On Monday, the eight recipients of the Emergency Nurses Association’s (ENA) second annual Lantern Awards were announced.
The Lantern Award, which is named in honor of Florence Nightingale, who is credited with changing nursing from a mostly untrained job to a skilled, science-based profession, recognizes emergency departments that exemplify exceptional practice and innovative performance in the areas of leadership, practice, advocacy and research. In addition, emergency departments that receive the Lantern Award designation exemplify a culture of excellence in emergency care, including strong leadership, practice credibility and workplace recognition.
The ENA, which is a membership organization of more than 40,000 emergency nurses nationwide, had 27 emergency department applicants for the award this year, but only eight met the criteria for the Lantern Award designation.
“The quality of care provided in emergency departments is in large part determined by a hospital’s commitment to facilitating excellence in nursing practice,” said Gail Lenehan, president of ENA, in a press release. “The Lantern Awards are part of the Emergency Nurses Association’s effort to promote exemplary nursing practice and to recognize hospitals that are going above and beyond in ensuring their emergency departments are providing the highest quality care to patients.”
To qualify for the Lantern Award, an emergency department applicant must complete a comprehensive application that includes performance metrics, narratives, as well as qualitative questions about noteworthy practices and attributes of their emergency department, focusing on their commitment to excellence and innovation. Each application is evaluated through a blinded process by a team of reviewers.
“Were very excited to be recognized with this award. It’s a big deal. It’s one more recognition for us that shows we are an exceptional department,” said Roseanne Niese, director of Emergency and Trauma Services at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital Emergency Department in Barrington, Ill., one of the award recipients. “You have to pay to apply to the award and answer 36 questions to meet the expectations of the Lantern. If you don’t meet them, you don’t get the award. They were looking for the best and for something that identified exceptional emergency rooms. It was a very comprehensive application.”
Fran Damian, director of Nursing and Patient Services at Boston Children's Hospital Emergency Department, another 2012 Lantern Award recipient added, “Knowing that it’s a competitive environment and only eight applicants received the award I think really demonstrates that we stand out in many ways. It really helps to validate to the staff all the hard work that we do here. Because we are a specialty hospital, I think we were really able to respond to the Lantern’s questions about taking care of kids in a very unique way. It’s an honor and the ENA is an amazing organization.”
The Lantern Award recipients for 2012 are:
-Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital Emergency Department (Barrington, Ill.)
-Beaumont Health System – Grosse Pointe Emergency Center (Grosse Pointe, Mich.)
-Boston Children's Hospital Emergency Department (Boston)
-Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Ruth and Harry Roman Emergency Department (Los Angeles)
-Chandler Regional Medical Center Emergency Department (Chandler, Ariz.)
-Children's Medical Center of Dallas, Seay Emergency Center (Dallas)
-Cincinnati Children's Hospital Emergency Department – Burnet Campus (Cincinnati)
-Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital Emergency Medicine and Trauma Center (Indianapolis)
Damian added that through the application process, her department was able to also evaluate their measures and processes in a constructive way for the future, whether or not they ended up receiving the award.
“We learned about what we would like to do moving forward based on the application. We saw opportunity to do even more,” she said. “It was a way for us to reflect on all the work we already do and triggered ideas for how to improve even more in the future.”