Dear Colleagues,
As we come to the end of our 2013 Nurse Recognition celebrations, I reflected on the amazing series of activities of which the highlight is always our Nurse Recognition Dinner. At this event, we introduce and celebrate our Essence of Nursing honorees and recipient. Each year, we are inspired by these nurses, and this year was no exception!
Our honorees, Ellen Bradley, BSN, RN, medical intermediate care nursing Tower 14CD; Cindy Engel, BSN, RN, Preoperative Care Unit; Suzanne Fernandes, BSN, RN, ICU Float Pool; and Tina Steele, RN, IBCLC, NICU, all exemplified the caring and inclusive intent that we as BWH nurses bring to our work each and every day. Their nominators, colleagues and directors spoke to how they influence practice in their respective settings and advance patient- and family-centered care in their own unique ways. Congratulations to each of you! We look forward to seeing their pictures soon in the display in the 75 Francis St. lobby.
Our recipient, Carly Caggiano, BSN, RN, from the MICU, accepted her Essence Award via video. Carly's first baby was due just two days after the dinner. We videotaped Carly's acceptance speech as a contingency "just in case." Well, as it happened, Catherine did decide to arrive early!
In the video, Carly described an example of a patient she cared for who shaped her caring practice. She described patient-centered care and demonstrated the risk that clinical nurses take when they step into their role as a clinical leader each and every day at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Carly was described as unassuming and quiet in her impact, and, as one of her nominators said, "It took me a while to catch on to her!" This is so typical of our amazing nurses who quietly go about healing, consoling and honoring our patients and families every day. That is why the Essence awards and sharing our stories through clinical narratives are so important. They help each of us learn from one another and make visible what most often occurs behind a curtain or door, in that private, most intimate space that is the nurse-patient relationship.
I am so proud to call each of these nurses and all of you my colleagues.
With admiration and gratitude,
Jackie Somerville, PhD, RN
Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services
and Chief Nurse