Magnet hospital

[amykobus]

The hospital that I have worked at for 5 years is trying to get Magnet status. They are investing all this money in this program. It is very interesting. The nurses that I work with are not very happy. They feel that they are over worked and under paid. There are two hospitals in our system and it is like this in both buildings. At the last staff meeting I went to (last week) there was a nurse from our department who is on the nursing council. She spoke about attending a meeting at another hospital who had Magnet status and she said that it was like the nuses had a voice in what was happening at their work place. My question would be are there any of you out there who work at Magnet hospitals and what has your experience been with this??? Thanks in advance for your input.

[queenjean]

Our hospital says they are beginning to work toward this, too.

Subbing because I also want to hear what others have to say about their Magnet hospital, good and bad.

[labrador4122, RN]

I work at a magnet hospital and it is really nice. I work in a peds hospital, and it is great there.

When magnet came to renew the magnet status of the hospital, we were asked about our education, whether we were certified, if we liked the hospital. and most of us there love the hospital.

to me, even before it was magnet, the hospital was very nurse friendly.

I know another hospital, who is not so nurse friendly and they are magnet status as well (but then again, that is an adult hospital).

I love it there, there are tons of nice things for the nurses, like the patient ratio 4:1

tons of committees, like safety, med errors, employee satisfaction etc.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

i've worked in three magnet hospitals -- overworked, underpaid in all of them although they did pay lip service (and lip service only) to "shared governance." nurses don't have a say in what goes on, and management doesn't listen to us particularly well, either. magnet is just another advertising ploy in my experience, although i'm happy to read that it actually makes a difference in some hospitals!

[Agnus]

i'm happy to read that it actually makes a difference in some hospitals!

that poster said it was a great place to work at even before they became magnet.

you are correct i have seen so called shared governance that was anything but. the committees were there staff nurses were on them even "chaired" them and yet in reality management had complete control and dictated what would and would not be with the committees. i know i was on several and even "chaired" one. i put chair in quotes because management had total control of the agenda, the meeting and the decisions. staff nurses were placed in the chair so that it would not look so obvious.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

Unless the facility had some scruples to begin with, don't count on them to suddenly grow them if they achieve magnet. In fact, I am estatic that my hospital did not, in fact, receive the status. From what I see, Magnet is not LPN friendly, thus, have reduced some of them to techs, or layoffs. I cannot support a situation that does not apply to ALL nurses.