news&views
September/OctOber 2012 a publicatiOn fOr the n Yu langOne medical center cOmmunit Y
HJD Earns Magnet
Recognition for
Nursing Excellence
Karsten Moran
Francesca Tedesco, RN, shelved a degree in business because she wanted something “more fulfilling.” One year after graduating from NYU College of Nursing in 2007, she joined
HJD, where she is one of 280 staff nurses and is certified in orthopaedic nursing.
All Three of NYU Langone’s Hospitals Now Boast a Coveted Status
Despite the pain and discomfort of having had
knee replacement surgery, the 65-year-old patient
flashes a smile when the nurse enters her room
at N YU Langone Medical Center’s Hospital for
Joint Diseases (HJD). In the banter that follows,
the reason becomes clear. The nurse, Francesca
Tedesco, RN, was the woman’s caregiver one year
earlier, when she had the same procedure performed on her other knee, and for her return visit,
she insisted on the same proven performer.
“Working at a smaller hospital gives me
more time to be with my patients and get to know
them,” says Tedesco, who shelved a college degree
in business to become a registered nurse. “I love
this work. I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
Tedesco is one of some 280 staff nurses at
HJD, all of whom, says Ann Vanderberg, RN, vice
president for nursing and patient services at HJD,
are prized by physicians and patients alike for
their skill, dedication, and compassion. Now, that
admiration is official. In August, HJD received
Magnet® recognition for its nursing excellence and
quality patient care. The new status, conferred
by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (a
(continued on page 4)
subsidiary of the American Nurses Association),
puts HJD in the select company of only 6% of hospitals and medical centers nationwide, including
NYU Langone’s Tisch Hospital and Rusk Institute
of Rehabilitation Medicine, which earned Magnet
recognition in 2005 and were redesignated in
2009. “We began applying for Magnet 10 years
ago as part of our plan to become a world-class
institution,” notes Vanderberg. “The designation
is recognition by our peers of the culture of excellence we’ve built here, and which we now have to
work harder than ever to maintain.”
Believing in Your Own Brain
One Small Triumph at a Time, Survivors of
Traumatic Brain Injuries Rebuild Their Lives
Karsten Moran
Stephanie Quito puts the finishing touches on her self-portrait, which she started working
on after her traumatic brain injury to enhance her various forms of therapy.
(continued on page 3)
Of the event that changed her life, Stephanie Quito remembers nothing.
In March 2010, she was on spring break in the Dominican Republic. With
Quito in the passenger seat of an all-terrain vehicle, the driver—one of her
friends—swerved to avoid a bump in the road. As the vehicle started to tip
over, her friend hit the brakes, throwing both of them onto the ground. Quito
was knocked unconscious, her head badly injured and bleeding profusely.
At a local hospital, she underwent surgery to remove a blood clot
pressing against her brain. Once back home with her parents in Ozone Park,
New York, Quito was admitted to NYU Langone Medical Center, where her
mother, Zoila, is a patient care technician. She became an inpatient in the
brain injury unit of the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, located
at the Hospital for Joint Diseases. “My memories start with my last week at
Rusk,” Quito recalls. “One of my assignments was to make cupcakes. I went
to the grocery store with my therapist, bought the ingredients, and baked
