Medical Intensive Care Unit receives fourth gold Beacon Award
Hershey Medical Center’s Medical Intensive Care Unit won a gold-level Beacon Award for Excellence from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.
The Hershey Medical Center team is one of 209 gold-level units in the U.S., including 13 in Pennsylvania.
An award celebration on Dec. 14 featured expressions of appreciation from the unit’s Beacon Committee, which is comprised of staff nurses who prepared the comprehensive 50-page document for the award submission.
“I am extremely proud of the MICU nursing team and this accomplishment,” said Nurse Manager Lauren Allison. “The gold Beacon award is a wonderful recognition of their expertise and the amazing outcomes from their everyday work.”
The Beacon Award acknowledges care teams that have successfully demonstrated dedication to improving patient outcomes while aligning practices with association’s six Healthy Work Environment Standards. Units that achieve the three-year designation adhere to national criteria consistent with the association’s Magnet Recognition Program, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the National Quality Healthcare Award.
The designation is awarded every three years in three levels—gold, silver and bronze. Hershey’s team also achieved gold designation in 2013 and 2016, and silver in 2019.
In June 2022, the unit expanded to occupy a newly-renovated space on the seventh floor of the hospital, increasing its capacity by an additional eight beds. Although the expansion increased the unit’s staffing needs, they successfully recruited and retained an ample number of nurses, ensuring the continued delivery of excellent patient care.
The Beacon Award for Excellence scoring reflects the unit’s commitment to refined processes, systematically applied with active involvement of leaders, staff and key stakeholders. Reviewers commended several strengths, such as leadership training through mentoring and formal classes, facilitating crucial conversations to enhance communication and accountability, collaborative team rounding and huddles ensuring two-way communication, initiatives for staff recognition and professional development, well-defined staffing parameters and successful retention strategies.
In addition, the unit has established robust processes for patient transfers and transitions of care, effectively identifying and addressing ethical concerns and mitigating moral distress for staff. Also reflected in the award’s scoring are the unit’s high staff satisfaction scores, safety data, and positive patient outcomes. The unit has consistently outperformed the national benchmark in rates of central line-associated bloodstream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, patient falls, and pressure injuries. These accomplishments underscore the unit’s unwavering dedication to excellence in critical care and patient well-being.
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