South Nassau Hospital Nurse Manager Named ‘Health Care Hero’

South Nassau Communities Hospital has announced that Lynn Bert, Nurse Manager for Pediatrics, was recently named a “Nurse Hero” and honored by Long Island Business News with a “Health Care Heroes” award at a breakfast at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury.

LIBN’s “Health Care Heroes” awards honor individuals and organizations in the health-care industry in Nassau and Suffolk counties for outstanding leadership and commitment.

As Nurse Manager, Bert participates in and oversees operations of the Pediatric Unit at South Nassau Communities Hospital. She maintains quality function, and assures outcome and satisfaction for the pediatric patients, as well as their families.

Bert participates on the hospital’s Safety Committee, Family Violence Committee and offers support to the perinatal bereavement patients. She also promotes self-governance for her pediatric staff, encouraging them to join multi-disciplinary committees and participate in organizational decision making.

Under her leadership, South Nassau’s Pediatric Unit has formed a strong Unit-Based Council. She also recently assumed oversight of the support staff for South Nassau’s nurses, providing them (most of whom are in nursing school) with a true role model.

Bert co-teaches a monthly Pediatric Update class and also coordinates training for the Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) program.

Along with her many responsibilities at the hospital, Bert extends her caring into the community through a number of innovative programs. Her latest initiative is a project to help high-risk adolescents in crisis. Called Project HELP (Hospitals Empowering Lifelines through Peers), this program is aimed at helping to support the work of the Long Island Crisis Center by getting the Center’s hotline number into every teenager’s cell phone.

Bert also helped develop a pediatric asthma program in 2008, in conjunction with the Asthma Coalition of Long Island, to improve the health and wellness of children suffering with this respiratory condition. A true example of nursing collaboration with interdisciplinary colleagues and community leaders, the program involves pharmacy, social services, home care and child life. 

Bert was recently certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) as a Nurse Executive (NE-BC). She is a member of the Sigma Theta Tau, the American Nurse’s Association, the New York Organization of Nurse Executives and is currently pursuing her advanced degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner at Molloy College.