This year I was so honored to celebrate the talent, professionalism, dedication, and compassion of our Spaulding nurses during National Nurse's Week. Throughout past year, our nurses have risen to every challenge, adapting their approach to enhance care for our patients, and demonstrating creativity and collaboration at every turn. While we weren't yet able to have large in-person gatherings, our celebrations were meaningful and highlighted the wonderful work of our nurses in every setting across the network.
 
We continue to be steadfast on our Magnet journey and are thrilled to have so many of our nurses participating in research studies and professional development programs. An important component of professional development for our nurses is Performance Evaluation and Peer Evaluation. These two processes provide objective, actionable feedback to our nurses for growth and career advancement. I encourage all our nurses to participate in the Peer Evaluation process.
 
I thank you for all you do every day for our patients, and have a safe and happy summer.

Maureen Banks, RN, DNP, MBA, NEA-BC, FACHE
Chief Nursing Officer & Chief Operating Officer 
Spaulding Rehabilitation Network
The Magnet Journey Update

We are nearing the date for our document submission for Spaulding Cape Cod, our first hospital to formally participate in the Magnet review process.  We have also completed our first important step on our journey for Spaulding Cambridge - the Nursing Satisfaction Survey.  Magnet has three sets of standards that they refer to as the "Big 3" -nursing satisfaction, patient satisfaction, and nursing quality indicators - and we are making steady progress with compliance in all areas. 
 
The Magnet Conference is coming up in November in Atlanta, GA.  The conference will be in person this year and we are looking forward to it!  Attendance at national conference is an amazing experience and can renew your passion for nursing. Please reach out to me with your Magnet story at 
dabele@partners.org.
Apply for the 2021/2022 Nightingale Fellowship! 
                                         
The Nightingale Fellowship was created to encourage, recognize and reward the initiative, creativity, and excellence of Spaulding nurses providing direct clinical care. Continuous professional development is essential to achieving the outcomes our patients, our organizations, and our communities need. Nurses play an essential role in that effort and, we believe, will benefit from discovering diverse, challenging, and satisfying career pathways.

This two-year long Fellowship is a unique opportunity to create a vision for your career journey, mapping a way forward with purpose. Selected nurses will be afforded one day a week to be immersed in a Fellowship activity or project of special interest.
The Nightingale Fellowship Program is open to RNs at the early or mid-stage of their careers.  Early careerist will have a minimum of two years of professional nursing practice, one of which will be in a Spaulding organization, and are currently committed to a 24 to 40-hour work schedule. Preference will be given to direct care nurses, and applicants must commit to the Fellowship for 2 years.
 
The Fellowship experience for learning and discovery includes three approaches: 1) immersion in an individualized applied learning project or activity; 2) professional development workshops; and 3) conversations with experts related to a range of timely and relevant topics of special interest to the Fellowship group. Fellows should plan to commit 2 years to complete the program.
 
It is recommended that you share your interest in applying to the Nightingale Fellowship with your Director, Manager, or Supervisor. Applications will be accepted through August 27, 2021 and
notification of those selected will be made by September 3, 2021.
 
Online information sessions about the Fellowship will be held through the summer.

For questions about the Nightingale Fellowship Program please contact, Lauren Williams, RN, Director of the Nightingale Fellowship at lwilliams25@partners.org.
Nursing Research Update
Research in the SRN Nursing Division has grown tremendously over the past two years. We are pleased to present two recent research projects conducted by our SRN nurses.
Assessment of respiratory rate measurement accuracy and provider knowledge

The Magnet Research team is coordinating a study evaluating the accurate recording of respiratory rate. A group of nurses from across the network performed a review of the literature, revealing that of the four "classic" vital signs (temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, and respiratory rate), respiratory rate remains the vital sign that is the most poorly documented vital sign in most care settings. Their research aims to assess the accuracy and reliability of respiratory rate measurement and documentation compared to the gold standard and assess the knowledge of providers in the measurement and documentation of respiratory rate.

The study is on-going, and the results will examine differences in actual versus documented respiratory rate and the potential educational needs and implications around appropriate respiratory measurement. Initial results confirm the results found in the literature. This work has been accepted for presentation at the Association of Rehabilitation Nurses' 2021 Annual Rehabilitation Nursing Conference in November.

A chronicle of the lived experience of healthcare workers on the 4th floor of a Long-Term Acute Care Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic

During the peak of the COVID pandemic in Boston, Pauline Clarke from Spaulding Hospital Cambridge conducted a phenomenological study to examine how the multidisciplinary team of health care workers and leadership experienced the COVID-19 pandemic as frontline staff during the months their floor was converted into dedicated COVID units through its last patients. The study found that multidisciplinary teams of healthcare workers naturally developed to care for the COVID-19 patients. All staff made personal sacrifices to accomplish their tasks and learned valuable lessons along the way. New policies were developed that continue today and new ways of providing care were established. This research was presented at the 2020 Eastern Nursing Research Society's 2020 annual conference.
Boston Globe Salute to Nurses 2021 Honors SRN Nurses             
                                                    

In honor of National Nurse's Week, the Boston Globe published their annual
Salute to Nurses edition Sunday. As part of this year's issue over 30 SRN Nurses and 2 entire SRN nursing teams were recognized by the 2021 Boston Globe Salute to Nurses. Congratulations also to the hundreds of colleagues from across the Mass General Brigham system who were recognized. The nominations were submitted by grateful patients and colleagues. Each exemplifies why our nurses are leaders in the field.
SRN Nurses in the Community                                  

Nurses at SCC partnered with the Independence House on Cape Cod to collect and donate backpacks to the children of domestic and sexual abuse survivors.  Children are often asked to leave their house without a moment's notice and with just the clothes on their back.  Our nurses hope these filled backpacks provide them with a sense of home and belonging.  They have collected over 50 backpacks filled with toys, games, puzzles, small articles of clothing and toiletries that are appropriate for all ages.


Watch the MGB Salute to Nurses video, created to celebrate our MGB nurses and thank them for their dedication to our patients.

Seacole Scholars Update

The Seacole Scholars is a new program designed to support our Patient Care Assistant staff to fulfill their goal to become a nurse. We have over 20 active applicants who are working with Debra Margolis and our partners at Laboure College to begin their journey toward their degree. The Seacole Scholar applicants are at many different points in the process of their career. This wonderful, donor-supported program provides them with significant financial and academic support to move as quickly as possible toward their associate degree in Nursing with continued training and development to obtain their bachelor's degree in Nursing.

Please encourage your PCA and aide level colleagues who are interested in becoming a nurse to reach out to Debra Margolis.

2021 ARN Conference



Spaulding is proud to be the Host Chapter for the 2021 Association of Rehabilitation Nurses (ARN) Conference! The conference will be held November 9-12 at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence, RI. Spaulding nurses have 2 research posters accepted for presentation. For information on attending the ARN Conference, contact Deb Abele.

Joanne Fucile honored by ONL



Congratulations to our own Joanne Fucile RN, DNP, CRRN, NEA-BC, VP of Hospital Operations and Director of Nursing for Spaulding Hospital Cambridge, who was honored with the 2021 Mary B. Conceison Award for Excellence in Nursing Leaders from The Organization of Nurse Leaders (MA, RI, NH, CT, VT)!
Nursing Grand Rounds



SRN Celebrates 2021 Nursing Awards 

The fourth annual SRN Award for Nursing Clinical Excellence and SRN Transformational Leader Awards Ceremony was held last week and viewable here. As one of our major celebrations for Nurses Week each May, it was wonderful to be able to join as a community for this amazing event.

This year Elissa Guzman, RN, BSN from Spaulding Hospital Cambridge was the recipient for the Nursing Clinical Excellence Award and Lisa Grover, RN, MSN from Spaulding Brighton was the recipient of the SRN Transformational Leader Award. Elissa and Lisa are exemplary nurses who demonstrate the very best of the nursing profession each day. 

We would like to also acknowledge the outstanding nominees for the SRN Award for Nursing Clinical Excellence: Samuel Desta, RN, BSN, Joel Exconde, RN, BSN, Emily Graca, RN, BSN, CCTN, Veronica Koyfman, RN, BSN, Alyssa Moreira, RN, BSN, Minna Wang, RN, BSN, Anli Xiang, RN, BSN, Mary Yakubu-Owolewa, RN, BSN, Annatolia Anderson, RN, BSN, Marie (Lucie) Dalusma, RN, BSN, Emily Ortiz, RN, BSN, Anabel Tumapang, RN, BSN, Juliette Beckman, RN, CRRN, Jennifer Ojala, RN, CRRN, Leah Sawyer, RN, CRRN, Susan Smith, LPN, Bethlehem Aguilos, RN, BSN, Lauren Barletta, RN , BSN, Christina Cassidy, RN, BSN, CRRN, Grace Espinal, RN, BSN, Cameron Greenberg, RN, BSN, Loo Huang "Jenny", RN, BSN, Darcy Lafaille, RN, BSN, Deb Lee, LPN, and Samantha Picillo, RN, BSN.

We would like to also acknowledge the outstanding nominees for the SRN Transformational Leader Award: Caroline Cameron, RN, BSN, Tamera Corsaro, DNP, RN, CRRN, Meaghan Fahey, RN, BSN, Damon Warnock, RN, BSN, Bridget Blake, RN, MSN, Diane Coletta, RN, Jaqueline Donnelly, RN, BSN, CRRN, WCC, Johngelyn Alleyne, RN, BSN, Noraann Faler, RN, BSN, Kristin Lawrence, RN, BSN, and Nancy Milligan, RN, MSN.



The DAISY Award is an international program that rewards and celebrates the extraordinary clinical skill and compassionate care given by nurses every day. Click here for the nomination form.


This award is available to patient care associates who demonstrate compassion and dedication to their job and the patients we care for.  Click here for the nomination form