Glens Falls Hospital, during a week-long celebration of Nurses Week in May, honored 11 nurses for the quality care they provide throughout the entire year.
The events of Nurses Week were centered on recognizing nurses for the critical role they have in delivering compassionate and expert clinical care to patients.
The hospital also announced that for the past four consecutive years, Glens Falls Hospital nurses have been finalists or named in the Top 10 Nurses of the Year for the Times Union Salute to Nurses, including this year’s winner Jennifer Cleveland.
At the hospital’s annual Nurse of the Year awards ceremony, honors were given in four diverse categories: nurse leadership, nurse as teacher, clinical nurse, and magnet champion. The nurses were nominated and selected by their peers. Winners included:
Magnet Journey Champions of the Year: Heidi Mechanick and Magen Molgano.
Outstanding Nurses as Teachers of the Year: Catherine Brambley, Catherine Fisher and Kenta Kameda.
Nurse Leaders of the Year: Alison Pruntyand Mary Shannon.
Clinical Nurses of the Year: Garrett Bovair, Cassandra Seymour, Stephanie Rollo and Linda Bell.
In addition, a full-day exhibition of research and evidence-based practice projects authored by clinical nurses was held. The hospital also celebrated its nurses with a clinical ladder program reception to recognize those who have demonstrated their commitment to ongoing professional development, involvement in our shared decision-making councils, and demonstrated contributions to improving patient care and their practice environment.
Glens Falls Hospital said it is committed to supporting the national initiative of increasing the percentage of baccalaureate-prepared and board certified nurses.
Glens Falls Hospital is on a path to achieve Magnet designation in 2020. The Magnet program designates organizations worldwide where nurses excel in five areas: transformational leadership, structural empowerment, exemplary professional practice, new knowledge, innovation and improvements, and improved patient outcomes.
“Our nursing staff provides exceptional care at Glens Falls Hospital as demonstrated by our strong performance in nurse sensitive quality indicators and our patient and RN satisfaction. Our RN satisfaction outperforms the national benchmark in 6 out of 8 categories,” said Donna Kirker, chief nursing officer and vice president of patient services. “We are extremely proud of this as it not only strengthens our ability to recruit and retain nurses, but also lends to providing exemplary patient-centered care and better patient outcomes.”
Magnet designation is the highest credential that an organization can achieve for the quality of nursing practice officials said.