Paoli Hospital ICU receives Gold Level Beacon Award

The Intensive Care Unit at Paoli Hospital has been designated a Gold Level Beacon Award winner. This accomplishment represents one of many significant milestones on the unit's journey to optimal outcomes and exceptional patient care. There are only 16 units in Pennsylvania that received Beacon Awards and out of those, only three, including Paoli Hospital, have been designated gold.

“I am so proud of the work our ICU team does day in and day out providing a superior experience for our sickest patients,” said Jan Nash, Vice President, Patient Services, at Paoli Hospital. “I am pleased to see them be recognized publicly and professionally for their accomplishments and feel honored to be their nurse leader.”

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) created the Beacon Award to recognize individual units that distinguish themselves by improving every facet of patient care and align practices with AACN’s six Healthy Work Environment Standards. Units that achieve this three-year, three-level award with gold, silver or bronze designations meet national criteria consistent with Magnet Recognition, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the National Quality Healthcare Award.

The gold-level designation signifies excellent and sustained unit performance and patient outcomes by meeting the following criteria:

• Leadership Structures and Systems

• Appropriate Staffing and Staff Engagement

• Effective Communication, Knowledge Management, Learning and Development

• Evidence-Based Practice and Processes

• Outcome Measurement