2015 Beacon Recipients

Beacon Award for Excellence lauds top hospital units that employ evidence-based practices to improve patient, family outcomes and align those practices with AACN’s Healthy Work Environment Standards

ALISO VIEJO, Calif. – Feb. 4, 2016 – The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) recognizes 130 units from 105 hospitals nationwide that earned the Beacon Award for Excellence between Jan. 1, 2015, and Dec. 31, 2015. (View recipient list.)

The Beacon Award for Excellence lauds hospital units that employ evidence-based practices to improve patient and family outcomes. The Beacon Award provides Gold, Silver and Bronze levels of recognition to hospital units that exemplify excellence in professional practice, patient care and outcomes. Recognition continues for three years.

Beacon-designated units meet criteria in five categories that are consistent with criteria for national awards, including Magnet recognition, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and National Quality Forum's Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards. Units that receive the award demonstrate practices that align with AACN’s Healthy Work Environment Standards.

Recipients of a Gold-level Beacon Award demonstrate staff-driven excellence in sustained unit performance and improved patient outcomes that exceed national benchmarks. Silver-level recipients demonstrate continuous learning and effective systems to achieve optimal patient care. Bronze-level awardees demonstrate success in developing, deploying and integrating unit-based performance criteria for optimal outcomes.

In 2015, three units at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, received Gold-level Beacon Awards and three received Silver. With the addition of these units, the hospital now has seven Beacon-recognized units.

“We see the Beacon Award as recognition of the excellent experience provided to patients, families and our nurses,” said Mary Tonges, RN, PhD, NEA-BC, FAAN, UNC Hospitals’ senior vice president and chief nursing officer. “For patients and families, it’s recognition of exceptional care, which involves both excellent clinical quality and an excellent patient experience. For nurses, it means providing an environment that supports the excellent care they provide while also supporting their own workplace well-being.”

Additionally, VCU Medical Center, Richmond, Virginia, had three units recognized in 2015, including two that received Gold-level recognition. With the addition of these units, VCU becomes the first hospital with 10 Beacon-recognized units.

In all, 32 units received Gold-level Beacon Awards, the Beacon Award’s highest distinction, including two units each at Boston Children’s Hospital and Cleveland Clinic.

Fifteen additional hospitals had multiple units honored with an award, demonstrating excellence in caring for high acuity and critically ill patients and their families.

AACN President Karen McQuillan, RN, MS, CNS-BC, CCRN, CNRN, FAAN, a clinical nurse specialist at R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, University of Maryland Medical System, Baltimore, praises the exemplary efforts of the unit caregivers who achieved the Beacon Award for Excellence.

“The caregivers in these units are healthcare professionals committed to the best in patient care,” McQuillan said. “The continued growth of the Beacon Award program shows the commitment of caregivers and their hospitals to work together to achieve healthy work environments that support excellent care of patients and their families.”.

AACN honors units that earn the Beacon Award for Excellence during the National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition (NTI), the world’s largest educational conference and trade show for nurses who care for acutely and critically ill patients and their families. The next NTI takes place in New Orleans, May 16-19 (with preconferences May 15). For more information about the Beacon Award for Excellence, visit www.aacn.org/beacon.

About the Beacon Award for Excellence: Established in 2003, AACN’s award recognizes top U.S. hospital units that meet standards of excellence in recruitment and retention; education, training and mentoring; research and evidence-based practice; patient outcomes; leadership and organizational ethics; and creation of a healthy work environment. Award criteria — which measure systems, outcomes and environments against evidence-based national criteria for excellence — provide a mechanism to initiate patient safety efforts. To learn more about the award, visit www.aacn.org/beacon or call 800-899-2226.

About the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses: Founded in 1969 and based in Aliso Viejo, California, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) is the largest specialty nursing organization in the world. AACN represents the interests of more than 500,000 acute and critical care nurses and includes more than 225 chapters worldwide. The organization’s vision is to create a healthcare system driven by the needs of patients and their families in which acute and critical care nurses make their optimal contribution.

2015 Beacon Award Recipient List by State

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