NEW YORK NURSE: June 2008
by Mark Genovese
Nurses at Syosset Hospital always knew they were good. But how good? Good enough to win nationwide honors four years in a row.
The Long Island facility once again beat out hundreds of hospitals nationally to win a J.D. Power Service Excellence Award from the California consulting company’s Distinguished Hospital Program. The hospital’s emergency department also won a Power excellence award for the second year in a row. Syosset is the only hospital in the state to earn such honors.
“Health care is a service-oriented industry,” said Ann Tahaney, NYSNA bargaining unit president at Syosset. “And it’s the registered nurses who provide the most hours of care. These awards have been a direct result of the professionalism of our RNs.”
J.D. Power chooses award winners by conducting a random telephone survey of recently discharged hospital patients on their perceptions of their hospital stay. The survey focuses on five key areas of patient satisfaction – dignity and respect, speed and efficiency, comfort, information and communication, and emotional support. Results are compared to national benchmarks established through J.D. Power research.
Syosset performed particularly well in providing care with speed and efficiency, earning high ratings for nurses’ promptness in responding to patients, and for speed and efficiency of admissions and discharge. Syosset also performed well in information and communication, especially on providing patients with clear explanations of how to manage care after leaving the hospital, and the nurses’ ability to explain the condition and treatment.
“Every nurse shares in this award because it’s the result of everyone working together,” Tahaney added. “It’s a result of treating everyone, especially our patients, the way they themselves would want to be treated. Their work is a reflection of the world-class standard of care we’ve created here.”