Message from the Chief Nursing Officer

It is indeed my privilege and honor to serve as the Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer at York Hospital – which I believe is where we have the best nurses in the state of Pennsylvania. In my tenure at York Hospital, I have been impressed with the excellence in the professional practice, autonomy, compassion, commitment, energy and innovation that I see within our talented nursing staff – which makes York Hospital a destination for excellence in nursing practice. I am constantly awed by the contributions that our talented nursing staff makes each and every day to our patients, the community and the profession of nursing. In January 2007, our nursing staff decided that the theme of our nursing practice, past-present-future, would be York Hospital Nursing – PRIDE, PASSION, PROFESSIONALISM. Every day, no matter where I go, I see the pride in the faces and the work ethic of our staff, the passion in their focus on patients and their profession, and the professionalism that knows no bounds!

I am also very excited about our nursing vision: to build and strengthen the professional practice environment for our clinical nursing staff. We are well on our way in this journey through the following initiatives and priorities:

1. Adopting the 14 Forces of Magnetism as the foundation and pillars for our professional nursing practice
   
   
2. Maturing and strengthening an environment of empowerment and autonomy through Shared Decision Making at the unit, service line and hospital levels.
   
   
3. Incorporating evidence and nursing research into our daily practice to ensure the best clinical practice and quality for our patients. We continually support this key priority through our Evidence-Based Practice/Nursing Research Council, our funded EBP/NR Fellowship Program and our cadre of master’s prepared clinical nurse specialists.
   
   
4. Our philosophy is that “All Nurses are Leaders”, thus we provide extensive leadership education to our frontline nurses as well as nurses in formal leadership positions.
   
   
5. Improving our RN/patient ratios will allow our RNs to provide care to fewer patients, thus enhancing the hospitalization experience for the patient, their family and the nurse.
   
   
6. Enjoying a strong and mature staff nurse designed clinical ladder that recognizes clinical leadership and excellence in nursing practice.
   
   
7. Implementing a computerized nursing documentation system.
   
   
8. Commitment to competitive compensation and benefits as well as to no mandatory overtime. Benchmark positions are systematically reviewed with the market annually, and adjusted as necessary to maintain competitiveness in our market.
   
   
9. Extensive celebration and recognition programs for our nursing staff, celebrating accomplishments and contributions to patient care and the profession of nursing.

As we take this journey together – the journey toward actualizing our nursing vision, we will partner with each other and disciplines across the hospital, in strengthening the professional practice environment for our clinical nursing staff and the healing environment for our patients. As nurses, we have the ability to touch people, both literally and figuratively, in a way that few other professionals do. We are on the front line, providing care to patients during some of the happiest, most difficult and sacred times of their lives.

I invite you to experience professional nursing at York Hospital – to touch the lives of our patients – and to practice your profession in an environment of autonomy, empowerment, collaboration and respect – and to practice with the best and greatest nursing colleagues in the state of Pennsylvania. Come and experience the PRIDE, PASSION and PROFESSIONALISM at York Hospital!

Valerie Hardy-Sprenkle MPH, RN, CNAA-BC, FACHE
Vice-President of Patient Care Services