American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Recognizes Huntington Hospital’s Critical Care Unit with Silver Beacon Award for Excellence
The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), Aliso Viejo, California, recently conferred a silver-level Beacon Award for Excellence in critical care at Huntington Hospital, Pasadena.
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 patient outcomes and align practices with AACN’s six Healthy Work Environment Standards. Units that achieve this three-year, three-level award with a gold, silver or bronze designation meet national criteria consistent with Magnet® Recognition, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the National Quality Healthcare Award.
“We are honored to receive the silver Beacon Award from the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, recognizing the excellent care by the staff of our intensive care unit for our most critically ill patients,” says Lori J. Morgan, MD, MBA, President and CEO, Huntington Hospital. “Our critical care nurses, physicians and employees are extremely dedicated caregivers. Every day, they continue to deliver exceptionally safe and compassionate care to patients on their unit with kindness and dignity, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
AACN President Megan Brunson, MSN, RN, CNL, CCRN-CSC, applauds the commitment of the caregivers the critical care unit atHuntington Hospital for working together to meet and exceed the high standards set forth by the Beacon Award for Excellence. These dedicated healthcare professionals join other members of our exceptional community of nurses, who set the standard for optimal patient care.
“Receiving a Beacon Award for Excellence demonstrates a team’s commitment to providing safe, patient-centered and evidence-based care to patients and families. Creating healthy and supportive work environments empowers nurses and other team members to make their optimal contribution,” Brunson explained. “Achieving this award is such an honor and brings such joy to those who have worked so hard to achieve excellence in patient care and positive patient outcomes,” Brunson added.
The silver-level Beacon Award for Excellence earned byHuntington Hospital’s critical care unit signifies an effective approach to policies, procedures and processes that includes engagement of staff and key stakeholders. The unit has evaluation and improvement strategies in place and good performance measures when compared to relevant benchmarks. Huntington Hospital’s critical care unit earned its silver award by meeting the following evidence-based Beacon Award for Excellence criteria:
- Leadership Structures and Systems
- Appropriate Staffing and Staff Engagement
- Effective Communication, Knowledge Management and Learning and Development
- Evidence-Based Practice and Processes
- Outcome Measurement
The other Beacon Award designations are gold and bronze. Gold-level awardees demonstrate an effective and systematic approach to policies, procedures and processes that includes engagement of staff and key stakeholders; fact-based evaluation strategies for continuous process improvement; and performance measures that meet or exceed relevant benchmarks. Recipients who earn a bronze-level award are beginning the journey to excellence, which includes developing systematic policies, processes and procedures; identifying opportunities for staff participation; and recognizing the need to develop cycles of evaluation and improvement.
AACN honors Huntington Hospital’s critical care unit and other Beacon Award for Excellence recipients with announcements in AACN Bold Voices, the monthly award-winning member magazine distributed to more than 100,000 acute and critical care nurses nationwide. AACN also honors awardees at the National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition, the world’s largest educational conference and trade show for nurses who care for acutely and critically ill patients and their families.
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 or call 800-899-2226.
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 largest specialty nursing organization in the world. 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, connect with the organization on Facebook at www.facebook.com/aacnface or follow AACN on Twitter at www.twitter.com/aacnme.
I would like to say a huge thank you to Jenna. She always goes above and beyond to support her colleagues and take care of her patients. I can always count on her without a doubt. I had a patient who had a mental breakdown in the hallway. Jenna came right away when I asked for help. I was impressed with her patience and positive attitude. She took her time to comfort the patient and even sat on the floor with my patient until the patient calmed down. Another day, I had an agitated patient who kept on getting out of bed. Jenna automatically stayed in the room and kept an eye on the patient for me. Without her support, I would not be able to focus on my work and care for my other patients. I really appreciate Jenna for all her support, encouragement and also bringing kindness to our unit which eases a challenging work environment. My patients expressed their gratitude for her as well. I feel very fortunate to have her here on our team! Thank you for all you do!
