National unit-based nursing excellence award marks a significant milestone on the path to exceptional patient care and a healthy work environment
Fall River, MA - The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) has conferred its Silver-Level Beacon Award for Excellence to Saint Anne’s Hospital’s St. Jude Intensive Care Unit.
The Beacon Award for Excellence – a significant milestone on the path to exceptional patient care and healthy work environments – recognizes unit caregivers who successfully improve critical care unit outcomes and align practices with AACN’s six Healthy Work Environment Standards. Units that earn this annual award with a gold, silver or bronze designation meet specific criteria established by AACN that represent the characteristics and components of the unit environment that nurses can influence to achieve nursing excellence.
“As the only Massachusetts hospital south of Boston to earn this award, we are very proud to honor our ICU’s leadership and the staff’s commitment to their patients,” said Carole Billington, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, Saint Anne’s president and chief nursing officer. “This recognition is a testament to their consistent emphasis on patient outcomes, a healthy work environment, and exceptional nursing care – the pillars of the Beacon Award.”
While many units provide exceptional patient care, Beacon-awarded units distinguish themselves by excelling in many areas demonstrated in their application. Through participation in the Beacon Award Program, units can compare and reflect on their performance compared to global applicants. There are very subtle differences for different scoring levels, often differentiated by 1 point or less. All awardees demonstrate dynamic and outstanding performance in the areas of patient outcomes, nursing workforce, and work environment.
AACN President Jennifer Adamski, DNP, APRN, ACNP-BC, CCRN, FCCM, applauded the commitment of the caregivers at Saint Anne’s ICU for working together to meet and exceed the high standards set forth by the Beacon Award for Excellence to achieve a Silver Level designation. These dedicated healthcare professionals join other members of our exceptional community of nurses, who set the standard for optimal patient care.
“The Beacon Award for Excellence recognizes caregivers in outstanding units whose consistent and systematic approach to evidence-based care optimizes patient outcomes. Units that receive this national recognition serve as role models to others on their journey to excellent patient and family care,” she explains.
About the American Association of Critical Care Nurses
Founded in 1969 and based in Aliso Viejo, California, the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) is the world’s largest specialty nursing organization. AACN represents the interests of more than half a million acute and critical care nurses and includes more than 200 chapters in the United States. The organization’s vision is to create a healthcare system driven by the needs of patients and their families in which acute and critical care nurses make their optimal contribution. To learn more about AACN, visit www.aacn.org.
About the Beacon Award for Excellence
Established in 2003, the Beacon Award for Excellence offers a road map to help guide exceptional care through improved outcomes and greater overall patient satisfaction. U.S. and Canadian units where patients receive their principal nursing care after hospital admission qualify for this excellence award. Units that receive the Beacon Award for Excellence meet criteria in six categories: leadership structures and systems; appropriate staffing and staff engagement; effective communication, knowledge management, and learning and development; evidence-based practice and processes; and outcome measurement. To learn more, visit www.aacn.org/beacon.
About Saint Anne’s Hospital
Founded by the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation in 1906, Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, Massachusetts, is a not-for-profit, acute care Catholic hospital with 196 beds and satellite locations in Dartmouth, Attleboro, and Swansea, Massachusetts. A member of Brown University Health, Saint Anne’s provides nationally recognized patient- and family-centered inpatient care and outpatient clinical services to patients from surrounding Massachusetts and Rhode Island communities. In addition to national recognition for cancer care, orthopedic surgery, spine surgery, bariatric surgery, stroke care, and patient experience, Saint Anne’s also is one of just 12 U.S. hospitals to have earned 26 “Straight A’s” for patient safety from the Leapfrog Group since 2012. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.