The award is given out annually by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
St. Louis (January 22, 2019) – The pediatric intensive care unit, or PICU, at St. Louis Children’s Hospital earned a national silver-level Beacon Award for Excellence from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. St. Louis Children’s is the only hospital in St. Louis and is just one of two PICUs in Missouri to earn this honor.
The unit first earned the three-year designation in 2015. It marks a significant milestone in achieving exceptional patient care outcomes and a healthy work environment. The Beacon Award for Excellence recognizes acute and critical care nursing units that achieve the highest-quality outcomes. Applicants are rated on evidence-based criteria including:
- Leadership structures and systems
- Appropriate staffing and staff engagement
- Effective communication, knowledge management, learning and development
- Evidence-based practice and processes
- Outcome measurement
“This award is recognition that every day as a team and as Guardians of Childhood we go ‘above and beyond’ to give the best care possible for our patients and their families,” says Matthew Goldsmith, MD, a pediatric critical care physician with Washington University and PICU medical director at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. “Families are going through some of the most difficult times in their lives, and we owe it to them to continuously improve in everything we do.”
The PICU at St. Louis Children's Hospital is known worldwide for its care of critically ill children. The newly renovated unit includes 30 beds with predominantly private rooms for each patient. The PICU is staffed with a specially trained healthcare team and state-of-art technology to deliver care to children and their families.
Units that achieve this three-year, three-level award with a gold, silver or bronze designation meet national criteria consistent with:
- Magnet Recognition
- The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
- The National Quality Healthcare Award
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ST. LOUIS CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
For more than 130 years, St. Louis Children's Hospital has provided exceptional care for children in all 50 states and 80 countries around the world. With its academic partner, Washington University School of Medicine, Children’s is consistently ranked among the nation’s best pediatric hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. A member of BJC HealthCare, St. Louis Children’s Hospital follows one simple mission – to do what’s right for kids. That mission comes to life through medical discovery, innovative therapies and compassionate care. In 2018, Children's expanded with a state-of-the-art, 12-story medical tower. Children’s relies on generous donors to deliver specialized care for families in need, extend health care services to the community, and pursue research that promises to transform pediatric medicine. To find out more, visit StLouisChildrens.org, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
