Nursing

Exceptional patient care is standard practice at Edward-Elmhurst Health. Our professional nurses deliver patient-centered quality care every day, backed by supportive colleagues who practice as a team. 

Elite recognition

Edward Hospital and Elmhurst Hospital have been awarded Magnet^® status, and both hospitals currently maintain re-designation status. 

In 2013, Elmhurst Hospital was one of only five hospitals worldwide to achieve Planetree Distinction which recognizes achievement and innovation in the delivery of patient-centered care. In 2018 and again in 2022, Elmhurst Hospital was awarded Planetree’s highest honor, Gold Certification by Planetree International. This award recognizes Elmhurst Hospital’s achievement and innovation in the delivery of person-centered care that goes beyond the norm in today’s healthcare environment. 

A Message from the Edward Hospital and Elmhurst Memorial Hospitals’ Chief Nursing Officers

As Chief Nursing Officers, we are extremely proud of our accomplishments and the significant role nursing has played in the organization. Nursing at Edward and Elmhurst Memorial Hospitals is strong, respected, adaptive and key to the implementation of initiatives and our successful outcomes. Our model of Shared Leadership/Governance is dynamic – providing nurses input to define their practice, autonomy to explore the safest and best practices for patients and the practice environment, and to generate new knowledge.

We encourage and support the professional development of our nurses through tuition reimbursement, scholarships, certification, continuing education, and opportunities for career growth within our system.

Both organizations are on track to meet the Institute of Medicine (IOM) goal that 80% of RNs have a degree of BSN or higher.

View the Nursing Annual Reports: 

• Edward Hospital 
• Elmhurst Hospital

The Professional Practice of Nursing

A Professional Practice Model is a schematic that symbolizes our beliefs, values, theories, and systems for nursing practice. The PPM define the components of nursing practice in a way that brings significance to how nurses practice, collaborate, communicate, and develop professionally to provide the highest-quality care for those served by the organization. The nursing professional practice model has provided the necessary vehicle for providing structure, engaging nurses, implementing evidence-based practice, improving patient clinical outcomes, and the patient experience.

Learn more

Shared Leadership/Governance of Nursing

Shared Leadership and Shared Governance are both forms of participatory decision making. Tim Porter-O’Grady defines shared governance as a professional practice model, founded on the cornerstone principles of partnership, equity, accountability, and ownership that form a culturally sensitive and empowering framework, enabling sustainable and accountability-based decisions to support an interdisciplinary design for excellent patient care. The outcome of Shared Leadership/Governance is a dynamic staff-leader partnership that promotes collaboration, shared decision making, accountability for improving quality of care and safety, and enhancing work life.

It Begins with Nurses

Our nurses play a special role in our organization. Watch this video from the Elmhurst Memorial Hospital Foundation to hear what it means to be a nurse with Edward-Elmhurst Health.