Magnet Hospital Status

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!!!!

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.

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.

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.

I know that, but getting the "organization" to realize that is a completely different story. I work in a ICU and on the days we have an extra person they get pulled to another unit. This extra person was supposed to function as a charge nurse without a patient assignment. This worked out great when we had the code beeper or the RRT beeper AND it allowed staff to go to our meetings. Sigh! We knew that it wouldn't last (and it hasn't) So, once again this has nothing to do with staff nurses but the supervisors and others who are responsible for staffing.

Is it true that magnet hospitals are paid higher reimbursement rates? That would explain why most of the larger hospitals are so gung ho for magnet status. It sounds like a giant case of dressing up a turd--(nurses terrible working conditions). If we make a bunch of committees and posters and decorate and repaint the hospital, people will ignore the terrible working conditions.

I was the "diabetic champion" on the unit I worked on. The clinical manager wanted to make me the "expert" on every committee that existed (with 1 year nursing experience) I must have had idiot written on my forehead. I politely declined.

I don't believe that Magnet Hospitals get a higher reimbursement rate, but Magnet hospitals do have to show that their quality performance is above the national average. So if your hospital or state has a pay for performance reimbursement system, they may eventually get reimbursed at a higher rate because they perform better on their quality measures.