Los Angeles (Feb. 12, 2025) – Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) announced this week that four inpatient care units recently received 2024 Beacon Awards for Excellence from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN).
The AACN honors healthcare units that deliver excellent care to patients and their families with the prestigious Beacon Award designation. Recipients demonstrate superior patient clinical outcomes, patient experience, patient safety, quality improvement, work environment, professional nursing practices and opportunities for nursing education and certification growth.
“This honor reflects the hard work and dedication of our nursing teams and their commitment to our mission to create hope and build healthier futures for children,” says Kelly M. Johnson, Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer at CHLA. “The award also recognizes CHLA’s ability to attract and retain talented, specialized nurses who improve our clinical outcomes and enhance the hospital’s healing, child-friendly, family-centered environment.”
Four units at the hospital were honored. The hospital’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit earned Gold Beacon Award recognition while the Heart Institute’s Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit earned a Silver Beacon Award. “Additionally, the hospital’s two separate 5th floor medical surgical units – 5 East and 5 West – were also honored by the AACN. These two units provide services for children requiring specialty care in Diabetes, Cystic Fibrosis, and infants needing care after leaving the hospital’s Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation Newborn and Infant Critical Care Unit. The 5th floor teams also provide care that specializes in respiratory illnesses and infectious diseases, and for patients requiring long-term home mechanical ventilation.”
The Cardiovascular Acute Care Unit also has an existing Gold-level Beacon Award through March 2026, bringing CHLA’s current total of Beacon Award-recognized units to five.
To determine Beacon status, quantitative and qualitative data from each unit is evaluated and compared against units from other hospitals submitting for the recognition, reflecting a competitive process that CHLA successfully navigated. The data submitted for the Beacon Awards in 2024 looks at a variety of hospital acquired conditions that are identified as “nursing sensitive indicators” – where the quality of nursing can play a role in the clinical outcomes.
The data includes:
- Catheter-associated urinary tract infection rate
- Central line-associated bloodstream infection rate
- Data measuring both falls with injury rate and injuries to the skin caused by pressure or friction
- Nursing experience data; nursing professional certification rates; and nursing turnover data
“This information can be valuable and meaningful to families when they make their healthcare choices for their children,” Johnson says.
About Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Founded in 1901, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is at the forefront of pediatric medicine and is the largest provider of hospital care for children in California. Children’s Hospital is home to renowned experts who work together across disciplines to deliver inclusive and compassionate care, and drive advances that set pediatric standards across the nation and around the globe. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles delivers a level of care that is among the best in the world for a truly diverse population of children. The hospital is consistently ranked in the top 10 in the nation on U.S. News & World Report’s Honor Roll of Best Children’s Hospitals. CHLA is the top-ranked children’s hospital in California and the Pacific U.S. region for 2024-25. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles embraces the hospital’s mission to create hope and build healthier futures. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is among the top 10 children’s hospitals for National Institutes of Health funding. The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles supports the full continuum of research, allowing physicians and scientists to translate discoveries into treatments and bring answers to families faster. The pediatric academic medical center also is home to one of the largest training programs for pediatricians in the United States. And the hospital’s commitment to building strong communities is evident in CHLA’s efforts to fight food insecurity, enhance health education and literacy, and introduce more people to careers in health care. To learn more, follow CHLA on Facebook– Opens in a new window, Instagram– Opens in a new window, LinkedIn– Opens in a new window, YouTube– Opens in a new window, and X– Opens in a new window, formerly known as Twitter, and visit CHLA.org/blog.
