CCI Blog

As the only accredited credentialing program for perioperative registered nurses, CCI's credentials are the gold standard. Earning a certification is a mark of distinction and a highly sought after personal and professional accomplishment. Certified nurses are committed to providing the highest quality of care to their surgical patients.

CCI believes that registered nurses who have attained certification, and facilities that support the certification goals of their nurses, show commitment to upholding the highest standards in patient care. The TrueNorth Award was created by CCI to recognize facilities that have used certification as a guide for their perioperative nursing staff. Please join us in congratulating Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for their achievement in being named the 2020 TrueNorth runner-up.

In many ways, certification acts as a compass directing a nurse’s clinical practice towards accepted standards. Nurses who attain certification, and the facilities that support them, demonstrate a commitment to improving patient outcomes and mastering the knowledge it takes to do so. CCI created the TrueNorth Award as an avenue for recognizing facilities that use certification to guide their perioperative nursing staff to be models of competent practice, lifelong learners, and advocates for patient safety.

We are pleased to have had the opportunity to sit down with Diana Braswell, the Clinical Nurse Manager, Perioperative Services, at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Pflugerville, to the processes setin place by the 2020 TrueNorth winners, which contributed to them receiving the award.

CCI's TrueNorth Award was created to recognize those organizations that use CNOR certification to guide their perioperative nursing staff to be lifelong learners, models of competent practice, and advocates for excellence and patient safety. Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children exemplifies this, and we are pleased to announce they are the winner of the 2019 TrueNorth Award. Their commitment to perioperative certification has shown through in numerous ways.

Located in Scranton, PA, Geisinger Community Medical Center has worked hard over the last couple years to earn recognition as a 2018 TrueNorth Award Honorable Mention. This facility is one of eight hospitals within Geisinger Health System and leads the pack when it comes to CNOR certification.

Helen DeVos Children's Hospital has worked hard over the last several years, striving towards excellence by promoting certification. Their efforts have lead them to achieve the Magnet designation two years in a row as well as being recognized as one of CCI's 2018 TrueNorth Award Honorable Mentions. Boasting a high retention rate in the OR specifically, the facility has not had a need for travel nurses in several years of operation. We are pleased to feature Helen DeVos Children's Hospital (HDVCH) of Grand Rapids, MI as a Hospital Highlight on the CCI Blog.

As the newest VA hospital in 19 years opened in May of 2013, there was no doubt that certified nurses would be highly involved in the activation process. Not only did certified nurses assist with design, equipment ordering, vendor collaboration, and departmental organization, but they collectively wrote 43 new Standard Operating Procedures for the facility. Fast forward five years later and VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System (VASNHS) is still highly encouraging and supportive of their certified nurses, allowing them to be recognized as a recipient of CCI's 2018 TrueNorth Award.

In the suburbs of Reading, PA there is a small borough in Berks County that is home to around 10,000 residents known as Wyomissing, PA. While this quaint town has plenty of charm, we are particularly interested because it is the location of the Reading Hospital SurgiCenter at Spring Ridge, one of two 2018 TrueNorth Award recipients. As a 2017 TrueNorth Award Honorable Mention, this facility was eager to continue toward excellence. Highly committed to supporting nurses through the process of certification, this returning applicant caught CCI's attention when they submitted an application even more impressive than the last. 

CCI's TrueNorth Award was created to recognize those organizations that use CNOR certification to guide their perioperative nursing staff to be lifelong learners, models of competent practice, and advocates for excellence and patient safety. Arnold Palmer Children's Hospital of Orlando Health does this well. A first-time applicant for the TrueNorth Award, Arnold Palmer Children's Hospital stood out and impressed judges with the ways they support and promote certification amongst their perioperative nurse staff. In fact, their 2018 TrueNorth Award application was so impressive, they were named this year's TrueNorth Award Runner Up and received a recent visit from CCI's CEO Dr. James Stobinski. Their commitment to perioperative certification has shown through in numerous ways.

Certification is defined as the process of providing an individual with an official document attesting to a status or level of achievement. Certification is used in the perioperative profession so nurses may demonstrate their mastery of knowledge in surgical nursing, and their ability to apply this knowledge to their clinical practice. With a goal to create a culture of patient safety and extraordinary care, certification benefits the entire healthcare community from the patient to the nurse to the facility. A 2017 TrueNorth Honorable Mention and this month's Hospital Highlight, Bon Secours St. Mary's Hospital, is highly aware of these benefits and in return works hard to motivate nurses to become certified within the facility.