Three BWH Nurses Receive Nurse.com/Spectrum HonorsBWH Nurse - For and about the Nursing Staff of Brigham and Women's HospitalThree BWH Nurses Receive Nurse.com/Spectrum HonorsBWH Nurse - For and about the Nursing Staff of Brigham and Women's Hospital

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Three BWH Nurses Receive Nurse.com/Spectrum Honors

BWH nurses received recognition in multiple categories for Nurse.com/Nursing Spectrum’s 2012 Nursing Excellence Awards, with Patricia Dykes, PhD, RN, FAAN, receiving the publication’s award for Advancing and Leading the Profession. She was selected from five finalists in the category and will move on to the national program representing the New England Region. Anne Bane, MS, RN, and Vincent Vacca, MSN, RN, CCRN, were both named regional finalists for the 2012 Nursing Excellence Awards.


Anne Bane

Anne Bane, MS, RN, nursing director for Clinical Systems Innovations at BWH, was a finalist in the category of patient and staff management. In her role, Bane leads nursing and multidisciplinary teams in developing, testing and advancing clinical systems innovation. She leads a program that is accountable to ensure the success of staff nurses in learning, adopting and evaluating new technology initiatives. One of her major projects was, along with Pharmacy, implementing eMAR on inpatient units and setting up a system to orient nurses in learning the technology. She also leads committees on drug safety, is an advisor to the nursing informatics and clinical innovations committee, and is widely sought for consultation by clinical nursing staff, nurse leaders, physicians and pharmacy colleagues at the local, national and international level.


Patricia Dykes

Patricia Dykes, PhD, RN, FAAN, senior nurse scientist and research program director, received the award for advancing and leading the profession of nursing. An international leader in the field of fall prevention, she is renowned in advancing this area of research. Her most recent study on the topic was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Dykes’ passion is using informatics tools to establish links between the work of nurses and positive patient outcomes. For the past two decades, she has focused on building a framework for evidence-based practice and exploring the impact of health information technology on the work of nurses. Dykes has published more than 70 peer-reviewed manuscripts and more than 100 peer-reviewed papers, proceedings and presentations.


Vincent Vacca

Vincent Vacca, MSN, RN, CCRN, neurosciences nurse educator, was a finalist in the education and mentoring category. Vacca supports the Neuroscience ICU in educating 85 nurses and 12 nursing assistants. He coordinates the orientation of each nurse and assistant to the unit, helped develop and introduce a nurse-to-nurse handoff tool to ensure seamless and safe delivery of care, facilitates the senior nursing student practicums on the unit and mentors graduate nursing students.

Vacca was instrumental in developing the evidence-based acute stroke response team, which is available around the clock throughout the hospital. He serves on multiple quality, safety and practice committees, and has presented locally, regionally and nationally at neurosciences conferences.