NARH Appoints New Emergency Center Nurse Director

12:00AM / Friday, July 15, 2005

Joyce Mickanin

North Adams - Joyce Mickanin, RN, BSN, MSN, has been named
Director of Emergency Nursing at North Adams Regional Hospital.
Mickanin has thirty years of experience as a registered nurse,
including sixteen in emergency departments and twenty years in various administrative roles. She comes to the Northern Berkshires from Virginia, where she most recently worked as an emergency nurse practitioner in three community hospitals.

"We welcome Joyce to NARH and the Berkshires," said Billie Allard,
RN, MSN, Vice President of Patient Care at NARH. "Her background in
emergency centers and as an emergency nurse practitioner is a great fit for our emergency department and our community."

Mickanin earned her bachelor's of science in nursing from LaRoche
College in Pittsburgh, Pa., and her master's in nursing from the University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center. As an emergency nurse practitioner she worked in three hospitals providing care to patients of all ages; she also served as the Director of Midlevel Providers.

"I'm very happy to join NARH, as the hospital prepares to enter a
new chapter in its history with the expansion and renovation of patient care areas," said Mickanin. "Emergency services are so critical to any community, and I look forward to leading our excellent emergency department staff."

The Dr. E. Wayne Wilkins, Jr., Emergency Center provides 24-hour
emergency service and handles approximately 20,000 patient visits each year, about a third of them involving children. Mickanin will oversee a staff of 17 registered nurses, three licensed practical nurses, six certified nursing assistants and three unit secretaries. All of the registered nurses become certified in trauma nursing, pediatric emergency care, and advanced cardiac
life support within their first year of work in the Emergency Department.

Emergency Department staff also include six physicians, three physician assistants and nurse practitioners. In 2004 the Emergency Center was named for E. Wayne Wilkins, in honor of the long-time Williamstown resident who has played a significant role in advancing emergency medicine in New England.