Beacon Award for Excellence

Beacon Award for Excellence: For patients and their families, the Beacon Award signifies exceptional care in a unit that puts patients first. For nurses, this award can mean a positive and supportive work environment with greater collaboration, higher morale and lower turnover.

Two units received the Beacon Award for Excellence, the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit (CTICU) a silver status, and the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) was awarded gold status. This signifies an effective and systematic approach to policies, procedures and processes that include engagement of staff and key stakeholders; fact-based evaluation strategies for continuous process improvement; and performance measures that meet or exceed relevant benchmarks. UH Cleveland Medical Center's CICU and CTICU were recognized by meeting the following evidence-based Beacon Award for Excellence criteria:

• Leadership structures and systems
• Appropriate staffing and staff engagement
• Effective communication, knowledge management, and learning and development
• Evidence-based practice and processes
• Outcome measurement