Regional Chief Nursing Officer Diann Johnston, right, and Magnet Program Director Lauren Fleming, left, presented Nicole Keegan, Director of Pain Management Services at Monmouth Medical Center, with the Organization of Nurse Leaders New Jersey (ONL NJ) Excellence in Advanced Practice Nursing Leadership Award during a virtual ceremony on December 4.
December 11, 2020, Long Branch, NJ – Nicole Keegan, Director of Pain Management Services at Monmouth Medical Center, was recently honored with the Organization of Nurse Leaders New Jersey (ONL NJ) Excellence in Advanced Practice Nursing Leadership Award in recognition of the role she played in keeping critically ill patients connected to family during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The award was presented by Diann Johnston, Regional Chief Nursing Officer Monmouth Medical Center, Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus and Community Medical Center and Vice President of Patient Care Services at MMC, and MMC Magnet Program Director Lauren Fleming, who nominated Keegan for the award, during a December 4 virtual ceremony.
Noting that the pandemic required MMC to amend its visitor policy to comply with state regulations, Lauren pointed to Nicole’s role in helping provide dignity and honor to desperately ill patients who were not able to have visitors. “While patients were encouraged to utilize smart devices to communicate with their family, those who were on ventilators were not able to benefit from this technology,” she wrote. “During this trying time, Nicole conceptualized and operationalized a palliative care liaison program in MMC’s Intensive Care Unit to provide dignity and honor to those who were dying.”
Through the program, Nicole led a multidisciplinary team that worked on the frontline alongside the ICU nurses to facilitate an emotional bond between loved ones and the patients at the end of their lives.
“Nicole’s liaisons did not allow these patients to leave this earth alone; through her direct actions, she ensured that the liaisons and clinical staff were consistently at the bedside of these critically ill individuals,” Fleming wrote. “This initiative also allowed for the bridging of communication through constant and compassionate virtual and telephone calls that encompassed updates on behalf of the medical staff, nursing care plans, and difficult end-of-life discussions.”
By self-assessing the needs of the patients, their loved ones and the multidisciplinary team, the palliative care liaisons tailored their initiatives to meet MMC’s standards of care and exceed expectations. Through the utilization of teamwork and best practice, they adjusted the liaison’s function to meet the needs of the community, according to Fleming.
“Nicole recognized the need to transcend inhibitions, lead with her heart, and offer a service desperately needed for the community,” she wrote. “Working hard through hours that crept past her scheduled shift, she would remain on the unit and establish a presence in the ICU for the palliative care liaisons as well as the clinical nurses, drawing from her own clinical experience. She penned letters, accompanied by tokens of gratitude, to each ICU nurse and liaison after the wave of COVID-19 hit the Jersey Shore, and the work she accomplished has inspired the organization to continue the palliative care liaison program into the future.”
After receiving her bachelor’s degree in Nursing from New York University, Nicole went on to earn masters and doctoral nursing degrees as a Family Nurse Practitioner from Monmouth University. She joined MMC in 2006, and in addition to serving as Director of Pain Management Services, assists the community at an outpatient pain clinic that primarily serves Medicaid and charity care patients.
“We are so proud to announce this well-deserved recognition of Nicole’s dedication to nursing advocacy and professional development,” Johnston says. “Her rewarding experience leading the palliative care liaison program ignited something within herself, and she is now pursuing a post-graduate certificate in palliative care at the University of Washington.”
Since 1971, ONL has been the professional organization of choice for nursing leaders in their quest for a united voice in representing nursing administration and management in all practice settings. ONL NJ is affiliated with the New Jersey Hospital Association and is also affiliated with the American Organization of Nurse Leaders.
CONTACTS: Kathy Horan
732-923-6632
732-546-6317 (cell)
kathy.horan@rwjbh.org