Is the Magnet designation working for bedside nurses?

[forrester]

The ANA and ANCC have been marketing the Magnet designation to the industry for years, and it finally appears as if this "rating" has been accepted by the administrative brain trust ().

But is it working for bedside nurses?

Do we really care about self governance?

Does this designation affect nurse-patient ratios? Floating? Mandatory overtime? Pay?

Any "Magnet" nurses out there???:uhoh21:

[correctlywrong]

The attempt to attain magnet status at my hospital has translated into more meetings and paperwork for the nurses, taking more time away from bedside care. It has meant busy work trying to get one another excited about our "Magnet Journey." It has not improved working conditions. It has not improved patient ratios. It has not improved retention. It has absolutely distracted from patient care.

If they want our hospital to be a magnet for nurses, they need to either pay us more for doing more work than we ought to, or else staff us so that we aren't trying to do the work of the missing staff members. Adequate staff would also improve falls, patient satisfaction, and other quantifiable measures of patient outcomes.

It would cut into our nonprofit hospital system's very large annual profit, however, and so it isn't really an option.