National unit-based nursing excellence award with gold, silver, and bronze designations recognizes exceptional patient care and a healthy work environment
Brooklyn, NY, Feb. 25, 2025 – The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), Aliso Viejo, California, recently conferred a Silver-level Beacon Award for Excellence on the Cardiothoracic ICU and Surgical ICU at Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY.
The Beacon Award for Excellence — a significant milestone on the path to exceptional patient care and healthy work environments — recognizes unit caregivers who successfully improve unit outcomes and align practices with AACN’s six Healthy Work Environment Standards. Units that earn this annual award with a gold, silver or bronze designation meet specific criteria established by AACN that represent the characteristics and components of the unit environment that nurses can influence to achieve nursing excellence.
AACN President Jennifer Adamski, DNP, APRN, ACNP-BC, CCRN, FCCM, applauds the commitment of the caregivers at the Cardiothoracic ICU and Surgical ICU at Maimonides Medical Center for working together to meet and exceed the high standards set forth by the Beacon Award for Excellence to achieve a Silver-level designation. These dedicated healthcare professionals join other members of our exceptional community of nurses, who set the standard for optimal patient care.
“The Beacon Award for Excellence recognizes caregivers in outstanding units whose consistent and systematic approach to evidence-based care optimizes patient outcomes. Units that receive this national recognition serve as role models to others on their journey to excellent patient and family care,” she explains.
“The Beacon Award is a testament to our nursing achievements spanning team and leadership engagement, safety, and patient outcomes, and above all, it reflects our nursing teams’ dedication to excellence and continuous improvement in patient care,” said Cody Legler, DNP, APRN, NP-BC, NEA-BC, CNL, Chief Nursing Officer, Maimonides Health. “We are especially proud to receive the Silver-level designation in units as critical here at Maimonides as the CTICU and SICU.”
Many units provide exceptional patient care however Beacon Awarded units distinguish themselves by excelling in many areas demonstrated in their application. Through participation in the Beacon Award Program units can compare and reflect on their performance compared to global applicants. There are very subtle differences for different scoring levels, often differentiated by 1 point or less. All awardees demonstrate dynamic and outstanding performance in the areas of: Patient Outcomes, Nursing Workforce and Work Environment.
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About the Beacon Award for Excellence
Established in 2003, the Beacon Award for Excellence offers a road map to help guide exceptional care through improved outcomes and greater overall patient satisfaction. U.S. and Canadian units where patients receive their principal nursing care after hospital admission qualify for this excellence award. Units that receive the Beacon Award for Excellence meet criteria in six categories: leadership structures and systems; appropriate staffing and staff engagement; effective communication, knowledge management, and learning and development; evidence-based practice and processes; and outcome measurement. To learn more, visit www.aacn.org/beacon or call 800-899-2226.
About the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
Founded in 1969 and based in Aliso Viejo, California, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) is the largest specialty nursing organization in the world. AACN represents the interests of more than half a million acute and critical care nurses and includes more than 200 chapters in the United States. The organization’s vision is to create a healthcare system driven by the needs of patients and their families in which acute and critical care nurses make their optimal contribution. To learn more about AACN, visit www.aacn.org, connect with the organization on Facebook at www.facebook.com/aacnface or follow AACN on Twitter at www.twitter.com/aacnme.
Maimonides Health is Brooklyn’s largest healthcare system, serving over 320,000 patients each year through the system’s 3 hospitals, 1,800+ physicians and more than 80 community-based practices and outpatient centers. The system is anchored by Maimonides Medical Center, one of the nation’s largest independent teaching hospitals and home to centers of excellence in numerous specialties and Maimonides Midwood Community Hospital (formerly New York Community Hospital), a 130-bed adult medical-surgical hospital; and Maimonides Children’s Hospital, Brooklyn’s only children’s hospital and only pediatric trauma center.
Maimonides’ clinical programs rank among the best in the country for patient outcomes, including its Heart and Vascular Institute, Neurosciences Institute, Bone and Joint Center, and Cancer Center. Maimonides is an affiliate of Northwell Health and a major clinical training site for SUNY Downstate College of Medicine. For additional information, please visit www.maimo.org and follow us on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.