Heart and Vascular Progressive Care Unit receives second gold Beacon Award
When the Heart and Vascular Progressive Care Unit (HVPCU) at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center opened in 2011, staff vowed to care for each patient as if they were caring for a loved one.
That care has once again earned national recognition.
The 24-bed unit received its second gold-level Beacon Award for Excellence from the American Association of Critical Care Nurses in November following its first in 2015. The Beacon Awards honor hospital units throughout North America that use evidence-based practices to improve patient and family outcomes. The designation is awarded every three years in three levels ― gold, silver and bronze.
The HVPCU is one of six gold-level Beacon award recipients in Pennsylvania and one of two at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. In addition, the following Medical Center units previously received Beacon Awards:
- Surgical Anesthesia Intensive Care Unit: silver ― 2018
- Medical Intensive Care Unit: gold – 2016 and 2013
- Pediatric Intermediate Care Unit: silver – 2015
“This award signifies that patient outcomes and satisfaction matter to our staff,” said Julie Werner, HVPCU nurse manager. “Our nurses hold each other accountable, educate one another and have a say in what happens here.”
To earn re-designation, Werner and staff members from the unit’s 48-nurse team spent six months compiling a 50-page application. Beacon requires applicants to demonstrate success in five areas:
- Leadership structures and systems
- Appropriate staffing and staff engagement
- Effective communication, knowledge management and learning and development
- Evidence-based practice and processes
- Outcome measurement
Some examples of staff involvement and education that the team highlighted in its application include:
- Creating a welcoming environment for float personnel
- Establishing a “no-pass zone” to ensure staff always answers patient call bells
- Improving care for underserved populations by sharing best practices on unit bulletin boards
- Undergoing True Colors personality assessment training to build communication and empathy
The HVPCU has earned outstanding outcomes, with only one central line infection and only two catheter-associated urinary tract infections in the past six years. The unit also posted the hospital’s highest nurse satisfaction results for the last two National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators surveys and has earned some of the hospital’s highest patient satisfaction scores.
“We are a team-oriented unit,” Werner said. “This award shows that our nurses’ hard work doesn’t go unnoticed.”
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