1,400-Plus Nurses at the Medical Center Now Board-Certified
Oak Lawn, Ill. – Certified Nurses Day (March 19) has special meaning this year for Advocate Christ Medical Center and Advocate Children’s Hospital-Oak Lawn. That’s because 304 of the campus’ nurses are being recognized for earning national board certification during 2013.
This group’s achievements swell the total number of board-certified nurses at the medical center to some 1,400 or more of the estimated 2,300 nurses on staff.
The addition of several hundred more nurses to the ranks of those who hold national certifications ensures that the medical center – in both its adult and children’s hospitals – continues to exceed the Magnet benchmarks for advanced nursing education, said Wendy Tuzik Micek PhD, RN, NEA-BC, director of nursing science and Magnet program director for Christ Medical Center and Advocate Children’s Hospital-Oak Lawn.
“Certified Nurses Day is the birthday of Margreta ‘Gretta’ Madden Styles, the renowned expert of nurse credentialing. It is exciting to see that our adult and children’s hospitals continue to be leaders in exceeding the Magnet benchmarks for board certification,” she said. “Board certification contributes to higher standards of patient care. We believe our nurses who choose to achieve professional certification deserve recognition and appreciation.”
In fact, the most recent data indicate that 63 percent of direct-care nurses at Christ Medical Center and Advocate Children’s Hospital-Oak Lawn are nationally board-certified. The national Magnet benchmark for direct-care nurses working at hospitals the size of Christ Medical Center -- 600-700 beds – is 43.9 percent.
Among those classified as nursing leaders at Christ Medical Center and Advocate Children’s Hospital-Oak Lawn, 76 percent have earned their board certifications; the national Magnet benchmark is 74.1 percent for leaders.
“Board certification plays a significant role in assuring our patients and their families that they will receive the highest standards of nursing care,” said Lynn Hennessy RN, MS, MBA, NEA-BC, vice president for nursing services and chief nursing executive, Christ Medical Center. “Our commitment to advanced nursing education and the expectation that our nurses will continue to advance in their specialty training are among the reasons why we are a Magnet-designated center.”
Magnet status, which is only accorded to hospitals following an exhaustive review of their practices and policies by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, is the highest professional honor in nursing. It sets apart a hospital as an institution of the highest excellence, quality care, evidence-based practices and patient safety.
To earn national board certification in a particular specialty, such as pediatric nursing, medical-surgical nursing, pain management, oncology, cardiovascular nursing, emergency care and critical care, a nurse must undergo a period of extensive education and training, followed by successful completion of rigorous testing. National nurse-certifying agencies are accredited by the Accreditation Board for Specialty Nursing Certification or the National Organization for Competence Assurance.
To Brian Sayger DO, chair of emergency medicine and a founding member of the Advancing Physician Excellence Committee at Advocate Christ Medical Center, “having nurses with comprehensive board certification in their respective specialties significantly enhances collaboration between physicians and nurses. And, that kind of collaboration ultimately leads to better care and clinical outcomes for our patients.”
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About Advocate Christ Medical Center
Advocate Christ Medical Center is part of Advocate Health Care, which is one of the nation’s leading health care networks. A not-for-profit, 694-bed, premier teaching institution with more than 1,000 affiliated physicians, Christ Medical Center is a leader in health care and one of the major referral hospitals in the Midwest in a number of specialties, including cardiovascular services, heart and kidney transplantation, neurosciences, oncology, orthopedics and women’s health. The hospital also has one of the busiest Level I trauma centers in Illinois providing emergency care for more than 90,000 patient visits annually and is a leader in breakthrough technologies, including eICU® (electronic intensive care unit) monitoring, robotic da Vinci Surgery System® and CyberKnife® Radiosurgery. For the last three years (2012-2014), the medical center has been named to the Truven Health 100 Top Hospitals® list. U.S. News & World Report has ranked the medical center among the nation’s leading providers for cardiology and heart surgery and for geriatric medicine and ranked it overall as being among the top hospitals in Illinois. The hospital is also recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) as a Magnet Center. Magnet status represents the highest honor in the nursing profession. To obtain more information or to visit our newsroom, log on to: www.advocatehealth.com/christ.
About Advocate Children’s Hospital
As part of Advocate Health Care, Advocate Children’s Hospital is the largest network provider of pediatric services in Illinois and among the top 10 in the nation. The two main campuses are located in the Chicago metropolitan region – Oak Lawn in the southwest and Park Ridge in the northwest, with additional services accessible at other Advocate hospitals throughout the state. Advocate Children’s Hospital serves as a major referral center for infants and children. Through a special, wholistic approach, Advocate Children’s Hospital combines some of the country’s most respected medical talent with exceptional and compassionate care. In fact, the children’s hospital has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the nation’s leaders in pediatric cardiology and neonatology, and numerous physicians have been cited as being among the “Top Doctors” regionally and nationally in their respective fields. Advocate Children’s Hospital is staffed by more than 400 pediatricians and 230 pediatric subspecialists who offer a wide range of services for children.