Pictured are ENA award recipients from RWJBarnabas Health.
West Orange, N.J. – RWJBarnabas Health is proud to announce that six nurses from across the health system have been honored with New Jersey Emergency Nurses Association (NJENA) 2022 State Awards. Presented at a ceremony held earlier this month during the NJENA State dinner in Atlantic City, nurses earned the President’s Award, Behind the Scenes Award, Clinical Nurse Leadership Award, Nursing Practice and Professionalism Award, Pediatric Award, and the Crisis Team Award.
“Our nurses play a vital role across our health system and in our communities providing patients and families with the highest level of compassionate, innovative, quality care,” Nancy Holecek, Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer for RWJBarnabas Health. “Each and every person on our nursing teams have made a substantial difference this past year and I would like to offer all of our awardees my personal thanks for their passion, hard work and dedication.”
Cathlyn Robinson, MSN, RN, CEN, TCRN, Director of Operations for the Emergency Service Line for RWJBarnabas Health, recipient of the ENA President’s Award.
Presented to Cathlyn Robinson, MSN, RN, CEN, TCRN, Director of Operations for the Emergency Service Line for RWJBarnabas Health, the President’s Award is given at the discretion of the Emergency Nurses Association president to an individual that has a great impact on the Emergency Nurses Association president’s career through inspiration, mentorship, teaching or support. As a Registered Nurse for 30 years and an Emergency Nurse for over 25 years, Robinson has worked in Emergency Departments (ED) in both the U.S. and Canada. Her experience spans working as a staff RN, a Clinical Education Specialist for ten years and a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Trauma. She is a Trauma Nursing Core Course and Emergency Nursing Pediatric Course Director and is a Certified Emergency Nurse and Trauma Certified Registered Nurse. She has presented at conferences at local, state, national and international levels and is an active member of the Emergency Nurses Association.
Laura Lark, Vice President of the Emergency Services Line for RWJBarnabas Health, recipient of the Behind the Scenes Award.
Laura Lark, Vice President of the Emergency Services Line for RWJBarnabas Health was awarded the Behind the Scenes Award, which recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions behind the scenes to promote NJENA’s mission of advocating for patient safety and excellence in nursing practice through their support of a member or members. The recipient of this award is an NJENA advocate who is often seen, but not heard and who donates countless hours to assist in achieving the organization’s goals. Under Lark’s leadership, the RWJBarnabas Health’s Press Ganey scores increased by 15%. She is also dedicated to working to find methods to improve EDs and patient care in creative and innovative ways, including encouraging the use of the care-team model. Lark is passionate about the future of emergency nursing with a keen focus technology and innovative practice to improve patient care.
Jennifer Lees, ED, Director Of Nursing, Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus, received the Clinical Nurse Leadership Award from the NJ Emergency Nurses Association. This award recognizes a nurse who has consistently demonstrated excellence in the profession of emergency nursing and has made significant contributions through an emergency nursing role.
The Clinical Nurse Leadership Award which recognizes a nurse who has consistently demonstrated excellence in the profession of emergency nursing and has made significant contributions through an emergency nursing role, was given to Jennifer Lees, ED, DON from Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus. Lees always keeps the patient and family at the forefront of her ED mission to provide compassionate and quality care. Notably, Lees has established the ED Novice Nurse program, a mentorship program that supports new ED RNs in their first year of practice and personally mentors her emerging ED nurse leaders to help facilitate the program. Lees always looks to promote her nurses from within, to charge positions, projects or committees, and encourages ENA membership, Trauma Nursing Core Course, and Emergency Nursing Pediatric Course training and baccalaureate and graduate-level education.
Kathy Feeney, ED, RN, Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center, recipient of the Nursing Practice and Professionalism Award.
Kathy Feeney, ED, RN, from Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center, was recognized with the Nursing Practice and Professionalism Award. This award recognizes a nurse who exemplifies outstanding emergency nursing practice as demonstrated through clinical skills, care and compassion. In her 40 years of Nursing, Feeney has been an exceptional and devoted Pediatric Emergency Room nurse for more than 28 years. Specifically, Feeney has been active in promoting Mild TBI (Concussion) Screening and transilluminator vein finder products. She has worked to ensure best practice and policy development in triage, pediatric resuscitation and cardiac arrest, and is a strong advocate for the maintenance of Pediatric Emergency Nursing as a specialty.
Katie Linares, ED, RN, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, received the Pediatric Readiness Improvement Award from the NJ Emergency Nurses Association. This award recognizes an NJENA nurse who has demonstrated outstanding efforts to improve readiness in caring for children in the emergency care setting.
The Pediatric Readiness Improvement Award, which recognizes an NJENA nurse who has demonstrated outstanding efforts to improve readiness in caring for children in the emergency care setting, was awarded to Katie Linares, ED, RN from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) in New Brunswick. Linares is an active member of the Performance Improvement Committee and relays information and ideas to department staff during morning huddles. She frequently serves as a mentor for newly hired nurses as well as nursing students and has helped to develop RWJUH’s sepsis protocols and flowsheet for documentation on these patients.
Pictured are award recipients from the Clara Maass Medical Center Emergency Department team.
Presented to the Clara Maass Medical Center Emergency Department team, the Crisis Response Team Award recognizes an emergency department health care team who has risen above-and-beyond by responding to the challenges of working during a crisis. The ED team at Clara Maass Medical Center has always been known for ‘thinking outside of the box’ and for innovation, even before the Covid crisis. The pandemic urged them to continue in this mindset, adapting to the challenges that emerged. Early in the pandemic, the ED team recognized the need to keep areas of their ED Covid-free and helped to create waiting rooms for patients who potentially had Covid-19 and entire sections of the ED were dedicated to safe isolation care. To support community care, telemedicine was introduced by the ED allowing patients to ‘see’ an Emergency Physician without visiting the ED. This successful program increased access to care and is now being adopted by other emergency departments in the health system.
ABOUT RWJBARNABAS HEALTH
RWJBarnabas Health is the largest, most comprehensive academic health care system in New Jersey, with a service area covering eight counties with five million people. The system includes twelve acute care hospitals – Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, Community Medical Center in Toms River, Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, Jersey City Medical Center in Jersey City, Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital at Hamilton in Hamilton, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Rahway in Rahway, and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset in Somerville; Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Elizabeth; three acute care children's hospitals; Children’s Specialized Hospital, including a network of outpatient centers; a behavioral health center and the state’s largest behavioral health network; two trauma centers; a satellite emergency department; ambulatory care centers; geriatric centers; comprehensive home care and hospice programs; fitness and wellness centers; retail pharmacy services; an affiliated medical group; multi-site imaging centers; and two accountable care organizations.
RWJBarnabas Health is among New Jersey’s largest private employers – with more than 38,000 employees and 9,000 physicians – and routinely captures national awards for outstanding quality and safety. RWJBarnabas Health, in partnership with Rutgers University, is New Jersey’s largest academic health care system. The collaboration aligns RWJBarnabas Health with Rutgers’ education, research, and clinical activities, including those at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey – the state's only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center – and Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care.
CONTACT: Carrie Cristello
Carrie.Cristello@rwjbh.org