Dear Colleagues,
I love this time of year. As one year comes to an end, January signals new beginnings.
This issue of BWH Nurse offers us a chance to look back on 2010 and reflect on some of the wonderful accomplishments we have made as a professional community. The inaugural Haley Forum highlighted two nurse scientists, their programs of research and their commitment to support clinical nurses’ study of interesting clinical questions generated from their practice. New knowledge offers improved ways of caring for patients and families and allows clinical staff the opportunity to advance their own practice.
The Beacon Award brought national recognition for critical care excellence to Shapiro 6 West. This prestigious award is based on criteria in six categories including patient outcomes; evidence-based practice and research; leadership and organizational ethics; excellence and innovation in recruitment and retention; education, training and mentoring; and promoting healing environments. Finally, the Hispanic Heritage Award, Ujima and Asian Pacific Islander Awards celebrated our commitment to a diverse work force as essential in providing culturally competent care to all patients and families.
These accomplishments, with others included in this issue, add to the strong foundation we have built as a clinical community.
This year’s employee opinion survey validated that foundation, as 94 percent of the nurses who responded stated they were proud to be a BWH nurse. Our most recent patient satisfaction mean score with nursing care is 91, an all time high! This places nurses at the Brigham in the 99th percentile when compared to like-size hospitals that use Press Ganey. These accomplishments give us confidence in our readiness to embrace the future.
We know health care reform will take center stage. The recent Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Institute of Medicine report on “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health” stated that “…nurses’ regular, close proximity to patients and scientific understanding of care processes across the continuum of care give them a unique ability to act as partners with other health professionals and to lead improvement and redesign of the health care systems and its many practice environments.” The voice of the BWH nurse is strong, and we are ready to embrace the challenge!
With great excitement, we welcome our new chief nurse and senior vice president for Patient Care Services. Dr. Jackie Somerville joins us in January 2011. She enters BWH at a time when the staff have great energy and are ready to move forward with her in ensuring that we can provide excellent care to patients and families, with the best staff in the safest environment.
Happy New Year to one and all!
Trish Gibbons, DNSc, RN
Interim Chief Nurse and Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services