Nursing at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center

Nursing at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center

Nursing at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center

MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center is located in White Marsh in eastern Baltimore County. We are a 338-bed, full-service hospital offering inpatient and outpatient clinical services in medicine, surgery, neurology, obstetrics, pediatrics, behavioral health, and oncology. In 2020, our nurses managed 19,557 inpatient admissions and more than 64,200 Emergency Department visits as an acute care hospital, with one of the busiest emergency departments in Maryland. Learn more about MedStar Franklin Square.

MedStar Franklin Square has been designated as “Senior Friendly” by NICHE (Nursing Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders) since 2019. Our vision is to deliver high-quality care to our older population that is sensitive and unique to their needs.

About us

MedStar Franklin Square’s staff of 3,225 healthcare professionals includes more than 1,000 RNs, LPNs, care associates, and multifunctional technicians who provide care across the continuum for our patients in the Emergency Department, Critical Care, Intermediate Care, Inpatient, Outpatient/Clinics and Outreach programs. We also employ nursing professional development specialists, clinical nurse specialists, nurse practitioners, and nurse midwives to provide consultation and resources to the clinical nurses.

The philosophy of the professional nursing staff organization at MedStar Franklin Square is centered on the belief that each professional nurse accepts accountability for the quality of care he or she provides, for continued professional development and for the ethical and legal responsibilities involved in his or her practice. Each professional nurse accepts responsibility for participating in decisions regarding nursing practice and commits to uphold the standards set by this organization, the nursing profession and those bodies that regulate the practice of nursing in the state of Maryland. Click here to learn more about our Nursing Professional Practice Model.

Nursing Vision

MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center’s nurses will be seen across the organization as leaders from the bedside to the boardroom, as well as patient advocates and expert clinicians. MedStar Franklin Square will be known in the community as the employer of choice for nurse leaders, recognized for its commitment to the profession of nursing and the delivery of high-quality service to patients. From day-to-day decisions to large, department-wide policy, nursing will champion the mission to meet the needs of our patients, families and the communities we serve.

  • We will create a culture of leadership through continuous development opportunities targeted to meet the strategic needs of the organization and the personal growth desires of our nurses.We will assist and support each nurse to develop and implement an individualized career plan.
  • We are committed to a highly developed and unique orientation for nurses at all levels, reinforcing the philosophy of shared governance, professional accountability, and key concepts and strategies for nurse retention.
  • We will continue to develop a professional practice culture using research and evidence-based studies to guide clinical and administrative practices.
  • We will provide the resources, tools and technology to support nurses as they manage patient care in their unit(s).
  • We will recognize and celebrate creativity and innovation in leadership throughout the organization.
  • We will measure targeted outcomes to assure ongoing success of nurses and identify opportunities for continued improvement.

View the MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center Nursing Annual Reports below:

Staff Satisfaction

MFSMC utilizes the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators® for data related to nursing quality indicators, nursing engagement survey data, and patient experience scores.

The nursing engagement survey includes questions from the following seven categories:

  • Autonomy
  • Professional development (education, resources, etc.)
  • Leadership access and responsiveness (includes nursing administration/CNO)
  • Interprofessional relationships (includes all disciplines)
  • Fundamentals of quality nursing care
  • Adequacy of resources and staffing
  • RN-to-RN teamwork and collaboration

The nursing quality indicators measured in the most recent Magnet© document includes:

  • Falls with injury
  • Hospital acquired pressure injuries
  • Central line associated blood stream infections
  • Catheter associated urinary tract infections
  • Smoking cessation core measure
  • Heart Failure 30-day All Cause Readmission Rate primary core measure

Patient experience data included questions from the following nine categories:

  1. Patient engagement/patient-centered care
  2. Care coordination
  3. Safety
  4. Service recovery
  5. Courtesy and respect
  6. Responsiveness
  7. Patient education
  8. Pain
  9. Careful listening


Nursing Professional Practice Model

The MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center (MFSMC) Professional Practice Model (PPM) is reviewed annually by different nursing groups with the distinct purpose of ensuring clinical nurse involvement. The PPM is discussed first by the nursing directors during the review of the strategic plan, and the topics to include in the PPM are then sent to the Magnet Ambassadors Council (MAC) to draft. The MAC then sends the draft to the Nursing Executive Leadership Council (NELC) and then to the Magnet Steering Council. Once input is received by all parties, the MAC members disseminate the approved version of the PPM to all nursing staff members. The approved version is also available to all hospital staff members on StarPort, MFSMC’s intranet.   

The Professional Practice Model includes:Nursing Professional Practice Model Infographic

  • Relationship-based care
  • Magnet components: Transformational Leadership, Structural empowerment, Exemplary Professional Practice, and New Knowledge, Innovations, and Improvements
  • Language of Caring
  • SPIRIT values: Service, Patient First, Integrity, Respect, Innovation, and Teamwork
  • EBP and Research
  • Empirical Outcomes
  • Trusted Leader
  • Advancing Population Health
  • Quality and Safety Culture
  • Interprofessional Collaboration

Nursing Leadership

MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center's Nursing Leadership Team will be seen across the organization for its focus on and instilling at culture of leadership development. MedStar Franklin Square will be known in the community as the employer of choice for nurse leaders, recognized for its commitment to the profession of nursing and the delivery of high quality service to patients. From day to day decisions, to large department-wide policy, nursing will champion the mission to meet the needs of our patients, families and the communities we serve.

  • We will create a culture of leadership through continuous development opportunities targeted to meet the strategic needs of the organization and the personal growth desires of our nurse leaders.
  • We will assist and support each leader to develop and implement an individualized career plan.
  • We are committed to a highly developed and unique orientation for nurse managers reinforcing the philosophy of shared governance, professional accountability and key concepts and strategies for nurse retention.
  • We will continue to develop a professional practice culture using research and evidence-based studies to guide clinical and administrative practices.
  • We will provide the resources, tools and technology to support nursing leaders in the management of their unit (s).
  • We will recognize and celebrate creativity and innovation in leadership throughout the organization. We will measure targeted outcomes to assure ongoing success of nursing leadership and to identify opportunities for continued improvement.

  • Kim SchwenkVice President, Chief Nursing Officer                       
  • Cindy RolesAssistant Vice President, Nursing Operations & Patient Care Services                       
  • Rebecca Landreth, MS, BSN, RN

    Rebecca LandrethSenior Director, Nursing Administration, Behavioral Health, & Women & Children
  • Frances Strauss, MDNP, MBA, RN, CNOR, ME-BC

    Frances StraussSenior Director, Perioperative & Patient Care Services                       
  • Rosine Castro, MS, RN

    Rosine CastroSenior Director, Nursing Excellence and Capacity
  • Sharon Bonner, MS, BSN, RN-BC

    Sharon BonnerMultisite Director, Clinical Informatics                                                                                                                      
  • Gina Shelley MS, BSN, RN, CENP, NPD-BC

    Gina ShelleyDirector, Nursing Practice Innovation & Magnet    

  • Becky Grant, MSN, RN

    Becky GrantDirector, Capacity Management & Patient Care Services                                
  • Beth Kilmoyer, DNP, MS, RN-BC, NPD-BC

    Beth KilmoyerMultisite Director, Professional Development         

Our Nursing Units

ANCC Magnet Recognition BadgeWe're pleased that you'd like to know more about nursing at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center. Our goal as a Magnet Hospital is to provide the highest quality patient-centered care through evidence based practice, nursing research, interdisciplinary collaboration, integrity and ethics, autonomy and accountability.

Please explore the areas of interest to you:

In-House
  • Emergency Department
  • Tower 1 Med/Surg Renal
  • Tower 2 ICU/T2 Stepdown
  • Tower 3 IMC/Observation
  • Tower 4 Telemetry
  • Tower 5 Med/Surg Pulmonary and Neuro
  • Tower 6 Med/Surg and oncology
  • Psych ED, 2SB, CAPS
  • Labor & Delivery
  • Mother/Baby
  • NICU
  • Perinatology/Womens Health Center
  • Primary Care Center
  • Pain Management
  • Neurology
  • Wound Center
  • ASC/PAT
  • OR
  • PACU
Off-Site
  • White Square: Outpatient psych, OB/GYN, Bariatrics
  • Weinburg: AOC, Thoracic Surgery, GYN oncology, UroGYN
  • Endocrinology
  • Dundalk OB/GYN
  • Towson GI
  • Oncology at Loch Raven
  • Honeygo OB
  • Perry Hall Pediatrics
  • Bel Air: Oncology, Breast Center, OB/GYN

Nursing Professional Practice Model

Why work at MedStar Franklin Square?

MedStar Franklin Square is the largest employer in eastern Baltimore County and the third busiest hospital in central Maryland. We are one of the largest Emergency Department’s in the state caring for patients in Maryland. To become part of our team, check out our current job openings.

We offer:

  • Competitive Salaries - To augment your base salary we also offer evening, night and weekend differentials, extra shift bonus, Call-back bonus, preceptor bonus, Charge nurse pay, and Professional Nursing Ladder with five steps
  • Scheduling Flexibility
  • Tuition Reimbursement
  • Hospital-Sponsored Educational Advancement Auxiliary Nursing Scholarship in Honor of Marlene Cochran Fund
  • Breastfeeding Suites - Contact the Lactation Resource Center at 443-777-7427 with any questions.

Benefits

The benefits offered at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center include a comprehensively designed package that provides support to nurses and their families. Our Total Rewards package is one of the most competitive in the region and most flexible for our staff. Staff nurses, through the Nursing Retention and Recruitment Council, provide input and keep us focused on strategies to reward, recognize, retain and recruit talented nurses.

  • No shift rotation
  • Opportunity to participate in shared governance councils
  • Online access to Nursing Spectrum CE Direct at no cost
  • Online ability to pick up extra shifts through "Square Shifts"
  • Flexible, unit-based self-scheduling
  • Medical, dental and vision insurance
  • Life insurance
  • Tax deferred savings plan - 403b
  • Short- and long-term disability
  • Six paid holidays per year
  • Three personal holidays a year
  • Free parking
  • Flexible spending accounts for medical and dependent care
  • Employee Assistance Program
  • Direct deposit

Nursing Education and Career Development

MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center's dynamic orientation team takes ownership and pride in its commitment to provide a program that offers the opportunity for professional growth and development for all our newly hired nurses.

ANCC Magnet Recognition BadgeWe provide you with ongoing mentorship from orientation specialists and/or preceptors selected according to your needs and experience. After a two-day general hospital and a four-day general nursing orientation, newly hired nurses begin work in their clinical areas along side their preceptor. The orientation experience integrates application of clinical knowledge with psychomotor skills competencies, enhancement of clinical knowledge, computer-assisted learning, bedside care and patient assignments. We also include other opportunities to spend share days or observation time in other units or ancillary departments to better understand the continuum of care, to develop collaborative relationships among members of the interdisciplinary care team and to optimize the quality of our patient care delivery.

Opportunities for Professional Growth and Development include:

  • Certifications - we provide financial and educational support for professional certification and recertification
  • Nursing Externship
  • Vizient Nurse Residency Program
  • Professional Nursing Ladder
  • Nursing Grand Rounds
  • Nursing Spectrum CE Direct

For Schools of Nursing

Nursing Student Clinical and Practicum Information

Welcome to MedStar Health and MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center!

Medstar Franklin Square Medical Center is proud to have affiliation agreements with local and online colleges and universities. Student placements are delegated to the Nursing Administration Office and the Nursing Clinical Coordinator. Our goal is to provide nursing students with an excellent learning experience while providing our patients with safe, competent care. Please review our Nursing Students and Faculty Policy found here.

Our goal is to provide nursing students with an excellent learning experience while providing our patients with safe, competent care.

Service Excellence is a part of the MedStar Franklin Square culture. Our Spirit Standards (pdf) explain our service requirements for associates and those who care for our patients. Please read our spirit standards as our expectation is that students will adhere to these standards while caring for our patients.

Please see the MedStar Nursing Academic-Practice Partnership Program page.

Please contact Heather Cox at heather.c.cox@medstar.net for any additional questions or concerns related to nursing clinical placements and practicums.

About Magnet Designation

ANCC Magnet Recognition Badge

MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center is proud to be a Magnet designated hospital. The four-year designation for excellence in nursing services from the American Nurses Credentialing Center's (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program® was first achieved in November 2008. In 2018, MedStar Franklin Square was redesignated with this recognition for nursing excellence, making it MedStar Franklin's third designation.  

The Magnet Recognition Program recognizes health care organizations that demonstrate excellence in nursing practice and adherence to national standards for the organization and delivery of nursing services. Applicant hospitals undergo a rigorous evaluation that includes written documentation demonstrating excellence in nursing practice and clinical outcomes, as well as an extensive interviews and on-site review of nursing services validating organizational excellence.

Magnet recognition is a performance-driven recognition for:

  • Quality patient care
  • Nursing excellence
  • Innovation in professional nursing practice

Only 6% of U.S. hospitals earn this designation and MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center is one of them! 

History of our Journey to Magnet

Franklin Square Hospital was one of 41 U.S. hospitals identified in 1981 as having the characteristics of magnetism in the original study, Magnet Hospitals: Attraction and Retention of Professional Nurses, published by the American Academy of Nursing in 1983 (McClure et al., 1983). It was appropriate that we recapture this spirit and seek formal designation as a Magnet hospital.

We adopted the Forces of Magnetism as our framework for professional practice. These rigorous standards guided our strategic decisions as we created a work environment worthy of Magnet recognition. Conferred by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, magnet is the highest level of recognition a hospital can achieve for excellence in nursing; it requires us to continuously examine our culture and infrastructure and demonstrate that we meet rigorous standards.

The Model for Magnet

Transformational Leadership

  • Visionary, inspiring, strategic and engaged nursing leaders at all levels

Structural Empowerment

  • Access to information, resources and support
  • Direct care nurse opportunity to take advantage of these
  • Shared decision-making structure that empowers the direct care nurse

Exemplary Professional Practice

  • Competitive salaries; Creative, flexible staffing
  • Nurses are accountable for coordination of care, and practice autonomously
  • Strong community and interdisciplinary partnerships

New Knowledge and Innovation

  • Nursing practice is based on evidence
  • Nursing science, learning and discovery is advanced through research
  • Magnet hospitals mentor other hospitals

Empirical Outcomes

  • Clinical outcomes and satisfaction with care are measured and benchmarked
  • Nursing research is published and disseminated