Magnet hospitals

Keysnurse2008 · Jan 20, 2006

(this was posted here a few months ago)
"magnet status" is a friggen fraud and means absolutely nothing to the day to day practice of the average nurse.
magnet status is the brain child of the american nurses association and it is marketed on 3 different levels.
1 - it is sold to the public as an assurance that they will recieve excellent nursing care. ("it's a 'magnet' hospital, it must be good!")
2 - it is sold to the hospitals as a means of raising their profile in their community and as a way to make them seem more attractive to nurses who might think about working there. ("look at us, we are a 'magnet' hospital. that means we are a place you want to get treated in and we are a great place to work for!")
3 - it is sold to nurses as an attractive place to work. ("if it's a 'magnet' hospital, they must really care about the nurses!")
but go to the ana's web site and plod through their page upon page of corporate speak and you will discover that the minimum standards a hospital must meet to obtain magnet status are what they would meet to pass a jacho inspection. the ana then extrapolates that out to create an assumption/illusion that if the hospital meets those standards, it's because of excellent nursing, there for.... it must me a great place to work/recieve care.
i have personally worked at 2 hospitals which recieved that recognition while i worked in them. and not a damn thing changed! the nurse to patient ratios were still dangerous. (i.e. 3 padiatric bone marrow transplant patients to one rn. and a tech if you were really lucky.) no raise in pay when plenty of other non magnet hospitals in the same market paid a lot more. same crappy benifits. (can someone explain the logic of saying you get 7 paid holidays a year, but only 7.2 hours of each day of them???) no training for new managers on how to manage people. being overwelmed in the er on an almost nightly basis with no help and no hope. no reasonable dispute/dicipline process. (i.e. a complaint is made, you get written up/suspended/terminated with no chance to even have your side heard.)
all in all, in my experience, the most important criteria a hospital has to meet in attaining magnet status is that the check has to clear.

i could not have said it better myself. the title "magnet" hospital is a sham. it is quite literally a sham.at your hospital did they interview you???any of your coworkers?did they? i bet not.......they will interview a "very selectively chosen group" by that hospital.the ones who know there are safety issues like icus staffed with new grad nurses and a new grad in charge with no one acls certified on select nights will...of course ....be one of "those units" that they elect to not interiew.they will avoid those units like the plague and not ask the staff nurses any questions/be allowed access to them.safety...unfortunately is the last thing on some of these hospitals minds. until some of these nurses voices are heard.....the stories of how patient's safety needs are not being met by these hcf...it will continue. with things like staffing ratios being addressed legally in states such as california it is begining to be made public.....exactly"how " these things relate to the publics safety. they have to see how it affects them. when these hcf dont have actual "true" dispute resolution policies and employees are written up/terminated when they try to utilize that dispute resolution/complaint process...it too will make its way to the public.like barry adams....who complained about unsafe staffing....and after years of being an exception high performing employee...he made a valid complaint about unsafe staffing utilizing the hospitals dispute/complaint process.....want to know what happened to mr adams? he was fired. is that legal? no....want to know what happened? he brought it to the public.....he sued legally and .....won.when a hospital....attempts to silence a nurse by either writing them up or terminating them...it is quite legally wrong. thats why we have whistleblower laws...and we have a responsibility to speak out.and when these hcf's want to try to "manipulate" and write up/terminate the employees who do speak out.......well........they usually are just providing that nurse with plenty of evidence to file a discrimination/whistleblower action against them. then.....the public will not care what their "magnet status" is......bc it will be brought forth publically how truly"un-interested" they are in public safety.bc actions speak louder than words. do you belong to your state nsg association? if not you need to.....it sounds like you'd be an excellent asset to their causes.:yelclap: :redlight: :yelclap:

Daye · Feb 4, 2006

mandatory over time

Daye · Feb 4, 2006

mandatory over time

mark hamel · Feb 4, 2006

Bad news for RNs at U.C. Davis magnet hospital, read on............ http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11096623/

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Feb 4, 2006

While this may be an old thread, thanks for the bump, i wanted more info on a Magnet status, since a hospital i'm considering was approved for it.

hdnacres · Feb 7, 2006

Our hospital is in the Hudson Valley in NY and we are currently at the very begining of trying to get the nurses on board to start working towards Magnet Status!

Our problem is our management style in this hospital. It is so militant (not one bit an exaggeration either). The nurses have no faith in our management and now they want us to believe that we will have shared governance!

A couple of nurses went to an inservice to a hospital who just got their Magnet status last fall and was encouraged by what they saw there. The nurses there are empowered and everyone appears very satisfied with their work environment.

The problem with our situation is that we are in the middle of contract negotiations and they want to take back some things that are already in the current contract! They are not negotiating at all (they keep leaving the sessions and not coming back), they continue with the same management style but want us to have faith that everything is going to change!

How are you going to get an entire hospital staff to change their outlook and work towards Magnet when management has shown no change?

Has anyone else been able to accomplish this?

chellebelle · Feb 24, 2006

I may be in the minority, but I believe Magnet status does identify hospitals that will support their nursing staff. I am a new graduate, and in college had the opportunity to rotate through 3 hospitals- one regional Magnet hospital, one community magnet hospital, and one community hospital without magnet status. I found the Magnet hospitals to be far more supporting of their nursing staff. With many variables at play, however, I didn't think much of it.

When it came time to interview, I expected most hospitals would consider nurses part of their professional workforce, use a shared governance model, and demonstrate a positive teamwork-focused relationship between physicians, nurses, and unlicensed staff. Boy, was I naive. I interviewed at many hospitals on the top 100 list, and was amazed by the percentage that were not Magnet, and still treated nurses as part of the room rate.

I really feel that this is the difference between Magnet and non-Magnet hospitals. Magnet hospitals may not be an ideal nursing environment, but have the model in place to treat nurses as professionals involved in the organization at the highest level. If you are unsatisfied with your working conditions at a Magnet hospital, you have the opportunity to get involved in hosptial politics to effect your desired change. The hospitals in my college town both attained Magnet status while I was a student. I spoke to nurses involved in the process, and they said the struggle and success of magnet is education- Making physicians and administration aware of the scope of our practice, and how beneficial it is to have us involved in the decision-making process.

I ended up selecting a hospital that is in the process of receiving Magnet status that has long been recognized as a top research "Medical" center. The nurses do not expect the treatment I'm used to, and the physicians aren't accustomed to giving it. I have joined the Magnet committee (as a fresh grad) to educate the staff on the implications and brainstorm ways to bridge this gap.

Magnet isn't a solution, but it's a step in the right direction if we want to be treated as professionals.

Young and idealistic,

Michelle

hdnacres · Feb 24, 2006

Thanks, Chellebelle!

I want to be encouraged and I look forward in working towards getting the Magnet Status for my hospital. It would be the first in our area. The RN's are just so discouraged right now, that I know it is going to be a challenge until they see management also working towards the same goals.

msshir · Dec 19, 2006

What I have heard about Magnet hospitals , is that they often eliminate positions occupied by LVNs and Licensed Psychiatric Technicians.

Because the RNs have bonded together to get rid of these nurses.

They think that they are causing the loss of quality in the hospitals.

Which is a generalization of probably a small percent of LVNs, and LPTs

who are not up to par with the quality expected.

There is an underlying CONSPIRACY to get LVNs And LPTs out of their hospitals. Creating unemployment and a profession that will not be respected.

Instead of offering these nurses more education and an opportunity to

improve on their perfromance. :nono:

I know, it happened to me.

And I do a damn good job and have NEVER knowingly had a Med error.

nursemaa · Dec 19, 2006

they will interview a "very selectively chosen group" by that hospital.the ones who know there are safety issues like icus staffed with new grad nurses and a new grad in charge with no one acls certified on select nights will...of course ....be one of "those units" that they elect to not interiew.they will avoid those units like the plague and not ask the staff nurses any questions/be allowed access to them.

at our hospital, they visited every nursing unit and the magnet surveyors (not management) selected which staff they had breakfast/lunch with. they were given a list of names of all staff working those days and the surveyors went down the list and picked names. the surveyors also met with union leadership (with no hospital management present), and held an advertised meeting away from the hospital for "disgruntled employeees"- again, no management present. they asked staff about their managers, about their opinions of the quality of care, about staffing, whether they felt supported by management.....pretty much everything.

EmerNurse, BSN, RN · Dec 19, 2006

Question - is magnet participation mandatory? If you're voted to be on a council, can it be mandatory that you do it? Just curious since our hospital says it is.

outcomesfirst, BSN, RN · Dec 19, 2006

Question - is magnet participation mandatory? If you're voted to be on a council, can it be mandatory that you do it? Just curious since our hospital says it is.

Magnet participation is not mandatory for a hospital to operate. Your participation in an employer required council may be a part of your employment. Check you HR policies. I would think if you did not want to participate, your employer would not want you on the council. That said, be careful. You must always portray yourself as a team player, if you cannot, I would get another job. If there is a specific issue for you (child care etc.) that you cannot participate, discuss with your manager. In my experience, Magnet is a political/public relations objective for your administration, and/or a successful change tool for nursing leadership. I am sure there are excellent organizations out there with Magnet status who do utilize, participate and demonstrate the principal of Magnet - excellence in nursing - but, sadly for many it is only a badge - hopefully in your situation, Magnet will be utilized to empower, improve and facilitate change for your nurses.