May 10, 2007

Her Nursing Journey Continues at Munson
Since 2001, RN experiences professional culture now nationally recognized

Nursing autonomy. Encouragement to continue her education. A professional culture that fosters positive changes.

After working at five other hospitals in her career, Jean Aloia, an RN in Munson Medical Center's unit for patients experiencing gastrointestinal disorders, said she definitely saw a difference when she interviewed for her job in 2001.

"I told my husband, this is the job I've been waiting for," she said. "I had worked at two other endoscopy units and they were nothing like this."

Now, nearly six years later, she still feels Munson's nursing culture stretching her and nurturing her at the same time.

"The positive thing about Munson is that if you have an idea to improve something, there is a culture in which to do that," she said. "When I came here, I thought to myself, 'Wow.'"

Nurses Week this week at Munson carries the theme "Nursing: A Profession and a Passion." The nursing staff's focus on quality patient care as well as an environment of nursing autonomy earned it the prestigious Magnet Recognition Award for Nursing Excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center last fall.

Magnet hospitals are known to have the highest quality of patient care, high levels of patient satisfaction, lower vacancy and turnover rates for registered nurse positions, and higher rates of job satisfaction.

Neither Aloia, a staff nurse, nor Jeanine Easterday, RN, MSN, the hospital's Magnet project director and manager of Intravenous Therapy, see anyone sitting on their laurels.

"While the nurses here appreciate the recognition for their dedication to patient care, it is the journey of excellence and the day-to-day empowering practice environment that also gives the nurses their greatest reward," Easterday said. "We have had several visits from organizations from various areas of the Midwest looking to duplicate our success."

Easterday said recent decisions by nursing leaders at Munson have set a course for implementing a new care delivery model - "Relationship Based Care" - as the next step to further enhance the quality of nursing at the hospital.

"Relationship Based Care will bring us to the next level in care delivery that allows us to truly partner with the patient, the family, and our coworkers to continue our tradition of nursing excellence at Munson," she said.

It is that willingness to grow and meet the demands of technology and the changing world of health care that Aloia points to as Munson's culture of success. Nursing managers, such as her own manager, Jan Kyff, know how to encourage staff to do their best.

"She's one of the most positive managers I've ever worked for," Aloia said. "She's a quiet leader who knows how to get the most out of the people who work for her."

Since arriving at Munson, Aloia spurred creation of a Mother's Day gift basket drive. Various hospital departments and units make up gift baskets that are auctioned off and sold to benefit Munson Hospice. She also has become certified in gastroenterological nursing and now would not work on any other unit.

"I think the gastrointestinal system is the most interesting system in the body," she said. "That's the beauty of nursing, there are specialties for everyone."

What would she tell someone considering a nursing career?

"I would tell them the same thing a mentor once told me: 'You might not make as much money as other professions, but you will always be rich.'"

National Nurses Week is celebrated annually from May 6, also known as National Nurses Day, through May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing as a way to recognize and honor the contributions of the nursing profession to society.

Contact:  Meghan Whinnery
or Dale Killingbeck
Munson Healthcare
Corporate Communications
(231) 935-0757
news@mhc.net

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