IHI/NPSF DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses 2018 Honorees Announced
BOSTON, MA (PRWEB) April 23, 2018 -- The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and the DAISY Foundation have announced the recipients of the 2018 IHI/NPSF DAISY Awards for Extraordinary Nurses. Erin Harlow-Parker, MS, APRN, PMSCNS-BC, of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, has been chosen to receive the individual award. The team award will go to the Surgical Care Unit at Children’s National Health System in Washington, DC.
The awards will be conferred during the IHI/NPSF Patient Safety Congress, which takes place May 23-25, 2018, in Boston, Massachusetts.
This award program derives from the DAISY Foundation’s signature program, the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses. More than 3,000 health care facilities and schools of nursing across the US and in 17 other countries participate in the DAISY program, recognizing nurses and teams throughout the year for their extraordinary compassionate care. Nearly 100 nurses and nurse-led teams honored within their own organizations between January 2016 and June 2017 were candidates for the 2018 international awards being announced today, which place emphasis on work that improves workforce and patient safety.
“IHI’s partnership with the DAISY Foundation provides a way to recognize and honor the nursing profession and exceptional contributions to patient safety,” said Patricia McGaffigan, RN, MS, CPPS, Vice President, Safety, IHI. “All of this year’s nominees demonstrated extraordinary dedication to their patients and to providing safe health care, and this year’s awardees have particularly inspiring contributions that address behavioral health and equity.”
Harlow-Parker is an advanced practice nurse specializing in behavioral health in the pediatric population. She has led or contributed to numerous initiatives to improve the care of young patients in the emergency department, particularly those in need of timely inpatient psychiatric treatment. She has also collaborated with Georgia state officials to advocate on behalf of children with behavioral and developmental disorders, a population that is especially hard to place in treatment because of a lack of appropriate facilities.
“Children with psychiatric disorders are at serious risk of harm, and they and their families often experience long waits in emergency departments while seeking appropriate placement. Erin has worked tirelessly to improve patient safety and quality of care for this at-risk population, not only in our hospitals, but across the state of Georgia,” said Linda Cole, RN, MBA, FACHE, Senior Vice-President of Operations and Chief Nursing Officer at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
The Surgical Care Unit (SCU) at Children’s National Health System is part of the organization’s Pediatric Level I Trauma Center. In 2016, the team cared for a severely burned and traumatized teen-aged patient. Rehabilitation began right away, but areas for physical and occupational therapy on the unit were mainly public spaces. The patient’s stress, pain levels, and concern about her physical appearance often led her to refuse crucial therapy outside of her room.
This case influenced the SCU team to develop a better solution for young patients in need of rehabilitation, especially burn patients. With the help of local foundations, the team raised $50,000 for a special dedicated gym space that features bright lighting, slip-resistant flooring, and other features to ensure patient-focused goals can be achieved in a safe and more private environment. As an example of impact, the SCU has outperformed national benchmarks for patient falls with injury over the past two years. Additionally, the patient who sparked this effort is now an active and thriving high schooler.
“This award exemplifies the compassion and tireless dedication of all of our nurses at Children’s National,” said Kathleen Chavanu Gorman, MSN, RN, FAAN, Executive Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Operating Officer. “I am so impressed with the SCU team’s ability to address the physical and emotional needs of this patient and all of the patients and families they care for every day. They not only identified the underlying global patient care need, but brought it to the next level by finding a solution that benefits all children being cared for on their unit. As a nurse myself and as a hospital leader, I know that this kind of team collaboration, empathy, and clinical excellence are essential to the high-quality care we provide. I am so proud of this team for their never-ending efforts to help children grow up stronger.”
Previously given in collaboration with the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF), the awards program is now in its fourth year. The 2018 honorees are the first chosen since NPSF merged with IHI.
“This year’s honorees were chosen from a pool of truly awe-inspiring nurses. All of their stories demonstrate the extraordinary levels of care being provided to patients and families every day in our hospitals,” said Bonnie Barnes, FAAN, Co-Founder and President of the DAISY Foundation. “As we continue to express gratitude to nurses around the world for their compassion, we are proud to partner with IHI to put a powerful spotlight on the important contributions nurses are making to safe, high-quality care.”
The IHI/NPSF DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses was made possible by a generous grant from Hill-Rom, a global provider of clinical technology and patient safety solutions.
For updates about the award and the IHI/NPSF Patient Safety Congress, visit ihi.org/patientsafetycongress.
About Us
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) began working together as one organization in May 2017. The newly formed entity is committed to using its combined knowledge and resources to focus and energize the patient safety agenda in order to build systems of safety across the continuum of care. To learn more about our trainings, resources, and practical applications, visit ihi.org/PatientSafety.
About the DAISY Foundation
The DAISY Foundation was created in 1999 by the family of J. Patrick Barnes who died at age 33 of complications of an auto-immune disease (hence the name, an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.) Patrick received extraordinary care from his nurses, and his family felt compelled to express their profound gratitude for the compassion and skill nurses bring to patients and families every day. The DAISY Award celebrates nurses in over 3,000 healthcare facilities and schools of nursing around the world. For more information about The DAISY Award and the Foundation’s other recognition of nurses, faculty and students, visit http://www.DAISYfoundation.org.
Patricia McTiernan, IHI, http://www.ihi.org, +1 617-391-9922, [email protected]
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