Beacon Award
 The nurses of our Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) were honored with the 2009-2010 Beacon Award for Critical Care Excellence.
The award is specifically designated to recognize the nation’s top pediatric, progressive and adult critical care units across a multitude of hospitals.
“As a nursing department dedicated to research, education, leadership and clinical care, the Beacon Award validates our intense commitment in the PICU to provide the best care possible to our most fragile young patients and their families,” said Mary Dee Hacker, R.N., MBA, vice president of Patient Care Services and chief nursing officer.
About Beacon
Established in 2003, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses' Beacon Award recognizes top U.S. adult and pediatric critical care units and progressive care 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
- Creation of a healthy work environment.
Beacon Awards recognize critical care units that meet evidence-based standards of excellence and patient safety. Beacon Award units realize many benefits of having met rigid criteria for excellence, high-quality standards and exceptional care of patients and their families:
- Influence and Recognition
Units that participate in the Beacon Award process help set the standards for what constitutes an excellent acute or critical care environment through the collection of evidence-based information. Patient safety and quality programs such as The Leapfrog Group Hospital Quality and Safety Survey, consider Beacon achievement in their evaluation process.
- Credibility
Consumers who are paying closer attention today to quality-of-care factors with respect to their own health care will take this level of recognition into consideration when choosing a hospital for care or treatment.
- Recruitment and Retention
Prospective employees will recognize a Beacon Award unit as a healthy work environment, a place where quality of care is tied directly to quality of staff. Nurses who work in these units will recognize that their skills and expertise are appreciated and valued.
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