Mary Ciechanowski, RN, receives national nursing award

Mary Ciechanowski, RN, stroke advanced practice nurse at Christiana Care, has been named a 2013 Circle of Excellence Award winner from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), the largest specialty nursing organization in the world. She is one of only 25 nurses nationwide to receive the honor this year.

The award recognizes outstanding caregivers for achieving excellent outcomes in the care of acutely and critically ill patients and their families.

Criteria used to evaluate the Circle of Excellence Award candidates include: relentless promotion of patient-driven excellence; communication skills; true collaboration; effective decision making; meaningful recognition of others; ability to transform thinking, structures and processes; and ability to address challenges, remove barriers to excellent patient care and achieve visible results through leadership.

Ciechanowski received her award at the National Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition, held in Boston May 18-23.

The AACN represents the interests of more than 500,000 acute and critical care nurses worldwide. The organization’s vision is to create a health care system driven by the needs of patients and their families in which acute and critical care nurses make their optimal contribution.