HERSHEY, Pa. — Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center’s Neuroscience Critical Care Unit has been recognized with a gold-level Beacon Award for Excellence by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.
The award recognizes unit caregivers who successfully improve patient outcomes and align practices with the association’s Healthy Work Environment Standards.
The gold designation is the highest of the three Beacon Award levels a hospital unit can receive. This is the first time the Neuroscience Critical Care Unit has received a Beacon Award, making it one of only 11 neurocritical care units in the nation, and one of just three in Pennsylvania, to achieve gold-level distinction.
At an award celebration on Aug. 7, members of the unit’s Beacon Committee expressed their appreciation to the team for their exceptional efforts in patient care. The committee, made up of staff nurses and nurse leaders, prepared the comprehensive 52-page document for the award.
“It has been a long journey to achieve the gold Beacon Award, and I’m very proud of the entire team for all their hard work and dedication in making it possible,” said Jennifer Gish, nurse manager of the Neuroscience Critical Care Unit. “The Beacon Award reflects our nurses’ dedication to providing exceptional care and putting patients first every day.”
For nurses, the award means a positive and supportive work environment with greater collaboration, higher morale and lower turnover. Units that earn the three-year designation meet national criteria consistent with the association’s Magnet Recognition Program, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the National Quality Healthcare Award.
The Neuroscience Critical Care Unit provides care for both intensive and intermediate care patients who have suffered strokes, brain traumas, neurovascular disorders, seizures, brain tumors and central nervous system cancers.
Beacon Award reviewers praised the unit’s collaborative Unit Accountability Team, focus on preventing hospital-acquired conditions, staff satisfaction, low turnover rate and use of a tiered skills model for systematic learning during nurse orientation.
The unit also has robust processes for patient transfers and care transitions, effectively identifies and addresses ethical concerns and reduces moral distress for staff. High staff satisfaction, safety data and positive patient outcomes were also key factors in the award scoring.
“These accomplishments underscore the Neuroscience Critical Care Unit’s unwavering dedication to excellence in critical care and patient well-being,” said Michele Szkolnicki, senior vice president and chief nursing officer at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.