I am proud and privileged to serve in the role of Chief Nursing Officer for Stony Brook University Hospital, representing the voice of our remarkable nursing staff.

We are well on our way in our journey for excellence using the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet Nursing criteria to define specific goals that demonstrate our outstanding nursing practice. The patients that receive care here at SBUH can expect to experience the highest level of nursing care delivered by the exceptional group of nurses that walks our halls and practices in our inpatient and ambulatory settings.

Our nursing professional practice model reflects the mission, vision and values of Stony Brook Medicine. Those values are demonstrated each day, and each shift, by nurses who touch our patients. Nurses are the consistent healthcare professional at the patient bedside. It is a nurse who monitors, treats and supports our patients.

Nurses serve as preceptors to novice nurses and students. They serve as navigators and communicators, researchers and policy makers. Nurses here change lives, one patient, one family member, one nursing student, one colleague at a time.

Thank you for all that you do. I am honored to call myself a Stony Brook nurse.

— Carolyn Santora