Northwell Health’s virtual Intensive Care Unit was recently awarded a silver-level Beacon Award for Excellence by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN). It is the first virtual ICU in New York to receive the designation, and only the third nationwide.
Created in 2014, Northwell’s virtual ICU employs dozens of critical care nurses to monitor hundreds of patients in 12 hospitals from a central location in Syosset. The virtual ICU does not replace bedside nurses, but supplements their care.
“Northwell is continuously finding ways to bring better care to our patients, and our virtual ICU ensures that those most in need of care always have someone at their bedside,” said Kara Benneche, the associate vice president of operations for Northwell’s TeleHealth division. “Our virtual ICU nurses work tirelessly to ensure patient safety, and it’s so gratifying to see their efforts recognized by the AACN.”
The Beacon Award for Excellence is awarded to critical care units that provide outstanding patient outcomes and align with the AACN’s six Healthy Work Environment Standards: recruitment and retention; education, training and mentoring; research and evidence-based practice; patient outcomes; leadership and organizational ethics; and creation of a healthy work environment.
Northwell’s virtual ICU is in use across the health system’s extensive hospital network. The virtual ICU nurses monitor patients on computers in their Syosset headquarters. They keep track of patient vitals and can alert on-site staff when conditions change.
There are monitors in each ICU room that allow the virtual nurses to observe and interact with on-site nurses and doctors, as well as patients and their families. Each ICU room has a green button that can be pressed to immediately get a response from a virtual ICU nurse. The virtual nurses can assist on-site staff by monitoring patients and ordering medications. They can also answer questions from a patient and their family.
“When we opened the virtual ICU, I had hoped one day Northwell would be recognized as one of the leaders in the field,” said Iris Berman, vice president of telehealth services. “When Kara joined our team, she shared in that vision and evolved the virtual ICU particularly in the virtual nursing arena. Kara and her team continued to grow and expand the rolls of the virtual ICU nurse during the most difficult times of COVID-19 and beyond. I cannot express my appreciation enough for their dedication, and pursuit of excellence.”
In addition to monitoring patients, the virtual ICU also has a formal mentorship program. The virtual ICU nurses, each of which have five or more years of ICU experience, mentor new ICU nurses. The new nurses can hit the green button in rooms to talk with the virtual nurses and get help with problems they’re facing.
The Beacon Award is the latest in a long line of accolades for Northwell Health. Earlier this year, Cohen Children’s Medical Center was named the best children’s hospital on Long Island, and its emergency room was recognized for pain and substance use care. Plainview Hospital has been named the first Center for Excellence for endocrine surgery in the United States by the Surgical Review Corporation, and multiple Northwell hospitals recently earned three-star quality ratings in several cardiac surgical categories by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.
About Northwell Health
Northwell Health is New York State’s largest health care provider and private employer, with 21 hospitals, about 900 outpatient facilities and more than 12,000 affiliated physicians. We care for over two million people annually in the New York metro area and beyond, thanks to philanthropic support from our communities. Our 85,000 employees – 18,900 nurses and 4,900 employed doctors, including members of Northwell Health Physician Partners – are working to change health care for the better. We’re making breakthroughs in medicine at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. We’re training the next generation of medical professionals at the visionary Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Hofstra Northwell School of Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. For information on our more than 100 medical specialties, visit Northwell.edu and follow us @NorthwellHealth on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Recent Comments