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Centra Health recognized for excellent cardiac critical care

December 30, 2004

The cardiovascular recovery unit at Centra Health's Lynchburg General Hospital has been recognized for excellent critical care by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN). The unit was one of only five in the country to win the association's prestigious Beacon Award for Critical Care Excellence.

The Beacon Award recognizes units for exhibiting the highest quality standards in nurse recruitment and retention, patient outcomes, staff training, healthy work. The criteria for becoming a Beacon Award winner includes:

Recognized excellence in the intensive care environments in which nurses work and critically ill patients live;
Recognized excellence of the highest quality measures, processes, structures and outcomes based upon evidence;
Recognized excellence in collaboration, communication, and partnerships that support the value of healing and humane environments;
Developed a program that contributes to actualization of AACN's mission, vision and values.

"Although it has just been awarded for the second time, the significance of the Beacon Award is becoming well-established in our field," said Kathy McCauley, RN, PhD, FAAN, president, AACN. "These are not easy standards for a critical care unit to meet. Each of these units has set an example for others to follow, and we proudly designate them as Beacon Award winners."

Other units receiving the Beacon award were the Intensive Care Unit/Cardiac Care Unit at Norwalk Hospital, the Medical Intensive Care Unit at the Methodist Hospital, the Cardiovascular Care Unit at Mount Carmel and the Surgical/Trauma Intensive Care Unit at Tampa Hospital.

Chris Alvarez, Beacon Award,
(949) 362-2050 ext. 402

Joan Deal, CVRU Unit Manager, Centra Health
(434) 947-4073