Nursing at Jersey City Medical Center

At Jersey City Medical Center, nursing is not just a profession, it is a passion. A dedication to superior patient care, a commitment to quality and a quest for clinical knowledge are the key values shared by the Jersey City nurses. These values allowed the Jersey City Medical Center to earn the prestigious Magnet Recognition Award for nursing excellence.

Message from Margaret Ames DNP, RN NEA-BC Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President of Patient Care Services

To my colleagues,
A relay race can be the most exciting part of a swim meet. A careful choreography that considers the stroke of the individual swimmer, the swimmers position in the race, and the status of the competition are important considerations. The moment of handoff is planned, anticipated and executed to sustain or improve the team results. After deliberate succession planning and a skillful approach Rita Smith, DNP, RN handed the baton of the CNO to me.

Professional development, succession planning and mentorship helps maintain high performers within the organization or system, models career development for surrounding staff and contributes to the profession of nursing by promoting leaders whose academic and employment results contribute to nurses who are systems thinkers and lead care across the continuum. These nurse leaders speak, teach, publish and create a spirit of inquiry that advances practice to achieve key patient centered metrics as measured by CMS value based purchasing, Leapfrog and, of course, Magnet. One of the highlights of Nurse’s Week 2019 was our first Graduation and Certification Recognition Ceremony, attended by Michael Prilutsky, CEO and Nancy Holecek, MSN, RN, Northern Region. Our overall percentage of Registered Nurses with BSN degrees or higher is 91%, with 18% of nurses at all levels having advanced degrees and 43% percent of nurses specialty certified. Sixty-nine (69%) of the Nursing Leadership team (manager and above) have a Master’s Degree of higher and 72% with a specialty certification. Notably, 19% of the leadership team hold a Doctorate in Nurse Practice. We look forward to celebrating with more of you graduate and become certified.

As an internal promotion, I have had the honor of coaching our “relay” team for several years. We now continue the legacy of Nursing Excellence that Dr. Smith established in her tenure at Jersey City Medical Center. Within our Shared Governance approach, I anticipate incredible teamwork, some stumbles, several recoveries, ongoing skill development and many, many reasons to cheer the work that we do to improve the health of each other, our patients and our community.

With sincerity and humble thanks,
Margaret Ames DNP, RN NEA-BC
Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President of Patient Care Services

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