Letter from CNO, SVP Mairead Hickey
Dear Nurse Colleagues:
Excellent care to patients and families, with the best staff, in the safest environment.
Since developing this Nursing Department vision statement two years ago, we have focused our attention on defining what this vision means to us as a community of nurses and how it is experienced by every patient and every nurse each day.
The strategic plan for the Department of Nursing, which is described in this issue of BWH Nurse, is the roadmap that will guide us toward making our vision a reality. The strategic plan addresses four major elements: the professional practice model, infrastructure, initiatives and programs. Defining our professional practice model is critically important because it will support the nurse-patient relationship and facilitate the ways that nurses make significant contributions to outcomes of care for patients and families. Improving the infrastructure that supports practice and day-to-day operations, identifying short term initiatives that address specific concerns and strengthening ongoing programs of education and research all are necessary steps to improve our practice and the environment in which we deliver care.
Serving as our action plan, the strategic plan keeps us focused on what we must do to sustain ongoing professional growth and ensure our success as professional nurses at BWH. Implementing the strategic plan will help us to build respectful partnerships with patients, families and colleagues, assume individual and collective accountability for our practice, build healthy work environments, provide opportunities for ongoing professional learning and growth, and ensure clinical staff have the resources and systems in place necessary to deliver care.
With our vision as our destination and our strategic plan as our roadmap, we are on a journey to creating a practice environment that is reflective, respectful and inclusive of the voices of all staff.
Sincerely,
Mairead Hickey, PhD, RN
Chief Nursing Officer and
Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services