The 490 registered nurses who work at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital are wearing a meaningful and hard-earned new symbol of excellence this week.
After achieving Magnet® recognition for nursing excellence in December, they received pins recognizing that honor during a joyful and emotional ceremony with their fellow hospital associates and administrators on Friday.
Today, they wear those pins with pride knowing they have the confidence of, not only the American Nurses Credentialing Center that issues Magnet® recognition, but also patients like Kitty Ferrantella.
Kitty returned for the Magnet pinning ceremony to share a personal story about how a nurse gave her hope when she was very sick and being cared for at Good Shepherd. We were there to witness the emotional reunion when Kitty reconnected with that nurse, for the first time, since her stay at the hospital.
Kitty was admitted to Good Shepherd in the summer of 2012 after having serious complications from a procedure performed at another hospital. She says an exchange with her nurse lifted her spirits and brought her great comfort at a very low point in her recovery…
“I was very compromised when I came here in a lot of different ways so I really was at my weakest point. I was emotionally and physically wrecked and I was also missing my mother who passed away a number of years ago. It was a really tough time for me and I couldn’t keep anything down and I remember a turning point when I was very sick. My nurse Terri Grossman was in the bathroom and she came out with a warm washcloth and gently washed my face. She took extra care with me and, what she didn’t know, is that her gesture was exactly what my mother had done when we were sick while growing up. I was in tears and overwhelmed and, at that point, I knew I wasn’t going through it alone and that it was all going to be fine.”
Terri Grossman, who has been a Registered Nurse for 45 years and currently works with cardiac patients at Good Shepherd, says her reaction in Kitty’s time of need was instinctual.
“It’s the whole essence of what Magnet recognition is and it’s simple. It’s about caring for our patients as if they were our own family and that’s how I do it. That’s what I live by.”
Terri Grossman’s comments echoed those we heard from other nurses at the Magnet® pinning ceremony. We could see the pride in Leslie Olsen’s face when she put the pin in place on her daughter, Amy. Leslie is Clinical Nurse Assistant Manager of the OB Department and Amy is following in her mom’s nursing footsteps.
Amy works with cardiac patients at Good Shepherd, is currently applying to nursing school and says, for her, there’s nothing more rewarding than helping others heal.
“When you have a patient who is sick, the best feeling is when you get to be the one to walk them out the door and know that you were able to help that person get progressively better. It is a thankful job and I absolutely love what I do.”
Magnet® recognition is awarded by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and is an accomplishment shared by only about 391 hospitals nationally of the 6,000 registered hospitals in the United States. Good Shepherd’s Magnet recognition is the result of a rigorous, two-year evaluation process that included an extensive application, interviews and a three day, on-site survey by ANCC appraisers.
The head of Good Shepherd Emergency Medicine, Dr. Joseph Giangrasso spoke on behalf of hospital physicians during the Magnet pinning ceremony where his wife, Mary, was awarded a pin for her volunteer efforts with Good Shepherd’s Auxiliary. Dr. Giangrasso says we’re fortunate to have this caliber of nurses in our community and that the Magnet recognition is well deserved.
“I have great trust in our nurses and am confident that their level of quality care consistently leads to better patient outcomes.”
In order to qualify for Magnet status, Good Shepherd Hospital had to meet criteria in 14 different standards, including Quality of Nursing Leadership, Organizational Style, Quality of Care, Nurses as Teachers and Professional Development. For more information about the recognition, visit NurseCredentialing.org/Magnet.
And for more images from Friday’s Magnet pinning ceremony, here is our album of photos of the nurses being honored on their special day.
Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, Illinois is a 169-bed acute care hospital with more than 700 physicians representing 50 medical specialties. It is part of Advocate Health Care, named one of the Top Ten hospital systems in the U.S. by Thomson-Reuters. For the second consecutive year, Good Shepherd has been named one of the nations 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals by Truven Health Analytics. Advocate is a faith-based organization that exists to serve its communities.
For more about Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, visit advocatehealth.com/gshp.
