Nursing Excellence

St. Jude Nursing Vision

Patients will be welcomed into a healing community where a professional team of nurses will provide personalized, patient-centered care founded on sacred encounters.

Nursing is empowered by shared governance and guided by the principles of collaboration, caring, and clinical practice.

Nursing will flourish through educational and professional development; evidence-based practice, and leaders in the clinical excellence.

Nursing leadership will support the vision through strategic development and communication of a framework which consistently inspires and engages the spirt of nursing throughout the ministry.

A Message from Julie Kim, MSN, RN, CHSRN, NE-BC
Chief Nursing Officer

Every time I walk through the units and departments of Providence St. Jude Medical Center I am reminded of what an honor it is to serve you as this hospital’s Chief Nursing Officer.

Our nurses’ achievements are evident in outstanding clinical outcomes, top decile patient satisfaction, and a long and growing list of national awards and honors. Each year, nurse-led patient safety and quality initiatives continue to transform care, as our RNs bring new research, innovation and expertise to the bedside and beyond.

As health care has grown increasingly complex, our nurses have responded by continuing to learn, grow and advance their practice. The number of St. Jude nurses who have earned or are pursuing a BSN, MSN or professional certification in their specialty dramatically exceeds industry averages—far surpassing even the standards required for Magnet-designated hospitals.

While distinguishing themselves as national leaders at conferences, our nurses have also shaped a vibrant and unique work environment—one characterized by shared decision-making, professional development, and collaboration across every level of the organization. Hundreds of St. Jude nurses participate in shared governance councils, lead interdisciplinary improvement projects, and help create industry-wide best practices.

Our nurses continue a 65-year ministry of life-changing compassion, a ministry first established by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange to care for those made vulnerable by illness, disease or circumstance. While the Sisters are no longer present on every floor, our units and departments are filled with individuals who see nursing as a calling, not simply a job, and have found in Providence St. Jude one of California’s most distinctive and fulfilling work environments.

I am proud to call St. Jude home and grateful to have the opportunity to work alongside such talented and passionate caregivers.

Sincerely, 

Julie Kim, MSN, RN, CHSRN, NE-BC
Chief Nursing Officer

The Daisy Nurse award is a nursing recognition program developed by The DAISY Foundation and implemented at St. Jude in 2013 to honor extraordinary nurses identified by their patients and/or their families for the super-human work nurses do every day. Developed by the family of Patrick Barnes as a way to say "thank you" to nurses everywhere for the extraordinary care their son received while hospitalized. Each quarter a winner is selected from the nominations by the DAISY Committee. Awardees are selected based on the detail of the nomination, their great clinical skill and leadership as well as their especially strong patient care and compassion demonstrated and aligned with our mission, vision, and values. Each DAISY nurses receive an "Extraordinary Nurse" certificate, a DAISY Award pin, a unique hand-carved serpentine stone sculpture from Zimbabwe, entitled "A Healer's Touch", a Spotlight page on the DAISY foundation website.

SJMC Nursing Team

A major component of St. Jude’s academic mission is to generate, evaluate, implement and disseminate new knowledge and cutting-edge technologies. Nurses working in a healthy professional environment continuously ask questions about their practice and patient outcomes, explore and implement evidence-based solutions to continuously improve their care, and when needed; conduct formal research to generate new knowledge.

Finding innovative ways to achieve high-quality, effective and efficient care is an outcome of the well-developed structures and processes that engage and support nurses in professional practice.

Research Studies, Publications, Podiums and Posters

When nursing practice is rooted in scientific evidence, care becomes more effective, efficient, and reliable, and results in better outcomes for patients and families.

At St. Jude, structures exist to:

  • Ensure nursing practice is evidence-based
  • Build nursing research capacity
  • Develop and disseminate innovations in nursing practice

We are a healing ministry and our greatest calling is to provide clinical excellence, genuine care and compassion. We promise to always help, heal and comfort in a safe environment, making a difference in the lives we are entrusted to serve. Every encounter becomes sacred when we serve each individual with empathy and dignity.

SJMC Nurses

Nurses are invited to help make decisions that drive patient care through the Shared Governance (SG) council structure. This important collaborative interprofessional work drives excellence by improving policies, standards of practice and implementing innovative ideas.

St. Jude’s SG provides the structures and processes in which clinical nurses have autonomy in their practice, and are encouraged to make decisions and have authority to practice to the full scope of their license in accordance with their professional clinical knowledge and experience to achieve excellent patient outcomes based on current evidence based practice guidelines. Nurse’s commitment to lifelong learning promotes role development, academic achievement, and career advancement. St. Jude nurses enrich their communities by providing education, service and support in many areas. Recognizing and celebrating nursing’s contributions increases the communities’ confidence in the profession, educates people about different nursing roles and responsibilities, and inspires people to enter the trusted profession. St. Jude’s values the contribution each nurse makes for the benefit of patients and families, physicians, staff and the organization.

St. Jude Medical Center's nurse leaders aspire to be transformative servant leaders. Valuing input from all caregivers, physicians, patients, families, and volunteers to collaborate and together achieve excellent outcomes and strategic goals. Leaders actively co-create healthy work environments that inspire caregivers to take accountability for their practice throuogh continuous education, involvement, innovation, and aiming for excellence in all areas. They advocate for and support clinical nurses' so their daily work remains focused on safety, clinical outcomes, patient experience, and a healthy practice environment.