By Adam Kramer
The nurses at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park kicked off National Nurses Week in style. They were awarded their profession’s top honor and became one of only 33 hospitals across the United States to receive the prestigious award.
The hospital and its nurses were recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, which awarded them the Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Service. LIJ became the first hospital in the state to win the award and joined 32 other health-care facilities across the country to be given the citation.
“Wow,” said U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside). “That is the expression: Wow.”
Ackerman was joined by top North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System officials and more than 100 of the hospital’s staff to celebrate and present the Magnet award to the health facility’s 1,200 nurses.
He said after doctors work on a patient, it is the nurses who make people better. They are the people who provide the daily care and through patience and compassion nurse the patients back to health, he said.
“It is no wonder a patient never yells out ‘doctor, doctor,’” Ackerman said. “It is the nurses who provide the everyday care.”
The nursing profession’s top honor recognizes nurses for quality patient care and exemplary nursing leadership. The American Nurses Credentialing Center, based in Washington, D.C., is the leading U.S. nursing credentialing organization and a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association.
A teary-eyed Elaine Rosenblum, a nurse and executive director at LIJ who accepted the award for all of the hospital nurses, told the crowd it was through “dedication and team work” that they won the award and “you should all be very proud.”
LIJ Medical Center is an 829-bed tertiary care facility comprised of Long Island Jewish Hospital, Schneider Children’s Hospital and Hillside Hospital.
According to the ANCC, the magnet program is a peer-reviewed award which honors hospitals and nurses who show excellence in management philosophy, adherence to the standards for improving nursing care, leadership and attention to the cultural and ethnic needs of patients.
The LIJ Medical Center began the review process in 1998 and submitted 14 volumes of information. A group of professional nurses also evaluated the hospital’s nursing service, patient care and clinical care based on American Nursing Association standards.
“I am proud of the accomplishment of these nurses,” said Paul Hochenberg, executive director of LIJ. “This is a great day for Long Island Jewish Hospital. It is another jewel in the crown of LIJ.”
He said the award exemplifies how the hospital values its nurses. He said it is the skill of LIJ’s doctors that attract patients to the facility, but the nurses are the reason people return anytime they are sick.
“It is a wonderful day to start a beautiful week,” said Dorothy Molloy, a nurse at Schneider’s Children Hospital, who has worked as a nurse for more than a quarter of a century. “It was certainly an honor and it was certainly thrilling.”
Reach reporter Adam Kramer by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 157.
