New critical care award program set for May

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, Office of Healthcare Quality, and the Critical Care Societies Collaborative (CCSC) have announced a new national program that recognizes teams of critical care professionals, hospital units and healthcare institutions that reduce or eliminate healthcare-associated infections (HAI).

The Association of Critical-Care Nurses (ACCN) will coordinate nomination and selection for the first awards cycle. Applications for the awards are due by Jan 29, 2011 and eligibility and criteria information is available here.

According to the Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based ACCN, the new awards program will annually recognize teams of critical care professionals, hospital units and healthcare institutions that achieve excellence and notable, sustained improvements in preventing healthcare-associated infections, specifically infections in critical care.

The Outstanding Leadership Award will recognize benchmark systems of excellence that result in sustained success of 25 months or longer in the prevention of elimination of targeted HAIs and national leadership in sharing and disseminating information. A second award for sustained improvement will recognize teams able to demonstrate consistent and sustained progress over an 18- to 24- month period.

The first awards will be presented May 2, 2011, at AACN's National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition in Chicago.

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