This award reflects the high-impact contributions of pediatric critical care nurses that have helped to shape the field. Lessons from an ongoing career in nursing leadership are shared by Dr Patricia Hickey. Four themes are highlighted which include (1) our role models/mentors, (2) our profession and its impact, (3) our teams and environments of excellence, and (4) our bright future. Program and practice excellence does not just happen. It requires strategic thinking, deliberative processes, risk-taking and guts to create and sustain. A bright future is forecasted with stellar contributions of professional nurses and interprofessional cardiac critical care teams.
HickeyPGauvreauKConnorJSporingEJenkinsK. The relationship of nursing staffing, skill mix, and magnet recognition to institutional volume and mortality for congenital heart surgery. J Nurs Adm. 2010;40(5):226–232.
2.
HickeyPAGauvreauKJenkinsKFawcettJHaymanL. Statewide and national impact of California’s staffing law on pediatric cardiac surgery outcomes. J Nurs Adm. 2011;41(5):218–225.
3.
HickeyPAGauvreauKTongESchifferNPConnorJA. Pediatric cardiovascular critical care in the United States: nursing and organizational characteristics. Am J Crit Care. 2012;21(4):242–250.
4.
HickeyPAGauvreauKCurleyMConnorJA. The effect of critical care nursing and organizational characteristics on pediatric cardiac surgery mortality in the United States. J Nurs Adm. 2013;43(12):637–644.
5.
HickeyPPasqualiSGaynorW. Critical care nursing’s impact on pediatric patient outcomes. Ann Thorac Surg. 2016;102(4):1375–1380.
6.
ConnorJALaGrastaCHickeyPA. Complexity Assessment and Monitoring to Ensure Optimal Outcomes (CAMEO) tool for measuring pediatric critical care nursing. Am J Crit Care. 2015;24(4):297–308.
7.
CurleyMAQWypijDWatsonS. Protocolized sedation vs usual care in pediatric patients mechanically ventilated for acute respiratory failure: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2015;313(4):379–389.
8.
StaveskiSLincolnPAFinemanLDAsaroLAWypijDCurleyMA. Nurse decision making regarding the use of analgesics and sedatives in the pediatric cardiac ICU. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2014;15(8):691–697.
9.
HickeyPA. Building a culture of excellence in Boston and beyond. World J Pediatr Congenit Heart Surg. 2010;1(3):314–320.
10.
JenkinsKJCastanedaARCherianKM. Reducing mortality and infections after congenital heart surgery in the developing world. Pediatrics. 2014;134(5):e1422–e1430.
11.
LencioniP. The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley; 2012:193.
12.
The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. AACN standards for establishing and sustaining healthy work environments: a journey to excellence. Am J Crit Care. 2005;14(3):187–197.
13.
HinsleyKMarshallAHurtigM. Monitoring the health of the work environment with a daily assessment tool: the REAL—Relative Environment Assessment Lens—Indicator. Cardiol Young. 2016;26(6):1082–1089.
14.
MunroCLSavelRH. Our view of courageous care. Am J Crit Care. 2015;24(5):372–374.
15.
Institute of Medicine. The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2010.
16.
DeGraziaMGiambancoDHammGDitzelATuckerLGauvreauK. Prevention of deformational plagiocephaly in hospitalized infants using a new orthotic device. J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs. 2015;44(1):28–41.
17.
KnorrAGauvreauKPorterCLSerinoEDeGraziaM. Use of the cranial cup to correct positional head shape deformities in hospitalized premature infants. J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs. 2016;45(4):542–552.
18.
SakakeenyKHConnorJAdel NidoPJOdegardKDeGraziaM. Heat retention head wrap for rewarming infants undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass. Am J Crit Care. 2015;24(2):141–147.
