Magnet Hospital Status

Specialties Management

Published

Is anyone out there part of a Magnet hospital? Were you involved in the Certification process? Were your nurses keen on making the push for the Certification or did they view it as something everyone else wanted them to shoulder?

We have no magnet hospitals in our state and one of the largest medical centers here wants to be the first. They have had, in the past, an adversarial relationship with their nurses who are unionized as a result.

I'd be interested in any perspectives you can share.

How long does it usually take for a hospital to get magnet status?

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

The entire process seems to take awhile. It begins with Magnet rallies, training people to understand what magnet is, developing policies and procedures that are supposed to be 'nurse driven', all in preparation for the BIG VISIT when the Magnet surveyors come to see if the nurses know their stuff. The hospital has to produce evidence of how these things are done. Even after they leave, it takes about 3-4 months to get the results. To me, it is a big joke, but some say that Magnet has improved things for nursing. I don't see how, but that is just a pet peeve of mine.

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Specializes in Pediatrics.
To me, it is a big joke, but some say that Magnet has improved things for nursing. I don't see how, but that is just a pet peeve of mine.

:yeahthat: I totally agree with that.

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Our hospital is in the process of trying to reach magnet status. I have been a LPN for years at this hospital and was very happy to put my 2 cent in. We also have a school of nursing and they push for education. Well I took a LPN to RN exam and was told I could start 2nd level to pursue my ADN and continue with BSN. I pass that test with fly colors and still didn't get into the program, and I have taken the biology classes over. I was then told 10 months later I needed to take the test over it has been a year since it took it. Isn't their 12 months in a year. Magnet status really pushes for nurses to get a BSN, but how can you do that if you can't get your foot in the door. I refused to take the test over and started at a community college and yes, 2nd level. I will not work there and then turn around and give my money to this Corporation. The only people I see around here that is happy with Maget status is management, and they are the first to go when there is cut backs. I plan to get a BSN, but rest assure I don't plan on being like my former boss who lost her position and is now working by my side with me showing her how to bar chart, calculate FIMs ect.. She was a cut back after they mailed everything in so she took a job on our unit. At first nursing satisfaction was thru the roof. Not so much anymore.

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:yeah:
The entire process seems to take awhile. It begins with Magnet rallies, training people to understand what magnet is, developing policies and procedures that are supposed to be 'nurse driven', all in preparation for the BIG VISIT when the Magnet surveyors come to see if the nurses know their stuff. The hospital has to produce evidence of how these things are done. Even after they leave, it takes about 3-4 months to get the results. To me, it is a big joke, but some say that Magnet has improved things for nursing. I don't see how, but that is just a pet peeve of mine.
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:yeahthat: I totally agree with that.
I saw improvement while they were going thru the process. Now that the "package" is mailed off those improvements are gone.
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Magnet status means having to put up with a lot of B.S. like making nurses get certified ( as if being a registered nurse isn't good enough), having to crawl a clinical ladder if you want the huge 2% raise,holding job fairs,making action plans, lots of posters and other such B.S.... I personally went into nursing to take care of patients. Just give us better nurse patient ratios so we are able to give good patient care; give us a reasonable wage without having to join a union; and give us some benefits. Get your community status by some other method!

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Specializes in oncology, med/surg (all kinds).

i have worked in 2 magnet hospitals in 2 different states and they were the worst hospitals i ever worked for. i am sorry to say i secretly giggled with glee when i found out my current place lost its status. the concept of magnet status is great. on paper. however, when it comes down to it, it is VERY VERY expensive for the hospital to go through the process, so they get all crazy like when JCACHO is expected. i felt like a little kid forced to wear the ugly dress my dreaded relative gave me with a very stern "now don't you embarrass me! you will wear that dress ad you WILL smile and tell aunt magnet you LOVE the dress!" a lot of time and money is spent conforming to the standards on paper. they have to show how they exhibit this and that trait, but in practice, they don't seem to buy their own act.

the first magnet hospital i worked in was a very large prestigious hospital in a large city. they might have been cranky and snobby anyway. the second one is the big-fish in a small pond. they are the largest and essentially the only hospital in the county. they are horrible to their nurses. they know we have little choice if we don't like what they do, so they take full advantage. i have worked for some fabulous non-magnet hospitals.

the magnet thing is a status symbol that stresses out the higher ups, costs a lot of money and i hope my experience is not the norm, but doesn't do a darn thing for the nurse in real life. i hope to hear opposite stories. one might work for a great hospital, but they would probably be good without the magnet. magnet status should be bestowed upon a hospital for excellent nursing retention. not something applied for a paid for. dontcha think?

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I am the "magnet champion" for my unit (by default) I really think that it is a status thing so that the hospital can say to the community that they have it. I'm supposed to be the cheerleader so to speak on my unit and get people involved. Most of us already have a unit based monitor that we have to do or involved on some committee. Some days we simply don't have timeor staff to go skipping off to some committee meeting. I'm not doing everything. I've outgrown that behavior...LOL

It seems like they want us to work on this stuff even on our days off...sorry ain't doin' that! My time off is mine. Of course all of us can think of better things to do with the ridiculous amounts of money that the hospital is spending. I attended a Magnet Workshop that our hospital forked out around $400 a person to attend. Knew just a little bit more afterword than I did before. I mean seriously...they charged $90.00 for a small book about the "Forces of magnetism" and said that was on SALE!

The first hospital I worked for after nursing school (1978) had unit based as well as hospital based committees for PI, infection control, policy and procedures etc....these groups actually had an effect on nursing care and we had a voice in our practice. We also had decentralized management which worked very well. All of that was before "magnet" was even thought of by ANCC. I loved working there.

Would like to hear any positive responses if they are out there!!!!

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Specializes in Oncology.

I have to say, my facility received Magnet status about a year ago. And honestly?? The staff nurses hate it. They don't feel that they are receiving any benefits from it. And they are required to do a LOT more work. They must be members of committees, audit performance improvement initiatives, be involved in unit education, etc. My honest opinion (I might get shot for saying this....)....it's another thing that takes the RN away from the bedside.

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Specializes in SICU, Peri Anesthesia.

My hospital has had the Magnet designation for 4 years and we are currently going through the redesignation process. I have been involved as a Clinical Manager in many aspects of Magnet. I would say that Magnet has improved our overall culture as it relates to achieving patient care outcomes, more certified nurses, more motivation to advance nursing education, more ability to attract and retain nurses, low turnover, more focus on evidence based practice and research. Nursing challenges will always remain - short staffing, high acuity, and the day to day challenges of managing patients. The most difficult part is to allow staff the time to get away from the nursing unit to work on their practice and quality issues - until leadership budgets these hours into the normal work day its "flip a coin" if you can actually get staff away from the unit. I'm lucky to manage nursing units that allow for this. Peer to peer accountability is another factor that must change within the nursing culture for the Forces of Magetism to be successful. Overall, I do think it was a good thing to go for Magnet Status. Best wishes to those who are currently on this journey.

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Specializes in SICU, Peri Anesthesia.

This is where organizations fall down - time must be budgeted in for staff to do this to keep nurses at the bedside and allow nurses to flourish through Shared Governance and Shared Accountability by getting away from the unit. What organizations do is increase the expectatations relative to Magnet standards - without providing the staff support. This does not allow nurses to feel good and embrace a culture of professionalism because they often must hand off to someone who already has a busy workload.

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