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In This Issue:
Mairead Hickey presents the vision for the Department of Nursing before a packed Bornstein Amphitheater.
Mairead Hickey, PhD, RN, spent her first months as BWH’s chief nursing officer and senior vice president of Patient Care Services meeting with and listening to clinical nurses, patient care assistants and other care providers throughout the hospital.
The input from those countless dynamic and engaging discussions shaped the vision for the Department of Nursing. “Our department vision is simple: To provide the excellent nursing care to patients and their families with the very best staff in the safest environment,” Hickey said.
Next week, Nursing and the department vision takes center stage as May 6 to 12 is National Nurses Week. Every year at this time the entire nation celebrates its nearly three million nurses and BWH formally recognizes its more than 2,000 nurses.
“Nurses are an integral part of our care team and play a vital role in planning care for patients and families,” said BWH President Gary Gottlieb, MD, MBA. “Our nurses are at the bedside 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Their compassion and tender touch are the foundation of our mission of care.”
“This vision comes from our nurses at the bedside, in our ambulatory care setting and community health centers,” Hickey said. “It’s what we do and who we are throughout BWH.”
Excerpts and highlights include:
Excellent nursing care to patients and families is all about building continuous healing relationships driven by the needs of patients and families, and this includes healthy working relationships with colleagues within and outside Nursing.
The very best staff includes competence in technical and relational work and accountability as individual practitioners and as a professional nursing discipline. BWH nurses mentor those entering the profession and engage as members and leaders of interdisciplinary and intra-disciplinary teams. This involves creating partnerships with schools of nursing as preceptors, mentors, faculty, researchers and advisors.
The safest environment means the right resources are with the right patients at the right time. As part of a community, no BWH nurse will feel left alone in her or his practice, and BWH nurses can initiate change at all levels to improve nursing care and nursing practice.
“Nursing is challenging and rewarding, and BWH is a special place to be a nurse,” Hickey said. “To me, this vision represents what it means to be a BWH nurse.”
BWH begins its celebration with the unveiling of the annual Essence of Nursing Award lobby display at 75 Francis St. this week and the annual nursing recognition dinner next week. Make sure to check out next week’s Bulletin for details on the hospital’s top nursing award.