Magnet status

From HMCwiki

Magnet status, awarded by the American Nurses’ Credentialing Center (ANCC), an affiliate of the American Nurses Association, is given to hospitals that meet a set of criteria created to measure the strength and quality of their nursing. A Magnet hospital is said to have nursing that delivers excellent patient outcomes, where nurses have a high level of job satisfaction, and where there is a low staff nurse turnover rate and appropriate grievance resolution. Magnet status is also said to indicate nursing involvement in data collection and decision-making in patient care delivery. Magnet hospitals are supposed to outperform their peers because they have open communication between nurses and other members of the health care team, which attracts the best physicians and specialists as well as high and satisfied patient volumes. Magnet status has been attained by 180 hospitals around the country out of the 4,200 total hospitals.

Preparing for the site visit

Successful hospitals spend significant time setting up the infrastructure to support the program and work with their leadership team to make sure everyone is on board and engaged. They regularly meet with the nurse practice council, coaching every unit and having each of them go to a monthly meeting. Some hospitals develop magnet representatives who have their own set of meetings, as well as grass-roots people who do the posters, advertising and collecting all the stories that one needs to submit.

Encouraging hospital staff

Sending out the message: "this hospital's aim for Magnet status profiles the quality of the staff" is powerful for the campaign. Thus, to the staff, the meaning becomes recognition for them as well as a thank you. One major hospital's Magnet program encouraged their staff by having round-the-clock tables set up around cafeterias, giving away candy, providing the magnet survey, and showed all of the results of the magnet surveys that measured up to all of the requirements. We created a video with all of our nurses doing different things (through the forces of magnetism) showing examples of working together & we also included testimonies from patients. Magnet reps met on monthly basis, the PC reps met on monthly basis and were responsible for taking talking points back to the units. We put up banners & did a big campaign with the physicians. We had physicians coming around telling the nurses how wonderful this was and that they were supportive; they called it their Stanley Cup."

Communication is key to achieving magnet status

Communication is key, and a communicative and respectful working relationship between nurses and physicians is crucial. Magnet status hospitals have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to unsupportive or disrespectful behavior between doctors and nurses. Physicians and nurses work as a team continuously at these institutions.

The one thing that Magnet looks for is the quality of the integration of care models; how people work together so nothing is overlooked. Hospitals should have care plans that include a care manager on every floor who works with physicians and staff nurses. Magnet is going to look at inter-relatedness and communication, so care planning should starts on the date that the patient gets here and have Care Team meetings and rounds. Magnet is not going to look at how your care plans are set up, rather they are looking more for integration.

Collecting data and developing an evidence-based practice focus

Studies within the hospital are the best way to figure out what is working and what is not. Research allows the hospital to have their experiences published, which is always beneficial.

Some HMC Magnet clients analyze data on a monthly basis and review in an active nurse council process with quality leadership present. Strategies are developed at the nurse practicing level. These hospitals believe that people who do best with making improvements are those who know the system. Physicians are also included in process when they develop plans and outcomes. As William Beaumont Hospital states, "We have started doing everything we do with an evidence-based focus now. We are in the process of creating a unit-based research nurse on the floors, a nurse who is interested in doing this type of work and wants to be a liaison for outcome, research, and attend meetings. Nurses get involved through evidence-based practice and with all of the outcome issues."

Setting up a committee tied to nursing and research is a great way to achieving Magnet status as well as research initiatives together. A committee of PHD nurses, staff involved in CSS, and those affiliated with medical educational institutions are helpful additions. These people are like the gatekeepers who review the research and make sure quality nursing is in place. Often, from conclusions of this research, a number of publications can result. In this forum, research is brought to a level where it is used in daily practice.

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