The Best Staff

BWH is proud of nurses’ many achievements. Each month, BWH Nurse recognizes some of these achievements here. If you or your nurse colleague gains a promotion, earns a new degree or certification or receives an award, please let us know at bwhnurse@partners.org

Mary Absi

Mary Absi, BSN, RN, of Tower 10AB, Cardiac Interventional and Vascular Surgery, in May graduated magna cum laude with her BSN from Curry College. She was also inducted into the honor society.

Patty Bartzak, MSN, RN, of Tower 7AB graduated with her master’s degree in Nursing Education from Saint Joseph’s College.

Patty Bartzak

Susan Benveniste, RN, of Interventional Radiology, passed the national exam to become a Certified Radiology Nurse (CRN).

Christina Defusco, MSN, RN, charge nurse on Tower 9CD, graduated in May from Boston College with a master’s degree of science in Nursing in the Adult Health Nurse Practitioner tract.

Jacqueline Feeney, MSN, RN, of Tower 3BC, was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau. She also graduated in May with her MSN as a clinical nurse specialist in Acute and Critical Care from UMass-Boston.

Heather Fitzgerald, MSN, RN, of the Neuroscience ICU, graduated in May from Boston College with a master’s of science degree in Nursing in the Adult Health Nurse Practitioner tract. She also was awarded the Boston College Donald White Teaching Excellence Award for Nursing in April.

Beth Melanson, MSN, RN, CNS, of Tower 3BC, in May graduated with her masters of science in Nursing from UMass-Boston.

Julie Rocke

Katelyn Starr, BSN, RN, of the Tower 9AB general clinical research center and staff PCA on Tower 7D, in May received her bachelor’s of science in Nursing from Salem State College.

Katelyn Starr

Kathleen Trainer, MSN, RN, of Labor and Delivery, in May graduated with her master of science in Nursing from Salem State.

Trish Gibbons, DNSc, RN, associate chief nurse and executive director of the Center for Nursing Excellence, presented, “Leadership: A Journey of Service and Excellence” to the Massachusetts Association of Registered Nurses in April.

Carol Daddio Pierce, MS, RN, CCRN, ACNP, Clinical Educator in the MICU, gave several presentations in the past few months. She spoke at the Massachusetts Nursing Association’s third annual Clinical Nursing Conference, presenting “The Sepsis Initiative: The Golden Hours for Survival” in Worcester in May. Pierce also presented “Tight Abs: Abdominal Pressure Monitoring” at Newton-Wellesley Hospital’s Critical Care Conference in April. At the Horizon’s 2008 AACN Conference at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, she presented “The Triple Lutz: Skating through Sepsis, Sedation and Sugars” and “The Sculpted Six Pack: The Hidden Pressures of ‘Tight’ Abdominal Compartments.”

Vincent M. Vacca, Jr., MSN, RN, CCRN, and Stephen Violett, BSN, RN, of the Neuroscience ICU on Tower 9 CD, coauthored the cover story in the May issue of Nursing 2008 Critical Care, “Teamwork integral to treating Cerebral Arteriovenous Malformation.”

Several BWH clinicians’ poster presentations were accepted and shown at New England Nursing Informatics Consortium meeting: Trends in Clinical Informatics: A Nursing Perspective on June 6:

•Anne Bane, MSN, RN, Program Manager for Clinical Innovation and Tom Cooley, RPh, MBA: “Unintended Consequences of BPOC Technology: Hindsight is 20/20”

• Miriam Greenspan, MS, RN, Dorothy Bradley, MS, RN, Diane Campbell, BSN, RN, and Carol Luppi, BSN, RN, from the Center for Nursing Excellence: “Simulation as a Transition to a New Work Environment”

•Carol Luppi, BSN, RN, Jon Silverman, PharmD, Anne Bane, MSN, RN, Christopher Niemann, PharmD, and Paul Szumita, PharmD: “Upgrading a Smart Infusion Pump Drug Library.”

Suellen Breakey, PhD, RN, Cardiac Surgery Nurse Coordinator, received the American Association of Critical Care Nurses 2008 Research Oral Abstract Award at the AACN’s National Teaching Institute in Chicago. She presented both a poster and oral presentation of her research entitled, “Optimizing Stewardship: Nurses as Moral Leaders in the Intensive Care Unit.”

James Roche, MEd, BSN, RN, was appointed as the nurse educator for Tower 10AB, which this summer moves to Shapiro 8.