Virtua Voorhees 4A Acute Pulmonary Care Receives AMSN PRISM Award for Exemplary Practice
The 4A Acute Pulmonary Care Unit at Virtua Hospital in Voorhees, NJ, will receive the prestigious AMSN PRISM Award®, a relatively new honor recognizing exceptional nursing practice, leadership, and outcomes in hospital medical-surgical units across the country.The award, which stands for “Premier Recognition In the Specialty of Med-Surg,” is the first of its kind honoring med-surg nursing units in the United States. It is co-sponsored by the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses (AMSN) and the Medical-Surgical Nursing Certification Board (MSNCB). The award is given to outstanding acute care/med-surg units or adult/pediatric units classified as med-surg.
Officials representing AMSN and MSNCB will present the 4A Acute Pulmonary Care Unit with the AMSN PRISM award plaque during a ceremony on Wednesday, January 27th at Virtua Hospital in Voorhees, NJ. The achievement of this award by the 4A Acute Pulmonary Care Unit will also be announced at the AMSN Annual Convention; on the AMSN and MSNCB websites and social media sites; and in AMSN and MSNCB publications.
“We pride our profession, our unit, our staff, our patients and their families; it clearly shows,” said John Matsinger, DO, MBA, executive vice president and chief clinical officer at Virtua. “Proudly, 4A Acute Pulmonary Care Unit has become a benchmark of exemplary practice.”
Hoping to inspire nurses to strive for the highest levels of patient safety and quality, AMSN and MSNCB launched the award in October 2012. The award also reflects the compassion, commitment and connection that characterize med-surg nurses.
Specifically, the award celebrates units that exhibit:
- Effective leadership
- Recruitment and retention of competent staff members
- Evidence-based practice
- Positive patient outcomes
- A healthy work environment
- Lifelong learning of unit staff members
There are more than 600,000 medical-surgical nurses practicing in the United States today, making them the single largest group of specialty nurses working in hospital settings, according to AMSN. Med-surg nurses oversee a broad spectrum of patient care responsibilities, another reason the acronym “PRISM” was chosen for the award.
The Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses (AMSN) is the only specialty nursing organization dedicated to medical-surgical nursing practice. Its mission is to promote excellence in medical-surgical nursing.
The Medical-Surgical Nursing Certification Board (MSNCB) is a professional organization whose mission is to validate excellence in medical-surgical nursing.
About Virtua
As one of New Jersey’s largest health systems, Virtua helps people be well, get well and stay well through a comprehensive range of health care services. Services are delivered through three health and wellness centers, two ambulatory care centers, three fitness centers, three acute care hospitals, primary and specialty physician practices with 287 physicians plus 87 additional practitioners, urgent care centers, 11 ambulatory surgery centers, home health services, two long-term care and rehabilitation centers, 12 paramedic units and a wide range of outpatient services. A leader in maternal and child health services, Virtua delivers more than 8,000 babies a year. Virtua also provides employment and wellness services to 1,700 businesses and corporations. An innovator in clinical and information technology such as electronic medical records, Virtua is recognized for its ground-breaking partnerships with GE Healthcare, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Penn Medicine. Virtua employs more than 8,700 people and has been honored as the #1 Best Place to Work in the Delaware Valley every year since 2007. It is the recipient of the Consumer Choice Award from the National Research Corporation.
January 27, 2016