Adult Critical Care Unit Receives Gold Level for Beacon Award

Congratulations to the Iowa Methodist Medical Center Adult Critical Care Unit for receiving the Gold Level for the Beacon Award for Excellence. For hospitals who apply for Beacon recognition, only 23% achieve Gold Level. The IMMC CCU is only one of two critical care units in the state of Iowa who have received Gold Level.

 

The Beacon Award for Excellence — a significant milestone on the path to exceptional patient care and healthy work environments — recognizes unit caregivers who successfully improve patient outcomes and align practices with AACN’s six Healthy Work Environment Standards. Units that achieve this three-year, three-level award with gold, silver or bronze designations meet national criteria consistent with the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program®, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the National Quality Healthcare Award.

 

AACN President Beth Wathen, MSN, APRN, CCRN-K, applauds the commitment of the caregivers in the Critical Care Unit at Iowa Methodist Medical Center for working together to meet and exceed the high standards set forth by the Beacon Award for Excellence.

 

“The Beacon Award for Excellence is a testament to a team’s commitment to providing safe, patient-centered and evidence-based care to patients and families. Creating healthy and supportive work environments empowers nurses and other team members to make their optimal contribution,” Wathen explains. “Achieving this award is an honor that brings such joy to those who have worked so hard to achieve excellence in patient care and positive patient outcomes.”

 

Denise Cundy, chief nurse executive of UnityPoint Health – Des Moines, comments, “I am incredibly proud of this team! Over the past few years this team has maintained their focus on excellence in care delivery, while at the same time rising every day to unimaginable challenges.  Seeing their commitment validated through this award is simply extraordinary!”

 

The gold-level Beacon Award for Excellence earned by the Adult Critical Care Unit at Iowa Methodist Medical Center signifies 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. The Adult Critical Care Unit at Iowa Methodist Medical Center earned a gold award by meeting the following evidence-based Beacon Award for Excellence criteria:

• Leadership Structures and Systems
• Appropriate Staffing and Staff Engagement
• Effective Communication, Knowledge Management, and Learning Development
• Evidence-Based Practice and Processes
• Outcome Measurement

We are very proud of our team members for this outstanding achievement.