Inside an Award-winning ED's Nursing Department

She says the ED is constantly working to improve care in specific areas for certain patient populations. For example, the department aims to administer antibiotics within an hour to oncology patients who present with fever and neutropenia.

Another program aims to improve children's pain management, with educational initiatives about assessing pain. In addition, nurses who perform a pain management intervention must reassess the children's pain within an hour to see if the treatment was effective.

As part of the hospital's application for the Lantern Award, Damian says it  provided four quarters worth of outcomes data from fiscal year 2011 as well as essays providing details about a quality initiative; how the hospital  improved an issue highlighted by a patient satisfaction survey; how the hospital provides a healthy work environment and good work-life balance for nurses; and how nurses and physicians collaborate.

An examination of patient satisfaction survey results showed that the department had room for improvement in the area of communication. Although the scores were already high in the area of patient communication, Damian says they were "really looking to bring it to the next level."