Do you work in a "Magnet" hospital?

Nurses General Nursing

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I started working at Sarasota Memorial a few weeks back as a health unit coordinator (unit secretary), and I'm loving it. I'm working on a med/surg unit that also deals with respiratory issues. The nurses have a 1:4 ratio and about 90% of all the PCAs going to nursing school or headed that way. The team approach is amazing and moral is pretty high.

If you work in a Magnet hospital, can you share your experiences. I know with SMH, it is very important for them to keep their status and I find them very nurse friendly. I was wondering if this was the same with other magnet hospitals.

Kris

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Specializes in Gerontological, cardiac, med-surg, peds.
I started working at Sarasota Memorial a few weeks back as a health unit coordinator (unit secretary), and I'm loving it. I'm working on a med/surg unit that also deals with respiratory issues. The nurses have a 1:4 ratio and about 90% of all the PCAs going to nursing school or headed that way. The team approach is amazing and moral is pretty high.

If you work in a Magnet hospital, can you share your experiences. I know with SMH, it is very important for them to keep their status and I find them very nurse friendly. I was wondering if this was the same with other magnet hospitals.

Kris

What an excellent idea for a thread, Kris. Our teaching hospital clinical site was awarded Magnet status last year. Morale varies greatly from floor to floor and from unit to unit. Staffing ratios have improved and the hospital overall seems very nurse friendly. I notice a strong interdisciplinary team approach and nurses are considered important players and respected.

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Specializes in Nurse Scientist-Research.

We are a magnet facility as of a few months ago. I don't see any great advantages at our facility over others. Main things important to me being ratio and pay. We are are mediocre to poor in those areas. I don't think magnet means what most nurses think it does. I think the only things our hospital has going for it is that it has a "partnership" or "unit-based committee". This supposedly brings all disciplines within a department together for meetings to work out practice issues. I guess that it has another advantage which is that all the nurses working there realize that being magnet doesn't guarantee a great place to work, it just means the hospital has gone to the trouble to jump through a very elaborate set of hoops. Having said that, I do like working where I do, but it's because I enjoy my co-workers and my patients so much. And I don't think the hopsital I work for is bad, but I do think it's average yet somehow it's been designated "magnet".

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Specializes in jack of all trades, master of none.

I will be, effective Aug 1. The atmosphere, from what I have seen so far, is EXTREMELY nurse friendly. Hope I can say the same when orientation is complete.

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I don't personally know yet, although I hope to be getting an interview with a Magnet system soon... ;)

There was a thread on this awhile back, so try doing a search and you might get some good info. :)

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I started working at Sarasota Memorial a few weeks back as a health unit coordinator (unit secretary), and I'm loving it. I'm working on a med/surg unit that also deals with respiratory issues. The nurses have a 1:4 ratio and about 90% of all the PCAs going to nursing school or headed that way. The team approach is amazing and moral is pretty high.

If you work in a Magnet hospital, can you share your experiences. I know with SMH, it is very important for them to keep their status and I find them very nurse friendly. I was wondering if this was the same with other magnet hospitals.

Kris

I don't work at SMH but I was a patient on their cardiac surgical floor. I was impressed with the care, knowledge and intelligence of all the staff.

Grannynurse :balloons:

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Well, as I understand it, SMH got its magnet status in 2003 and is in the process of making sure that when we become certified again. During orientation, we learned that in the 1990s, things at the hospital was absolutely in the toilet. It was due to a new CEO (?) that things started to turn around. There is a major push in patient care and constant vigilance to make sure that the patients get the best possible care. They finally realize that this can only be accomplished if they treat the nurses with due respect. On every floor, there is a clinical coordinator, a nursing educator and a charge nurse per shift. Nurses have a ratio of 4 patients to 1 nurse. Charge nurses only will get a patient if the census requires it. We are the first unit that gets filled before any other floor. The preceptorship for new stafff, from nurses to PCAs to HUCs is fantastic. It's just a great place to work. Teaching is a major push and experienced RNs are very open to answering your questions. Pay is okay, but its not what keeps the nurses there. There are some areas that might not have great a morale, but I'm very happy where I am. I love the idea that they are very eager to have employees to further their skills and a job opportunity as an RN awaits.

Kris

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I don't work at SMH but I was a patient on their cardiac surgical floor. I was impressed with the care, knowledge and intelligence of all the staff.

Grannynurse :balloons:

Hi Grannynurse,

Hope all is well with you now! Yes, cardiac is a major specialty of SMH and having worked at the Heart and Vascular Center years back, I had the opportunity to work with many of the fine cardiologists that work at SMH.

Kris

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Specializes in LDRP.

Yep, I sure do.

There are 3 major hospital systems in my area. Mine (a non profit hospital system that owns a lot of hospitals/physician offices/etc in our area), a HCA hospital, and the local VA hospital.

Mine is the only Magnet one in town. (heck, one of 4 or 5 in all of the state, actually)

Pay? the VA pays the best, but we're next

Education? If you work for this system for 6 months, you are eligible to go to the health sciences college and have them pay for it (they have nursing-ADN, BSN and MSN, respiratory, PA, paramedic, etc there). There are always continuing education offerings they are paying for. It is also a teaching hospital-students of every disclipline have rotations there.

From what I've seen, nursing is respected there. I've had a resident apologize to me for "bothering me", seen nurses asked for their opinions, nurses involved in the interdisciplinary meetings and give opinions on follow up care.

Would it be like that if it wasn't a Magnet hospital? I don't know. It was already a Magnet when I started working there.

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Specializes in LDRP.

oh yeah, nurse pt ratio:

on my floor, a cardiac floor-

1:4 on days

1:5 or 1:6 on nights

acuity is considered in pt assignments.

We also are a level 1 trauma center, and have the regional pediatric referral center, and the NICU for the area. On my floor, we often have pt's from 100 miles away (from a neighboring state) in for cath's.

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Hi Grannynurse,

Hope all is well with you now! Yes, cardiac is a major specialty of SMH and having worked at the Heart and Vascular Center years back, I had the opportunity to work with many of the fine cardiologists that work at SMH.

Kris

I was tranferred from the old St Joes, in Port Charlotte, following Charlie. I am doing ok and was grateful for their care and testing. And their support following the trauma of Charlie. Back in the early 90s I had a cath done at SNH and was well taken care of by the staff.

Grannynurse :balloons:

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

I work for a Magnet hospital (as of Nov 04) and have been very pleased with it. They are paying for my post-MSN Clinical Nurse Specialist. The pay is okay for this area and there is shared governance on the floors. I work a non-patient care area (case management) but have extensive experience in the ER and love it.

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