Dear colleagues,
In this issue of BWH Nurse, we celebrate our 2012 BWH Essence of Nursing Award recipient Roger Blanza, BSN, RN, and honorees Margaret Bernazzani, BSN, RN, Christopher Day, BSN, RN, Sherilyn Levy, MSN, RN, and Susan McDonald, BSN, RN.
What do their narratives and practice teach us about being a BWH nurse?
Their practice reflects a humility and recognition that nurses exist to serve patients and their families. They reflect inclusivity, a passion to meet our patients and families where they are, without judgment, but rather with clinical curiosity and a desire to bring the dimension of the human experience of care to dialogue with all members of the health care team.
They remind us that through our therapeutic relationships with our patients, we begin to understand what is meaningful and creates value for each unique individual, and that we are obligated to bring that unique perspective forward to inform the plan of care.
These nurses reflect on the importance of partnership with patients and families and remind us that as nurses, we are not about cure. We remain in relationship with and on the journey with our patients no matter the outcome.
They remind us that our presence makes a difference. They remind us that nursing is the single profession that spends continguous amounts of time with patients and families at the bedside, in acute care 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
They remind us of the criticality of team work and collaboration in advancing patient quality and safety and that we must count patients and their families as central members of that team. As we face the most fundamental changes any of us have ever witnessed in health care, the most important lesson these Essence nurses teach us is that BWH nurses are powerful, they make a difference and have the skill set to be equal partners in shaping health care redesign.
The system and most importantly our patients and their families need our voices and unique perspective of the discipline of nursing at the table now more then ever. It is critical that every BWH nurse articulates their practice, their unique contributions, and for each of us to seize the potential that nursing brings to advancing health and wellness.
I want to thank each of our Essence nurses for sharing a most intimate window into their practice which might otherwise remain invisible to those outside the cubicle curtains that nurses practice behind each and every day.
Best Regards,
Jackie Somerville, PhD, RN
Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer