CLEVELAND – The University Hospitals Case Medical Center’s Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) has been awarded the Beacon Award for Critical Care Excellence. The Beacon Award is given by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) and recognizes the nation’s top hospitals critical care units. UHCMC’s MICU is the only one in the nation to receive this distinction over three consecutive years.
University Hospitals Case Medical Center’s MICU is recognized as a Beacon Award winner due to the unit’s commitment to the highest quality standards in nurse recruitment and retention, patient outcomes, staff training, healthy work environments, leadership and evidence-based practice and research. Last year, the MICU was the only northern Ohio recipient of the Beacon Award.
“This is truly outstanding that our Medical Intensive Care Unit stands out among all others in the country having won this significant award three years in a row,” says Fred C. Rothstein, MD, President, UHCMC. “We applaud the hard work, dedication and professionalism of the MICU staff who make it an outstanding unit.”
"Our MICU staff provides the highest level of care and that is reflected in this honor," says Catherine Koppelman, RN, Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer of UHCMC. "The MICU team at University Hospitals Case Medical Center once again demonstrates that high-tech can be combined with high-touch, compassionate care."
"I am honored to lead a staff that is so dedicated to patient and their families, “ says Kim Kotora, RN, Head Nurse Manager, MICU. “They are truly an exceptional group of professionals committed to providing quality care in a cohesive working environment."
In establishing the award, AACN, the world’s largest specialty nursing organization, carefully considered a number of factors. The Beacon Award for Critical Care Excellence is awarded twice yearly. To determine whether a critical care unit had earned recognition as a Beacon Award winner, the unit must have:
- • Recognized excellence in the intensive care environments in which nurses work and critically ill patients live;
- • Recognized excellence of the highest quality measures, processes, structures and outcomes based upon evidence;
- • Recognized excellence in collaboration, communication, and partnerships that support the value of healing and humane environments;
- • Developed a program that contributes to actualization of AACN’s mission, vision and values.
UHCMC’s Medical ICU is a 20-bed unit caring for the most critically ill medical patients in Northeast Ohio. Highlights from this year’s Beacon application included:
- Exceptional quality outcomes related to:
- • ventilator associated pneumonias
- • central lines
- • urinary tract infections
- • deep vein thrombosis
- • skin breakdown/pressure ulcers
- • Strong sense of interdisciplinary engagement
- • Commitment to patient and family centered care
- • Consistent use of evidence based medicine/practice
- •Dynamic and cohesive team approach to problem solving
- • Excellence in communication