GLENDALE (June 14, 2008)- Congratulations to Banner Thunderbird Medical Center Critical Care Unit West RNs Stephanie Cralley, Sara Cutting and Barbara Reinhardt, Clinical Manager; and Critical Care Unit East RN, Carmen Lombardo, for attaining national certification by exam in adult critical care nursing (CCRN). Current certified nurses include Kim Smith, Heather Stewart and Karen Barkus, Director.

The certification is awarded by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN). The purpose of this credential is to promote and enhance consumer health and safety. It validates high standards of professional practice for the care of acutely and critically ill patients and their families.  As healthcare becomes increasingly complex and challenging, certification has emerged as a mark of excellence showing patients, employers, and peers that a nurse is qualified, competent, and has met the rigorous requirements to achieve a specialty credential.

To commemorate this achievement, their names will be engraved on a special plaque and displayed in CCU. As other nurses become certified, their names will be added.

About Banner Thunderbird Medical Center - Banner Thunderbird Medical Center, part of Banner Health—a not-for-profit health system with 21 hospitals throughout the West—is a 374-bed acute-care hospital featuring a behavioral health center, children’s center and dedicated outpatient center located in Glendale, Arizona at 5555 West Thunderbird Road.  Banner Thunderbird is fully accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.