Emergency departments at Swedish/Ballard and Swedish/Edmonds hospitals are among only 17 hospitals nationwide to be honored with the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) 2014 Lantern Award. Swedish was the only hospital system in Washington State recognized with a 2014 Lantern Awards.

The Lantern Award recognizes an emergency department’s commitment to quality, safety, a healthy work environment and innovation in nursing practice and emergency care. Achievement of the Lantern Award indicates that an emergency department (ED) exemplifies outstanding and exemplary performance in the core areas of leadership, practice, education, advocacy and research.

“Our campus and the community surrounding Swedish/Ballard are truly thrilled that our ED has been honored with the 2014 Lantern Award,” said Jennifer Graves, chief executive at Swedish/Ballard. “Our visionary manager and nursing staff have consistently sought to raise the bar and achieve the highest levels of professional practice, and through a relentless focus on continuous improvement, they have demonstrated exceptional care, quality and safety. As a nurse, I feel blessed to work beside this group of colleagues, and am particularly grateful to our ED Shared Leadership team, which dedicated a significant amount of time and energy to telling our story of success through the Lantern application process.”

“The Lantern Award is a result of tremendous hard work and dedication by the emergency department caregivers to serve the medical needs of our community,” said David Jaffe, chief executive at Swedish/Edmonds. “I’m so very proud of the ED nursing staff, who in collaboration with all physicians, technicians, laboratory and imaging staff, for their ongoing ability to make great strides in the delivery of the highest quality care. The new larger ED will provide greater efficiency and enhanced patient comfort when it opens in the fall of 2015.”

Swedish/Edmonds will break ground for a new ED in September, part of the largest expansion project at the hospital in 40 years. The Edmonds ED nursing team has focused recent initiatives on reducing the time patients spend in the ED as well as contacting ED patients after discharge to follow up on their care.

A formal awards gala to honor ENA award winners, including Lantern Award recipients, will be held at the ENA annual conference in Indianapolis on Saturday, Oct. 11.

About the Emergency Nurses Association

The Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) is the premier professional nursing association dedicated to defining the future of emergency nursing through advocacy, education, research, innovation, and leadership. Founded in 1970, ENA has proven to be an indispensable resource to the global emergency nursing community. With more than 40,000 members worldwide, ENA advocates for patient safety, develops industry-leading practice standards and guidelines, and guides emergency healthcare public policy. ENA members have expertise in triage, patient care, disaster preparedness, and nearly all aspects of emergency care. Additional information is available at www.ena.org.

About Swedish

Founded in 1910, Swedish is the largest non-profit health provider in the Greater Seattle area. It is comprised of five hospital campuses (First Hill, Cherry Hill, Ballard, Edmonds and Issaquah); ambulatory care centers in Redmond and Mill Creek; and Swedish Medical Group, a network of more than 100 primary and specialty clinics located throughout the Greater Puget Sound area. In addition to general medical and surgical care including robotic-assisted surgery, Swedish is known as a regional referral center, providing specialized treatment in areas such as cardiovascular care, cancer care, neuroscience, orthopedics, high-risk obstetrics, pediatric specialties, organ transplantation and clinical research. In 2013, Swedish provided nearly $143 million in community benefit in Western Washington. For more information, visit www.swedish.org, www.facebook.com/swedishmedicalcenter, or www.twitter.com/swedish.