THE CHIEF NURSE EXECUTIVE AT NEW YORK HARBOR HEALTHCARE SYSTEM, CYNTHIA CAROSELLI, PhD., has good reason to be proud of her team. The ever-important Combined Intensive Care Unit (CICU) at the Brooklyn Campus of the NYHHS, run by the Department of Veterans Affairs, was recently presented with the Beacon Award for Critical Care Excellence for its high-caliber work. The importance of the award is heightened by the fact that this is the first ICU in the city, and the first unit within the Department of Veterans Affairs nationwide, to be given this prestigious award, according to Caroselli.
KATHLEEN MALONE, CCRN, is the Patient Care Team coordinator of the CICU. “One of the remarkable things about this is there are 10 registered nurses on the Brooklyn team who have served their nation during a time of war,” she said. “They served during Vietnam and Desert Storm, and now our current war in Iraq. Four nurses are still active in the Army Reserves. This is a great example of veterans helping veterans.”
Major Malone is one of those four. She has served on active duty for 10 years and another nine in the Reserve component. She is a Desert Storm veteran and is currently assigned to the 8th Medical Brigade as an instructor for the Army Battlefield Trauma Readiness Program at Kings County Medical Center, in Brooklyn, where she prepares reservists to be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.
“Patients in ICUs are among our most vulnerable, with little room for error,” added Caroselli. “Nursing care must be precise and delivered with split-second speed. I am particularly proud that the care delivered by our nurses is not only of the highest scientific quality but is also characterized by warmth and specific concern for the patient as an individual.”
Along with Magnet designation, the Beacon Award is the highest achievement possible for an intensive care unit. The award is given by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) the largest specialty nursing organization in the world, which represents the interests of more than 400,000 critical care nurses.
EVENTS:
NICK BEDELL, PTA PRESIDENT at the Brooklyn New School in Carroll Gardens (P.S. 146), brought together hundreds of parents, students and teachers in Prospect Park on Friday night to run, walk and stroll for Brooklyn’s public elementary schools. As budget cuts of $450 million loom, teams from P.S. 10, P.S. 29, P.S. 39, P.S. 107, P.S. 139, P.S. 146 and P.S. 295 joined forces to raise funds and challenge the Bloomberg Administration’s proposed cuts. Fifty percent of total funds raised will be split equally among the participating schools, and 50 percent divided up based on the size of the schools.
“It’s exciting to see people from different public schools in Brooklyn come together,” said Bedell. “So often, our schools are kept apart with a ‘divide and conquer’ strategy. By coming together, we will have a great time and make a strong statement about the importance of our public elementary schools.”
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DAVID P. WIEDER, PRESIDENT of the Brooklyn Heights Playground Committee, has announced the Summer Arts Program, put on by the committee and Micro Museum. From July 7 to August 21, free programs will be offered to kids who come with a parent or guardian to the Pierrepont Playground. Science programs will take place Mondays, 2:30 to 3:30; movement programs will take place 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. (Ages 4 and up). Creative arts programs will take place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to noon.
