Culture of Nursing

Welcome

Angela Ellis
Chief Nursing Officer

Thank you for visiting West Florida Healthcare’s Nursing page. At West Florida Healthcare, we remain committed to our journey to create a work environment that enables our nurses to flourish. Our Nursing Vision Statement, which was created by West Florida Healthcare nurses, sums up that commitment:

“We are engaged, compassionate nurses dedicated to partnering with our patients and families to provide highly reliable care through evidence-based practice.”

Because we are so committed to creating this positive work environment and realizing our nursing vision, we are following a pathway to professional excellence in nursing. We are utilizing the American Nurses Credentialing Centers’ (ANCC) framework called the “Pathway to Excellence” because it incorporates our nursing vision and the facility mission. There are six standards in the ANCC “Pathway to Excellence”:

• Shared Decision Making
• Leadership
• Safety
• Quality
• Well-Being
• Professional Development

On a national scale, many other hospitals are also utilizing this framework and are intentionally aligning themselves to these same core standards.  We will continue on this pathway until we achieve certification from the ANCC, which will validate our dedication to the strength and quality of our nursing care. These six standards demonstrate our steadfast commitment to ensuring that our nurses are actively involved in all aspects of their nursing practice. Creating a positive work environment where the health and well-being, shared decision-making, and professional development of our nurses are given top priority is the mainstay of the journey to Pathway to Excellence.

If you are equally committed to a professional and personal journey toward excellence, please consider joining the West Florida Healthcare family of professionals.

Shared Governance

Shared Governance is a philosophy and structure that supports decentralized decision-making, shared ownership, accountability, and promotes staff-leader partnership and collaboration to improve quality of care, safety, patient experience, and a healthy work-life balance.

Governance Council Members

2017 Clinical Excellence Award Winners

West Florida Healthcare recently awarded nine health care staff members with its top clinical awards at a special reception held in May during Nurse’s Week—the 2017 Clinical Excellence Awards. The annual awards recognize exemplary nurses and support personnel that have made a difference in patient care through demonstration of clinical expertise. The theme for this year’s awards was “Nursing: the Balance of Mind, Body and Spirit."

Compassionate Care:

Patient Care Nurse

• Cris Forbes, RN - Behavioral Health
• Angie Heath, RN - West Florida Rehabilitation Institute
• Shane Whitacre, RN – Kids’ Unit

Support Staff

• Savannah Saylor, CNA – Medical/Surgical Unit

HCA Physician Services

• Jennifer Alicea, RMA – Physician Services Group/Patient Access Center

Professional Mentoring:

Patient Care Nurses/Preceptors/Leadership

• Melissa McNally, RN – Emergency Department
• Melinda Cochran, RN – West Florida Rehabilitation Institute
• Kala Frentress, RN – General Medical Unit

“Spirit of Nursing” Award

• Angela Nunnally, RN – Cardiac Care Unit

In addition, Angie Fenn, RN (Progressive Care) was a finalist in the national HCA “Excellence in Nursing” Award for Compassionate Care.

“Winners of the 2017 Clinical Excellence Awards were: (standing, l-r) Savannah Saylor; Angie Heath; Melissa McNally; Jennifer Alicea and Shane Whitacre (Peds); (sitting, l-r) Melinda Cochran; Angie Fenn, Angela Nunnally and Kala Frentress (4-North).

Mari “Cris” Forbes (Behavioral Health)."

Additional Information

Watch the following videos to learn why West Florida Healthcare's nurses are extraordinary:

• National Nurses Week 2016
• 100 Top Hospital