The coronary care unit (CCU) at St. Peter’s Hospital, an affiliate of St. Peter’s Health Partners, has received a silver-level Beacon Award for Excellence from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN).
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.
The 10-bed CCU at St. Peter’s Hospital provides care to cardiac and other patients who are acutely or critically ill. Using a patient-focused care model, the unit is operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The unit serves as a place for monitoring and care of patients with cardiac disease processes that are potentially severe, physiologically unstable, and require technical and/or artificial life support.
“Nurses in the St. Peter’s Hospital CCU provide compassionate, high-quality care to some of our most vulnerable patients,” said Celeste DesChamps, RN, MS, NEA-BC, interim chief nursing officer at St. Peter’s Hospital. “We congratulate the CCU team for earning a silver-level Beacon Award for Excellence. This recognition from the AACN reinforces what we hear from our patients every day: the nurses at St. Peter’s Hospital provide exceptional care.”
AACN President Karen McQuillan, RN, MS, CNS-BC, CCRN, CNRN, FAAN, applauded the commitment of the caregivers at the St. Peter’s Hospital CCU for working together to meet and exceed the high standards set forth by the Beacon Award for Excellence.
“The Beacon Award for Excellence recognizes caregivers in stellar units whose consistent and systematic approach to evidence-based care optimizes patient outcomes,” McQuillan said. “Units that receive this national recognition serve as role models to others on their journey to excellent patient and family care.”
The silver-level Beacon Award for Excellence earned by the CCU at St. Peter’s Hospital signifies continuous learning and effective systems to achieve optimal patient care. The St. Peter’s Hospital CCU 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, Learning and Development
- Evidence-Based Practice and Processes
- Outcome Measurement
To learn more about the Beacon Award for Excellence, visit: www.aacn.org/beacon
To learn more about other awards and honors given to St. Peter’s Hospital for excellence and quality patient care, please visit: www.sphcs.org/StandardsofExcellence
