Conyers, Ga. (Aug. 30, 2022) — Piedmont Rockdale’s medical-surgical unit on Med-Surg 1 has received the AMSN PRISM Award, an honor recognizing exceptional nursing practice, leadership and outcomes in hospital medical-surgical units.
The award, which stands for “Premier Recognition In the Specialty of Med-Surg,” is the first of its kind honoring med-surg nursing units in the United States and internationally. It is co-sponsored by the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses (AMSN) and the Medical-Surgical Nursing Certification Board (MSNCB). The award is given to outstanding acute care/med-surg units or adult/pediatric units classified as med-surg.
“This award shows the dedication this team shows every day, specifically, after being awarded this with this unit being the first dedicated COVID-19 Unit” said Leigha Fallis, chief nursing officer at Piedmont Rockdale. “This isn’t an award give out easily and I am very proud of the team on Med-Surge 1 for how they work together as a team and continue to push Piedmont’s mission of making a positive difference in every life we touch.” She said.
“The score you must get to be considered for this award is a 520 out of 600. I want to shout out Piedmont Rockdale for getting a 537,” said Cynthia Frazer, MSN RN, the treasurer on the MSNCB Board. “I am also elated to share one of the many reasons why Rockdale won is because this unit showed care and detail to not only its entire team, but also to student nurses on rotations, continued use of facility resources and the use of unit educators and an extremely engaged staff all around. This created a family-like atmosphere which gave us a thumbs-up for you all.”
Specifically, the award celebrates units that exhibit:
- Effective leadership
- Recruitment and retention of competent staff members
- Evidence-based practice
- Positive patient outcomes
- A healthy practice environment
- Lifelong learning of unit staff members
Out of the five units in the state of Georgia that received this award, Piedmont took the place of four.