Named “Hospital of the Year” by Mississippi Nurses Association
By Angela Rogalski
The Mississippi Nurses’ Association and the Mississippi Nurses’ Foundation recognized North Sunflower Medical Center, March 6 as their Hospital of the Year. The Nightingale Awards are the highest honor that the Nurses’ Association and Foundation gives. CEO Sam Miller said receiving the award was the result of a team effort on the part of every member of North Sunflower.
“Of course, we’re proud of every member of the North Sunflower family,” Miller said. “We value the commitment they make to provide the best care anywhere. Awards like this are a team effort, and the honor is spread equally throughout the entire community. We know that nurses are most often on the front lines of providing quality health care and personalized service. The commitment and sacrifice to help others is an inspiration to me and everyone else who works here.”
The Nightingale Awards for Excellence in Nursing are inclusive of all health care settings: hospitals, home health care, health centers, schools, health departments, long-term care facilities, nursing schools, agencies, and medical practices. Miller said the Nightingale Awards consist of many different awards.
“Hospital of the Year is one among many that were awarded that night,” he added. “And receiving this award was absolutely a team effort; I can’t stress that enough. Clinical staff, nursing staff and physicians, and we have the best and most wonderful patients in the world. We are very blessed to be in the Delta, and to do what we do. We were nominated for a series of classes and processes involving innovation in nursing leadership.”
Miller said it actually all started a few years ago with Debbie Logan when she nominated North Sunflower for the award.
“Debbie works for the Office of Nursing Workforce,” Miller said. “A few years ago we had talked about classes, leadership, education and lifelong learning classes for nursing and clinical staffs, and we were blessed to get a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant. We teamed with the Mississippi Nursing Association and assisted in putting on a series of classes throughout the state. Those would include Advanced Nursing Practices, which were done internally with us and we are continuing that process today. Debbie Logan was instrumental in helping us start that.”
Miller said many nurses took advantage of the classes, as they were averaging 40 to 50 in a group.
“One of the grants that we received was a matching grant,” he added. “And when we committed to doing it, we did it locally in our hospital, but it also affected a group of classes that the Mississippi Nurses Association had throughout the state, and Debbie Logan was one of the principal people involved in that. She helped set that up, so it benefited not just North Sunflower, but a lot of other areas also.”
Miller said they were so grateful and blessed by the Nightingale Award of Hospital of the Year, because North Sunflower recognized how many other great providers were in the Delta.
“They are many wonderful providers in the Mississippi Delta,” Miller said. “We’re very thankful for the honor and we try very hard to be one of the best providers in the Delta. In addition, my thoughts when it comes to nursing education, or any medical education, are in lifelong learning. So, the program continues and we’re very proud to be a part of it.”
