While relatively unknown in Arkansas, hospital and medical centers across the nation are reaching new heights through the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program. 

Hospitals across the state are working to achieve excellence in nursing through magnet recognition programs.

There are 348 healthcare facilities in the U.S. that have earned the designation, and Arkansas is one of five states without a Magnet hospital.

In central Arkansas, the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System in North Little Rock is farthest along in their journey to Magnet excellence.

The hospital applied for the program in February and plans to turn in their Magnet Document (proving a facility meets Magnet standards) in October of 2010.

Once received, the document is assigned to Magnet Appraisers.

“Their role is to review the document, and score it to show whether the facility meets the program’s ‘excellent standards.’ Then there’s formal visit,” says Jean Zehler, MSE, RN-BC, NE-BC, the VA hospital’s Magnet coordinator.

The Magnet team spends three-to-four days at a facility talking to staff and looking at programs, processes and clinics.

“That team reports to the Magnet Commission, and they make the decision,” Zehler says.

Michelle Bishop, nurse director and Magnet coordinator at White River Medical Center (WRMC) in Batesville, agrees the program is already improving patient care. WRMC started working toward Magnet status in 2007.

“The reality is that it helps any facility offer better care because of the individual components of Magnet requirements. Through the process, you’re forced to evaluate your hospital,” she says. “Ultimately, the journey is well-worth taking. It’s already made us a better facility.”

CHRISTUS St. Michael in Texarkana is also actively seeking Magnet recognition through the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program. 

The hospital’s vice president and chief nurse executive Nancy Keenan, RN, MBA, MSN, VP/CNE, believes in the benefits of Magnet status so whole-heartedly that she was willing to return to school. Although she had a bachelor’s in nursing and a master’s degree in business, she returned to school to obtain a specialization in leadership and management, which she completed in 2008.

She believes her job at the Texarkana hospital is to support the hospital’s nurses. The hospital’s administration also strongly supports and encourages the individual pursuit of professional development.

“We’re not seeking Magnet recognition for the sole purpose of the award. We’re seeking this recognition because having Magnet status conveys to our customers that we meet the current high standards of nursing excellence,” Keenan says. 

Magnet recognition, she says will show our customers that “this hospital is where nurses want to work, where doctor’s want to practice, and where patients seek excellence in health care,” she says.

Dede Strecker, RN, MSN, chief nursing officer at WRMC, says, “Our Magnet journey is not a fad,” she says. “The process involves the entire hospital staff and is already improving patient care throughout the facility. It’s a patient-care process that’s being lead by nurses.”

“The program is shaping the vision of professional nursing throughout the country,” says UAMS Magnet Program Director Tammy Jones.

Magnet designation is the “gold standard” in the industry. Originally, the program was based on research conducted by the American Academy of Nursing (AAN) in the 1980s, a time when the country was experiencing a critical nurse shortage.

The organization wanted to find out why some hospitals weren’t struggling to recruit and retain nurses, so they looked at 41 healthcare facilities that had low turnover and high nurse satisfaction.

Through conversations and interviews, the organization determined common practices. Their findings from this research provided the framework for establishing a Magnet culture.

But obtaining the designation is easier said than done, says Jones.

It’s a rigorous set of criteria based on quality indicators and standards of nursing practice as defined in the newly revised 3rd edition of the ANA Nursing Administration: Scope & Standards of Practice (2009).

From the boardroom to the bedside, all concerned parties are working together to become internationally recognized as a center of excellence. Being a Magnet hospital means the staff offers great care, with Magnet facilities consistently outperforming others.

“It’s the highest recognition a nurse can receive, and a reflection of the professional environment of an entire facility,” Jones says. “And it’s not just a give-me. It’s like the Pulizer Prize for hospitals.”

Also, nurses are found to be more satisfied in Magnet hospitals. ANCC studies find that nurses in Magnet hospitals are more empowered, and feel that they have a voice in patient care.

“Our profession is evolving. In the past, it was driven by doctor-ordered tasks, but now it is more of a team effort. It’s a new standard we’re all going to have to work toward,” Jones says. 

Lori Brown is the senior vice president and chief nursing officer at Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH). She believes that the Magnet program is already making a big difference at the state’s only children’s hospital.

“We learned early on that we had a lot of the necessary requirements in place, and we embraced the ideals and the tenants of the program,” she says.

Like the hospital, she says one of the program’s goals is to achieve excellence in nursing, a philosophy that ACH’s nursing department holds in high regard.

“The program is creating a great fervor and excitement” within the nursing department, Brown says.

“Magnet status requires a more highly-educated nurse population, and our nurses are looking at the educational options more closely,” she says. 

In order to support their nurses, the hospital offers a tuition reimbursement program.

The public may not fully realize the implications of a Magnet children’s hospital, Brown says. But she believes as Arkansans become more aware of the program, “they will appreciate the designation.”

Maria Whitt, director of nursing excellence and education at St. Vincent says the Magnet program is really about providing excellent care. 

“Through shared learning and team work, nurses make changes and determine nursing practices through our shared governance structure,” she says. 

The benefits of working at a magnet hospital are apparent. Nurses have expressed appreciation for the educational opportunities provided, the clinical ladder program, and the encouragement and financial assistance for professional development.