Nursing at Baptist Hospital

Executing Strategic Plans

Baptist Hospital aligns its strategic priorities with enterprise goals through a collaborative process led by Chief Nursing Officer Harold Girado, MSN, R.N., NE-BC, in partnership with nursing and hospital leadership. Together, leaders assess performance and future needs to develop integrated, forward-looking strategies that advance quality, safety and operational excellence. Nursing councils translate this strategy into practice, ensuring frontline engagement and system-wide alignment.

We continue to invest in our teams through AI-powered workflow enhancements and human-centered innovation—giving nurses more time at the bedside, strengthening patient connections and supporting caregiver well-being.

Developing Nurse Leaders

Baptist Hospital prepares nurse leaders through robust development programs that build strategic, operational and leadership capabilities.

The Nurse Executive Academy (NEA) develops executive-level leadership grounded in American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) competencies, combining expert instruction, mentorship and applied learning. Participants earn Kaizen Leadership White Belt Six Sigma certification and present impactful improvement projects.

In partnership with Press Ganey, Leading in the Best Place to Practice Nursing strengthens leadership capabilities across all levels through interactive learning aligned with AONL and Baptist Health competencies.

The Emerging Leader Program prepares nurses for leadership roles by building core professional skills, including emotional intelligence, communication, process improvement and situational leadership.

Nurse leaders also participate in the AONL annual conference to stay at the forefront of national best practices and emerging trends. In collaboration with Florida International University, leaders further develop their capabilities through the Leadership Accelerator Program.

Developing Professional Nurses

Seventy-two percent of Baptist Hospital nurses have earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree or higher and 37.8% are certified in their specialty. Nurses with advanced education are better prepared to care for patients in an increasingly complex healthcare delivery system.

Training Competent Nurses

Evidence shows that nurse advancement programs improve patient outcomes, enhance safety and strengthen retention. At Baptist Hospital, nurses are supported through the Baptist Health South Florida Clinical Competency Advancement Program, with 25.7% achieving Advanced status, 27.6% Expert, 21.4% Proficient and 24.9% at the Novice/Beginner levels.

We continue to strengthen our nursing practice to meet the evolving needs of our community. Expanded cross-training programs have enhanced progressive and intensive care capabilities, including the addition of ICU-capable rooms on 2 Hope and preparing float pool nurses to support multiple specialty areas. Cardiac teams have further advanced their skills to deliver high-quality progressive care.

Nurses are also supported in advancing their education and specialty expertise through certification pathways and hands-on learning opportunities, including rotations in high-acuity areas through the High Acuity Mentor Shadow Program.

Recognizing Nursing Excellence

At Baptist Hospital, we proudly recognize nurses whose compassion, clinical expertise and dedication set the standard for exceptional care. The DAISY Award, part of an international recognition program, honors nurses who make a meaningful difference in the lives of patients and families through extraordinary, skillful and compassionate care.

Jessica Bundy, R.N., 4 MCVI, was named Baptist Hospital’s 2025 Nurse of the Year in recognition of her outstanding clinical excellence, leadership and unwavering commitment to patients. She consistently elevates those around her—delivering exceptional care while inspiring her colleagues and making a lasting impact on patients and families. This distinction reflects the highest standards of nursing practice across Baptist Health.

The Baptist Health Nurse of the Year program recognizes nurses who demonstrate exceptional skill, compassion and leadership while advancing patient outcomes and strengthening the nursing profession.

Ruben Ramos, R.N., 6 Hope; Melanie Santos, R.N., 5 Tower; Mariana Vega, R.N., Mother and Baby; Tomar Vil, R.N., 5 Hope; and Alejandra Angel, R.N., nurse educator, 4/5 Main, were also nominated for the 2025 DAISY Award, reflecting the depth of nursing excellence across our organization.

Delivering Quality Care

Baptist Hospital is ranked among the Top 10 hospitals in South Florida by U.S. News & World Report, with 22 High Performing ratings across key specialties. The hospital is currently ranked #2 in the Miami–Fort Lauderdale metro area and #7 in Florida. National recognition through Get With The Guidelines® reflects sustained excellence in evidence-based stroke care and improved patient outcomes.

Engaging the Nursing Team

Baptist Hospital achieved an overall practice environment score in the 50th percentile in the 2024 National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators RN Survey, well above the national mean. Highly engaged and satisfied nurses can lead to quality improvements and better patient care.

Performance Improvement

To improve patient experience, safety and cost efficiency, 4 Hope Nurse Manager Obed Bello, MSN, R.N., CEN, identified an opportunity to reduce sitter use. Through targeted nursing education, purposeful rounding, environmental interventions and increased family involvement, sitter utilization decreased by 88% and patient falls by 69%, generating significant annual savings. This initiative demonstrates how structured assessment, interdisciplinary collaboration and consistent education can reduce sitter dependence while enhancing safety.

Baptist Hospital is expanding its Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) program to better serve our most critically ill patients. This advanced capability allows more patients to remain close to home, reduces transfers, improves survival and strengthens readiness for complex cardiopulmonary emergencies.

Through our Maternal Levels of Care initiative and participation in the Florida Perinatal Quality Collaborative, we have improved identification and treatment of maternal hypertension while strengthening partnerships with programs like the Florida Healthy Start Program to enhance maternal and infant outcomes and connect patients to community resources.

Our Medical-Surgical teams have exceeded length-of-stay goals and improved discharge outcomes. By partnering with procedural teams and advancing less invasive care pathways, we are helping patients recover faster and return home sooner.

Innovating Care

Justin Cagulada, BSN, R.N., PCCN, 4 Clarke Assistant Nurse Manager, spearheaded the “Nursing OS,” a technology‑driven platform that streamlined care escalations, quality audits, huddle readiness and team recognition. He later scaled this foundation into the PACED model—an innovative, automated workflow that reduced observation length of stay by 34%, eased frontline burden and strengthened interdisciplinary collaboration to improve patient outcomes.

Recognizing the need for timely data, Director of Nursing Shelli Chernesky, DNP, MBA, R.N., CCRN, NE-BC, developed a user-friendly automated dashboard which transforms clinical oversight by giving nurse leaders real-time documented care. These visual alerts propel communication interactions for follow-up of care and real-time coaching opportunities. It seamlessly tracks nurse sensitive indicator prevention, along with such important nursing tasks as pain assessment and re-assessment for patient safety. The result is a cutting-edge, nurse-engineered solution that hardwires preventable harm, boosts performance, and empowers clinical teams with actionable, data-driven decision support.

Enhancing Patient Safety

• The majority of inpatient nursing units exceeded national benchmarks for nurse-sensitive indicators, including pressure injuries and catheter associated infections.
• All ambulatory areas outperformed benchmarks for falls with injury and stroke door-to-device time.
• Most inpatient and ambulatory areas exceeded national benchmarks for patient satisfaction.

Earning National Recognition

Baptist Hospital was named to Becker’s Hospital Review’s 100 Great Hospitals in America, recognizing excellence in patient safety, clinical outcomes, innovation and leadership. Nursing units have also earned national honors, including Beacon and Lantern Awards.