Nursing Quality Director Recognized by National Nursing Group

Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital’s Director of Quality, Candice Krill, MS, MBA, RN, ACM, was given the Excellence in Research award at the American Academy of Nursing’s annual meeting for her article titled, “Empowering Staff Nurses to Use Research to Change Practice for Safe Patient Handling.”

“The article was the result of wonderful interdisciplinary teamwork that came together to positively impact safety in our nursing environment,” said Krill.  “A nurse’s priority is always the safety of our patients; our goal with the study and article was to involve nurses in the selection of patient handling equipment and to engage them in understanding the importance of using the equipment properly.”

The use of lift equipment to move and re-position patients is a key safety initiative within the nursing industry and at hospitals throughout the country.  Safe patient handling is critical to patients’ safety and also to the health of nurses, because improper lifting of patients can lead to life-altering or, in the worst case, career-ending injuries for nurses.  And yet often nurses are not included in the process for selecting the actual equipment that will be used to lift patients. Krill’s research found that implementation of a “safe lifting” program often involves a significant change in culture within the nursing staff, and key to that change is to involve staff in the selection of the equipment itself. 

Krill’s article was among four articles recognized by the Nursing Outlook editorial board.  Articles were selected from all articles published in Nursing Outlook from July 2012 to June 2013.  In addition this article, Krill has published a second article as the result of this study and, with her fellow researchers, has given poster and table-top presentations on this topic. 

Krill has a long background in nursing and administration, with eight years as a direct care nurse and 12 years as a nursing manager.  She has served as a director in performance improvement and quality for seven years.  Krill received her bachelors of science in nursing from Creighton University and holds a master of science from Rush University College of Nursing and an MBA from Loyola University.  She also holds a certificate in health care quality and safety from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. 

For more information about nursing at Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital visit lfh.org/nursing_at_northwestern_lake_forest.