ADVANCE for Nurses has announced the Orthopaedic/Spinal Unit at St. Francis Hospital, Columbus, Ga., among the national winners in the annual Best Nursing Team award and for the South region.

In celebration of National Nurses Week, May 6-12, ADVANCE presented the award in the spirit of initiative, adaptability, expertise and outreach – and teamwork.

“Nurses should be celebrated for their independence and autonomy. They have the ability to use their knowledge and skills and are not dependent on others to tell them what to do. Yet, nurses never truly work alone,” said Linda Jones, editor of ADVANCE for Nurses. “At a minimum they are part of a team made up of patient and nurse. More often, they are members of many teams simultaneously: the multidisciplinary care team, the unit, the nursing department, the hospital and the healthcare community. It is nurses’ commitment to cooperation in order to achieve best results that we celebrate nursing teams during National Nurses Week.”

Dozens of nursing teams from across the country submitted essays describing how their team achieved specific outcomes. A panel of judges evaluated the entries for initiative, adaptability, expertise and outreach.

The nurses on Orthopedic/Spinal Unit at St. Francis Hospital are featured on the website www.advanceweb.com/Nurses and in the print edition, April 28, 2014. The team members were presented with an award and other gifts commemorating the honor of being named Best Team.