that is sustained by many factors, including the development of collective identity that promotes an evidence-based culture. The BPSO logo, as a tangible representation of a collective identity, is displayed in individual sites to indicate they are BPSO units. This visibility motivates and inspires nurses and other staff to use best practice guidelines (BPG) to support the health and well-being of staff, patients/persons and their families. Participation and membership in the international BPSO network further the ties and pride of BPSO and builds the collective identity (Grinspun & Bajnok, 2018).  

Within organizations, individual BPSOs nurture Best Practice (BP) Champions (https://rnao.ca/bpg/get-involved/champions) who take on leadership roles to support the planning, implementation, evaluation and sustainability of BPGs. Nurses and other staff members develop a collective identity based on a culture of integrating evidence-based practice to achieve excellence in care. The visibility of BP Champions is seen when staff where BPSO-branded clothing items, and pins that are awarded at the completion of the Best Practice Champions’ training workshop (see the examples below of social media posts of BPSO-branded t-shirts and a pinning ceremony of new champions by RNAO CEO, Dr. Doris Grinspun) (Grinspun & Bajnok, 2018).