Virtua Health Receives 2025 Nursing Innovation Fund Award to Support Outstanding ICU Care
Virtua Health is one of just 20 organizations nationwide selected to receive the prestigious 2025 Nursing Innovation Fund award from the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and the American Association of Critical Care Nurses. This competitive grant supports projects that deliver innovative and scalable solutions to strengthen the nursing workforce, foster healthy work environments, and enhance nurse recruitment and retention. With this funding, Virtua will launch a pilot of the ICU Liberation Campaign at Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, designed to advance critical care and improve outcomes for patients and staff alike.
“Through this grant project, we will focus on humanizing the critical care experience by fostering our ICU colleagues’ ability to practice at the top of their expertise,” said Steve Bocchese, PhD, RN, AGACNP-BC, CCRN, director of clinical practice and education-critical care at Virtua. “This initiative unequivocally demonstrates our ICU’s commitment to quality, evidence-based, and revolutionary care.”
Recently launched, ICU Liberation provides evidence-based strategies in a comprehensive bundle for the entire critical care team. The goal is to improve short—and long-term outcomes for patients during their ICU stay and beyond, supporting timely recovery and empowering them to thrive.
“The ICU is where we care for our patients with the most complex and challenging conditions. We are committed to doing everything in our power to support our patients, increase their chances of survival, and get them back home with their families,” says Emilio Mazza, MD, PhD, ICU medical director at Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. “We are innovators, and we are eager to be a part of this project.”
In addition to the Nursing Innovation Fund award, this pilot program is made possible thanks to the generosity of Maggie and Chris Poyatt, Virtua Health Foundation Trustee.