Fort Wayne, Ind. – March 25, 2024 – Parkview Clinical Nurse Specialist Janette Richardson was recently selected as a recipient of the Distinguished Direct Patient Care Award by the American Nurses Association.
The national award recognizes individual registered nurses who provide exemplary patient care and contribute to the advancement of nursing practice. The American Nurses Association (ANA) represents more than 5 million registered nurses in the U.S. The ANA fosters high standards of nursing practice, promotes safe and ethical workplaces, bolsters health and wellness of nurses and advocates on issues that affect nurses and those they serve.
“We are so proud to see Janette recognized by America’s largest and most prestigious professional nursing organization,” said Juli Johnson, chief nursing and patient services executive, Parkview Health. “Janette is not just an amazing nurse but an amazing leader for Parkview, sharing her experience with new nurses and supporting them as they grow into their roles and careers. Parkview’s nursing team is stronger today because of her many contributions.”
Janette has been with Parkview for 22 years, starting as a unit assistant and patient care tech and working her way up through various nursing roles in the coronary medical ICU, Samaritan transport team and rapid response team, as well as serving as nurse leader and interim nurse manager for surgical/trauma ICU. She moved to her current role as clinical nurse specialist (CNS) in 2017.
As a CNS, Janette supports Parkview’s nursing staff by providing information on quality and clinical improvements to all new nurses and connects with care teams as needed during her daily patient rounds. She specializes in complex patients in the surgical ICU and inpatient surgical units and is often consulted by nurses and physicians for her input on patient care.
Janette leads Parkview’s process for bedside feeding tube placements and developed an innovative process to place feeding tubes while patients are in a prone position. Her findings on the process were recently published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. She also helped Parkview develop and launch a tracheostomy clinic to serve and educate patients requiring surgical airway openings in the neck, and the multi-disciplinary team has helped reduced length of stay, mortality and cost for these patients. Janette also led efforts to reduce catheter-association tract infection rates among patients by identifying and updating processes and educating nurses, as well as working with Parkview lab technicians to fine-tune testing procedures.
“Whenever there is room for improvement in our care, we want Janette in the room working on the solution,” said Dr. Jan Powers, director of nursing research and professional practice, Parkview Health. “Her ability to analyze complex nursing challenges and find solutions that boost efficiency and improve care helps all our nurses do their jobs better and patients benefit every day from the impact of her experience and effort.”
When not at work, Richardson and her husband of 23 years enjoy spending time traveling to support their daughter, who is a collegiate swimmer at the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky. When not poolside, she enjoys getting out on the golf course, gardening and decorating for the seasons.
Richardson was one of four nurses awarded with this year’s Distinguished Direct Patient Care Award, along with Jerico Alicante and Leticia Escalante of California and Arlyn Labtis of Illinois. She will be recognized at the ANA’s 2024 National Awards event in Washington D.C. on June 27.