Nursing at CoxHealth

As I reflect on the past year, I feel a sense of pride and accomplishment in what all members of our nursing teams have done. Within nursing services, we continue to grow and strengthen as a team.

Across CoxHealth, we have had many special moments and achievements in the past year. Over the course of nine months, four of our six hospitals received special nursing designations: Cox Medical Centers in Springfield were designated through the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Magnet Recognition Program, and Cox Medical Center Branson earned Pathway to Excellence. For these accomplishments, our teams were recognized nationally in Chicago at the ANCC National Magnet/Pathway to Excellence Conference. CMC walked the stage with direct care nurses from our Magnet-designated units from Cox North, Cox South, Martin Center, Wheeler Heart and Vascular, Hulston Cancer Center, CoxHealth Surgery Center, and Meyer Orthopedic and Rehab Hospital. Magnet designation is nursing's highest honor, and only 9% of hospitals in the United States achieve it. It was a delight to be with CMCB direct care nurses as they received ANCC's Pathway designation, making them one of only 214 hospitals in the world to earn this recognition. CoxHealth nurses joined thousands of others from Pathway/Magnet-designated health systems.

Excellence continues across our system as Cox Barton County Hospital was honored as a Human Experience Guardian of Excellence Award winner from Press Ganey for consistently being a national top performer in patient satisfaction. Cox Monett Hospital is among the top 16% of hospitals in the nation to achieve a five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for overall quality for two consecutive years. Cox Medical Group experienced an exciting year of growth and excellence with clinic openings and expansions, new services added, and many new and renewed accreditations throughout their clinics. Through that growth, CMG and CoxHealth at Home had over 1.6 million visits with patients in our region. It's incredible what they do in connecting patients with care and treatment.

Aside from our team accomplishments, we celebrate many of our individuals for their achievements over the past 12 months. We had the joy of honoring 25 nurses with DAISY Awards for going above and beyond with compassionate care. We recognized 23 team members with Sunshine Awards for their outstanding patient care. A total of 570 licensed nurses earned STAR clinical ladder placement. We also added more clinical ladders to our system aimed at licensed practical nurses, medical assistants, nurse assistants, certified nurse assistants, psych techs, emergency medicine certified techs, and home care aides, allowing these critical and valuable nursing team members to grow their skills and knowledge. Speaking of growth, we have increased our number of nurses with nursing specialty certifications to 785, and 56 nurses have returned to school to advance their degrees. As we closed out the year, we, along with senior leadership, honored 10 nurses from across our system with our special Nurse of the Year awards.

As health care professionals, it's important to remind ourselves of the impact we make each day. The difference our employees make for their patients, their families and caregivers, and their team members is palpable. The difference our nurses and support staff make as they represent nursing services at CoxHealth is just breathtaking. It is a humbling honor to lead nursing services across our system. As we continue to work together in new ways in a constant elevation of care and practice, I am reminded there is no place I would rather be than right here with our CoxHealth nursing services team!

With deepest appreciation,
Beth Polivka
System Chief Nursing Officer, CoxHealth