Among the white coats and blue scrubs at PAH, many staff members wore bright red t-shirts on December 16 and 17 as part of the hospital’s first Clinical Excellence Day. Celebrated over two days, to ensure all eligible staff members were able to partake, Clinical Excellence Day recognized units who received external awards in the past year, awarded for their exceptional care demonstrated by improved outcomes and greater overall satisfaction.
PAH’s Intensive Care Nursery, Intensive Care Unit, and Surgical Intensive Care Unit earned their third consecutive Silver-level Beacon Awards for Excellence from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, and the Emergency Department received the Emergency Nurses Association’s Lantern Award.
“We used to have unit-based celebrations but had to change our plans because of COVID,” said Christopher Huot, MSN, RN, CNML, nurse manager for Critical Care. Huot’s Critical Care team received the Beacon Award in 2021. “We began to talk about ways we could creatively honor these teams together in a way that’s safe.”
The day kicked off with the distribution of t-shirts and individually packaged cupcakes to the award recipients, encouraging employees to congratulate their red-shirt adorned colleagues. The units could also contribute to a Clinical Excellence Day wall, writing messages that completed the prompt “What makes our unit great.” Staff responded with “Teamwork,” “Dedication,” and “We never give up.”
“Our staff do amazing work across the hospital,” said Huot. “It’s important to recognize their achievements.”