NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ—Last month, the American Nurses Association gave Robert Wood Johnson’s nursing staff the 2012 Outstanding Nursing Quality Award for the second consecutive year, according to a report in the Home News Tribune.
Competing in a pool of over 1,900 hospitals, RWJ is one of six hospitals nationwide to receive the award.  They are also the first academic medical center to receive this award consecutively in two years.
The nursing staff was commended for their innovative methodology in decreasing the amount of patients who accidentally fall down by fifty percent, and for their help in reducing central line infection rates.Â
Other notable efforts from the staff include the employment of bed alarms, pre-shift safety huddles, which include evaluating at-risk patients, and risk mitigation.
Stephanie Conners, the chief nursing office and senior VP of operations told the Home News, “It took the collective focus and drive of an entire team to make this happen, and our nurses’ commitment to reaching this goal serves as an example and inspiration to the entire RWJ family.”
The hospital was also acknowledged for receiving high satisfactory results in the association’s National Database of Nursing Quality Indicator’s job enjoyment survey.Â
The RWJ nursing staff, along with the other five winners, was compared to the staff at other hospitals through the survey, which measured the correlation of the quality of their techniques to patient outcomes the medical environment around them.Â
“That’s what this award is all about.  Nurses have the power to influence a patient’s hospital experience and, most importantly, their ultimate health outcome, through their teamwork, innovation, leadership and dedication,” said Karen A. Daley, president of the American Nurses Association.
“The award winners show they have performed the best in that regard.”
Jad is a local writer, organizer, and life-long resident of New Brunswick. He is a graduate of both Rutgers University and The University of Toronto.
