Saint Francis Hospital Receives Critical Care Excellence Award

Saint Francis Hospital’s Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) has been named as a recipient of the Beacon Award for Critical Care Excellence, a nationally recognized award granted by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) to critical care units that achieve high quality outcomes in patient care and professional practice. 

This is the second national quality distinction in a matter of weeks for Saint Francis Hospital. In June, the hospital received the Magnet® designation from American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN). Only six percent of hospitals nation wide have achieved Magnet designation. Since 2003, only 315 units nationwide have received the Beacon Award. 

“These national quality awards, first Magnet and now the Beacon Award, are a testament of the outstanding, talented staff we have at Saint Francis Hospital,” says Angelique Richard, R.N., Ph.D., Vice President, Patient Care Services/Chief Nursing Officer. “Our SICU nursing staff has achieved a 92 percent national certification rate in critical care nursing, exceeding the Beacon requirement of 73 percent. They are truly committed to continuing education to promote better patient outcomes though collaboration with physicians and multidisciplinary teams.” 

The AACN requires that critical care standards are met and benchmarks are exceeded for the Beacon Award to be granted. Nursing quality indicators specific to critical care areas are reviewed for patient outcomes and compared to national benchmarks.