KY hospital awarded as "Destination" hospital for nurses

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

st. elizabeth among 5 singled out nationwide

by terry flynn

the cincinnati enquirer

http://enquirer.com/editions/2002/01/03/loc_hospital_praised_as.html

edgewood-a northern kentucky hospital is among just five in the nation profiled by the advisory board co. as a "destination" hospital for nurses.

st. elizabeth, which includes units in covington, edgewood and grant county, was profiled along with children's memorial hospital in chicago, mount sinai hospital in new york, st. lucie hospital in port st. lucie, fla., and university of california-davis medical center in sacramento as examples of hospitals that have unique approaches to creating an outstanding work environment for nurses.

"we selected the five hospitals to profile from a larger group of outstanding hospitals with great work environments," said perri strawn, practice manager of the advisory board's nursing leadership academy in washington, d.c. "we couldn't profile all the hospitals."

diane ruark, 55, a nurse at st. elizabeth for more than 34 years, said wednesday the hospital was selected for its profile "because of the way people are treated. it's a great place to work."

the advisory board selected the five institutions for a profile based on their accomplishments, their diversity, and the potential for others to learn from their practices. criteria for selection included low nurse turnover and vacancy rates, location in a competitive market, a strategic approach to management, a reputation for excellence in patient care, and an outstanding place to work among peers.

ms. ruark, who graduated from the hospital's nursing school in 1967, the next-to-last graduating class before the school closed in 1968, said st. elizabeth employees work as a team "but we are treated as individuals. people ask me when i'm going to retire, but i have no plans to retire. i love to come to work."

madonna keen, 36, coordinator for the hospital's mobile mammography unit, has worked at st. elizabeth since 1985. her mother worked at the hospital and her sister, marion schulte, works for women's outpatient services.

"it's an empowered work force, a family," she said. "it's not only on the staff level. i've been staff and management and there are a lot of wonderful people here. that's why the turnover is so low."

ms. strawn said st. elizabeth was not judged in comparison to the other four hospitals profiled, but rather on how it compared to the greater cincinnati market.

"each of the (five) hospitals profiled has a different approach to making it a great place to work," she said.

anyone hear of the advisory board co. before?......is this part of the leapfrog group initiative? karen

Hi Karen. Good article. Congratulations to the hospital. It would seem that all levels of managment and staff are truly connected on what the priorities are and should be. Most important within that connectedness is that they seem to connect well with the community and their needs. Disconnect is unfortunately one of the reasons why so many nurses, doctors, and other staff vent so much. It takes secure, able, strong leadership to have hospitals like the acclaimed St. Elizabeth's to be successful.

Specializes in PACU/Cardiac/Nrsg. Mgmt./M/S.

i work at this "magnet" hospital..don't be fooled..nurses are not clamering to get hired there....why?

does it matter if an additional 12 bed unit was opened WITHOUT the necessary staff for the unit? yep, that's right...the staff has been thinned out and is pulled to the new floor..all this means is less staff, higher ratios...and oh yea, more bucks for the hospital...

i think this health survey stuff is political...one of the survey's that st e's boasts about, actually has a pr page for the ceo's to read that brags of the advantages that the hospital will reap when the medial blizt about the latest "surveys" hit the airwaves.....its all a advertising/marketing gimmick, and we nurses know it when we hear it..

so, please take this into consideration before you pat these hospitals on the back for the superb treatment of their nurses..

there is more at stake than what meets the eye..

The article did not say this is a Magnet hospital - which are a handful of facilities nationwide awarded such designation by the ANA's credentialing center. It said its a "Destination" hospital - awarded that designation by some "advisory company" - whatver that is.

I dont know about this company or the other hospitals it awarded for "creating an outstanding environment for nurses", but I know about the one they gave this award to in NY - MT SINAI! And they have GOT to be kidding!

Thanks for posting this - Im sending it to the RN union that has been fighting for a better working environment for the nurses at that hospital.

Those nurses are facing a strike & the hospital is rewarded for the environment its giving them.

TFA!!! (TrulyFrigginAmazing) :o

Is this Mt Sinais way of generating some positive PR for itself as damage control to the flood of bad press its gotten in the last 2 months with the death of a patient due to short staffing?

Mt Sinai has just been cited by the State for POOR STAFFING being the cause of a healthy partial-liver donor's death. Their partial-liver transplant program has been shut down by the state because of it. 41 other cases of transplant complications and deaths are being re-investigated for similar causes.

Last Christmas this hospital that is supposed to be such a great employer laid off 70 workers, previously hired the Hunter Financial Consulting Group to recommend other "cost-saving measures" and last month, just as it was being publicly blasted by the state dept of health for "atrocious patient care" due to POOR STAFFING, it had the audacity to announce that it was going ahead with the Hunter Groups recommendations to lay off 450 employees - including eliminating vacant RN positions anyway & proclaimed that it would save $25 million a year.

Once again - profits before patients.

The hospital has been embroiled in labor battles with its employees for 2 years. There have been pickets and protests by the RN union & the other workers unions there for at least a year.

And all of the sudden, THIS hospital wins an award for its terrific work environment & committment to its employees????? Ok so how much did it pay for that award?

Since the Mt Sinai nurses have been picketing & protesting that hospital over its treatment of nurses, its continued short staffing, its current eliminations of RN positions and lay-offs of 450 other employees (even as the state says already-poor staffing is harming pts) - & dumping their jobs on the remaining RNs, the nurses are going to faint when they hear this hospital has been "awarded" for its attitude towards nurses & its "creative nursing environment".

The only "creative nursing environment" they have established is one that is gearing up for an RN strike. Maybe theyre laying off all these workers now because they are going to push the nurses to strike & plan to use the money they would have spent on those laid off 450 workers to pay for scabs.

Just look up the posts on Mt Sinai here to read the newspaper articles about how bad the staffing is there & what its been doing to pts & then tell me this hospital deserves an award for its committment to nurses. What a joke.

The only thing "creative" about the environment that hospital has established for nurses is that its the fastest way to get nurses to leave the facility.

The nurses pickets of Mt Sinai last week got a lot of media attention. The other day the newspaper had another article titled "Nurses Dish the Dirt On Mt Sinai". I think that "award" is a publicity stunt to counteract all this....

Mount Sinai Nurses Protest Unsafe Staffing

Picketing held March 21

http://www.nysna.org/NEWS/PRESS/pr2002/pr031502.htm

photos

http://www.nysna.org/NEWS/PRESS/pr2002/pr_sinai.htm

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