Bridgeport Hospital Milford Campus ICU recognized with Beacon Award for Excellence

MILFORD, CT (August 15, 2024) – The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) has recognized the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Bridgeport Hospital Milford Campus with a gold-level Beacon Award for Excellence, the highest level a unit can achieve.

The national award recognizes unit caregivers who successfully improve patient outcomes and align practices with AACN’s six Healthy Work Environment Standards, which include skilled communication, true collaboration, effective decision-making, appropriate staffing, meaningful recognition and authentic leadership.

“This recognition signifies exceptional care in a unit that puts patients first. It highlights our caregivers and our environment as well as the consistent approach to evidence-based care, culture, patient outcomes and our nursing workforce,” said Anne Diamond, DBA, JD, president of Bridgeport Hospital.

The gold-level Beacon Award for Excellence earned by the ICU at Bridgeport Hospital Milford Campus shows an effective and systematic approach to policies, procedures and processes that include engagement of staff and key stakeholders; fact-based evaluation strategies for continuous process improvement; and performance measures that meet or exceed relevant benchmarks.

“We are incredibly proud of our Milford Campus ICU for receiving the AACN Beacon Award for Excellence – one of very few ICUs in the state to achieve this prestigious designation and the first one to have met gold-level criteria. This award is a testament to our team’s dedication to providing compassionate, evidence-based care to our critically ill patients,” said Joubin Bavarian, MHA, BSN, vice president of Operations and Nursing at Bridgeport Hospital.

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.

Bridgeport Hospital, part of Yale New Haven Health, is a non-profit 501-bed acute care hospital with two campuses (plus 42 beds licensed to Yale New Haven Children's Hospital). Its Bridgeport and Milford Campuses serve patients from across the region. The hospital admits more than 23,000 patients and provides nearly 350,000 outpatient treatments annually. The Connecticut Burn Center at Bridgeport Hospital is the only burn center in the state and one of only 64 verified burn centers in the United States. Bridgeport Hospital is committed to providing safe, compassionate and cost efficient care to its patients and the community. www.bridgeporthospital.org