BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Bridgeport Hospital announced this week that its Surgical Intensive Care Unit, or SICU, has received a gold-level Beacon Award for Excellence from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, or AACN.
The gold-level award is the highest level a unit can achieve, the hospital says.
The national award honors unit caregivers who have gone above and beyond to improve patient outcomes and align practices with AACN’s six Healthy Work Environment Standards. These include skilled communication, true collaboration, effective decision-making, appropriate staffing, meaningful recognition and authentic leadership.
Mary Christofferson, chief nursing officer at Bridgeport Hospital, says the recognition was made possible by the consistent approach to evidence-based care put in practice by the hospital’s nursing workforce.
“Our nurses are highly skilled and compassionate professionals who go above and beyond to deliver exceptional care to our patients. They strive to create a healing environment for all individuals who walk through our door,” Christofferson said.
According to the hospital, the gold-level Beacon Award for Excellence earned by the SICU represents an effective and systematic approach to policies, procedures and processes that include engagement of staff and key-stakeholders, fact-based evaluation strategies for continuous process improvement and performance measures that meet or exceed relevant benchmarks.
Anne Aquila, DNP, RN, director of nursing at Yale New Haven Health, Bridgeport Hospital, congratulated the SICU on what she described as a remarkable achievement and the highest level of recognition.
“This award is a testament to the unit’s unwavering dedication to excellence in patient care and safety, commitment to evidence-based practices and continuous quality improvement, teamwork and leadership,” Aquila said.
The hospital notes that this is the second gold-level Beacon Award its staff has received in the past two months, as in August, the Milford Campus ICU was recognized with the same honor.
Bridgeport Hospital is part of Yale New Haven Health and is a nonprofit, 501-bed acute care hospital with two campuses serving patients throughout Fairfield and New Haven counties. According to the hospital, it admits more than 30,000 patients and provides over 600,000 outpatient treatments annually.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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