Hospital leadership gather with MMC Emergency Department staff members
Long Branch, N.J. – Monmouth Medical Center (MMC) and Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus (MMCSC), RWJBarnabas Health facilities, are 2 of 96 hospitals in the United States to be honored by the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) with their Lantern Award, which recognizes emergency departments that demonstrate exceptional and innovative performance in leadership, practice, education, advocacy, and research.
The award recipients were announced publicly on July 23red and will be recognized during the ENA’s Emergency Nursing 2025 celebration September 17th through 20th in New Orleans. For MMC, it is the second consecutive time its Emergency Department has been honored with the Lantern Award, which is awarded for three years.
“On behalf of executive leadership, I extend my sincere congratulations to our teams at MMC and MMCSC on receiving this prestigious award,” said Nancy Holecek, Executive Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer of RWJBarnabas Health. “This recognition reflects the highest standards of emergency nurse excellence, professionalism, and patient-centered care. We are proud and honored to support such extraordinary teams but also how this award sets a shining example for our entire health system.”
“These recipients demonstrate excellence in practice, interdisciplinary collaboration, and innovation that make their departments exceptional places for patients receiving care as well as for the staff working in them,” said ENA President Ryan Oglesby, PhD, MHA, RN, CEN, CFRN, NEA-BC.
The ENA Lantern Award application focuses on innovative practices and noteworthy attributes of the emergency department, collaborative approaches to delivering optimal care for patients, performance and outcome metrics, characteristics of the nursing team, and facility and emergency department demographics. It distinguishes an emergency department’s commitment to quality, safety, and presence of a healthy work environment.
“Being honored with the Lantern Award is a testament to the relentless commitment to innovation, patient-centered care and teamwork coupled with unwavering focus on nursing excellence,” says Cathlyn Robinson, MSN, RN, CEN, TCRN, Director of Operations, RWJBarnabas Health Emergency and Hospitalist Medicine. “Our nurses have worked incredibly hard to achieve this recognition and we celebrate this outstanding achievement.”
“Receiving this second consecutive Lantern Award recognition is such a great reward for our team,” said Sharmine Brassington, Ph.D., R.N., Administrative Director of Emergency Services at MMC. “Our team prioritizes patient care from the time of arrival, and continually seeks to enhance care by improving throughput and reducing wait times, and is committed to continuous quality improvement in emergency care. The Lantern Award serves as a visible symbol to our community that excellence is valued, and that exceptional care is provided in our Emergency Department.”
She noted that MMC’s ED was recognized for implementing a “throughput nurse” role to further optimize patient flow through an experienced, autonomous, and proactive nurse who focuses on expediting discharges, facilitating admissions to inpatient units, and assisting triage during surges in ED volume. In addition, the reward recognized the department’s commitment to fostering nurse well-being to support high-quality patient care and increased staff satisfaction. “By prioritizing staff wellness and engagement, MMC has cultivated a supportive work environment, making it both a preferred destination for patient care and a desirable workplace for nurses,” she said.
Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus 2025 Lantern Award Recipient Team
“MMCSC Emergency Department has an exceptional care team that not only provide quality care to patients, our professional nursing council is committed to community outreach to educate and create awareness of the ways to stay safe,” says Tamer Abdelhakiem, MHA, BSN, RN, Administrative Director Emergency and Critical Care Services. “Our team works in sync to raise the bar in areas such as decreased wait times, above average patient experience scores and amplified employee engagement. We could not be prouder of this recognition.”
For more information on this year’s Lantern Award recipients, visit the Emergency Nurses Association website.
CONTACT: Kathy Horan
732-546-6317
Kathy.Horan@rwjbh.org
Laurie Zalepka
732-886-4590
Laurie.Zalepka@rwjbh.org