Magnet status...yay?

[mysonsmama]

I just found out my hospital will be beginning the journey toward trying to gain Magnet status. My question is for nurses that work at Magnet hospitals, is it better or worse for employees? How so? How about for patients?

[martymoose, BSN, RN]

My place is "magnet" and dog and pony show is a great description.

Its a big joke. I dont care if every bedside nurse has a freaking doctorate- if they continually short staff/cut staff like they do, patient outcomes will still stink. For example- cardiac stepdown- on eves I had 6 pts , 3 of which were post angioplasties.

Hmmm, how safe is that.

Magnet, my a&^$

eta: oh, and we have mandatory scrub color designations. And you must buy your own, with no reimbursement.

[HangInThere, BSN, RN]

I work in a large city hospital. We were taken over one year ago by a larger hospital system, and most of the top-tier administrators are new. We keep hearing about shared governance and introducing a clinical nursing ladder, but I just realized they're prepping for magnet status. Nursing administration is top-heavy now. Our nursing union rep says that these processes separate nurses and threaten unity. I see her point.

I have my specialty certification and they are reimbursing me for my completing my online BSN this year. I am alternately cynical and hopeful for positive changes. At the same time, we nurses throughout the hospital want more IV decks, more nursing aides - and my unit has requested a second vitals signs machine for three years. They can't seem to find even that small amount of money in their budget. (Don't throw us parties, give us a #@%& vital signs machine!)

From the point of view of wanting to keep my job and managing the stress of change, what else do I need to know to play this game?

And, where has climbing the clinical nursing ladder taken you?

[malamud69, BSN, RN]

The magnet status attracts money, but repels employees.

Indeed! My hospital is moving in that direction as fast as possible and mostly...morale is being destroyed...managers forced out...staff cut even more...specialists paid obscene amounts of money to "fix" imagined "problems"...all to "look good" in the eyes of the donors.

[Buckeye.nurse]

I'll add my voice to the posters that say they love working at a Magnet hospital. We became magnet certified in 2013, and are in the process of being re-certified. Focus on NDQI (nurse driven quality indicators) has an impact on patient safety and outcome. We have excellent nurse to patient ratios. There's always room for improvement, but when I began working here in 2012, I was amazed at the level of respect for nurses from other departments compared with my previous employer. I especially appreciate the respect us nurses receive from the Hematology teams.

With all that being said, there is some laughable pomp and circumstance when Magnet site visits. But we all just roll our eyes, participate in the pomp, and then go back to taking care of our patients :)

[Kitiger, RN]

We hire ADNs - I myself have a BSN, but I work with a number of ADNs. They are just required to obtain their BSN within 4 years of hiring - and the hospital pays for it.

Are you saying that they are now required to work fulltime and go back to school in order to keep their job? That's great that the hospital will pay for the additional education. But the thought of having to add school - even on-line classes - to my already busy schedule seems overwhelming. That's the equivalent of 2 years of full-time classes to bring my RN Diploma up to BSN. (ADNs do have it easier.) And they want it done within 4 years?

I wouldn't be able to do it. And the hospital would lose another experienced nurse.

I'm 39 years and counting right now, although the last 32 have been in private duty home care. Thankfully, CHAPS accreditation doesn't require this.

[HangInThere, BSN, RN]

You just made me alternately lol and sigh so many times. Thx. I got pulled into a committee by free pizza - like, really decent NY pizza - but crawled my way out asap. Got my BSN, got my certification, and soon will have 5 years to be vested in the pension. Now I can hang tight and watch the show, I guess.

Good luck to you.

[HangInThere, BSN, RN]

I've worked for a trauma center hospital that was non-Magnet when I started. After being an floor nurse for three years, they decided to pursue Magnet status.

Shared Governance was brought on scene, "shared decision making", Team Cooperation, how-to-treat-and-respond to your coworker.

It was an interesting journey, to be sure.

Experts were brought in, consultants were consulted, and so on, and so forth.

The final (requisite) step was an accounting of BSN's and ADN's.

If your hospital does not have 80% of their staff with a BSN or higher, things may really start to suck in a big way for the ADN's on staff.

My hospital closely watched the "BSN - meter", and when the tipping point didn't happen by the required target date, they decided that if the ADN's didn't go back to school by "x" time, they would be fired.

We eventually got Magnet status.

A LOT of ADN's went back to school for their MSN's ~ like, A LOT.

Now we have all these MSN's running around, working at the bedside, leaving the bedside, and the staffing shortages are horrific.

Many RN's had limited options until they got their MSN's. Then the sky was the limit for them once they graduated. A fantastic proportion of them left to be all that they could be.

Magnet means that the nurses who are forced to go back to school, can now say goodbye to their current position if they choose.

See, the real thing is this:

In order to achieve Magnet status, you have GOT to have a lot of leadership.

Cue the Managers, and Directors, and Quality, and on, and on, and on.

Then, you have the staff return to school for BSN or higher.

However, there is now very little upward mobility, because the positions have all been filled from outside.

Where do you go with a new MSN, or BSN degree, and a good amount of nursing experience if you aren't allowed to be anywhere but the bedside?

(That's a rhetorical question, of course: You leave!).

You just made me alternately lol and sigh so many times. Thx. I got pulled into a committee by free pizza - like, really decent NY pizza - but crawled my way out asap. Got my BSN, got my certification, and soon will have 5 years to be vested in the pension. Now I can hang tight and watch the show, I guess.

Good luck to you.

[HangInThere, BSN, RN]

Actually, it's not true.

I work in NYC, and our DON says we now have 75%, but new hires will bring it to 80% by 2020. That 80% threshold seems to be his goal.

[klone, MSN, RN]

I work in NYC, and our DON says we now have 75%, but new hires will bring it to 80% by 2020. That 80% threshold seems to be his goal.

That may be your hospital's goal, but a certain percentage of BSN+ nursing force is not a requirement of Magnet.

[PeakRN]

I've worked in a hospital that is/was magnet status and those that aren't.

The magnet hospital was nothing but a big show with mediocre care. They spent plenty of their budget on advertising how great they were to the public (think millions, and it was a 'non-profit'), meanwhile the staff struggled with constant cost cutting measures and patients were billed more than the competing for profit non-magnet system that actually had statistically better outcomes. The koolaid was very thick and there was no shortage of pride, but when you looked at what they are actually doing to improve patient care it is all a joke.

I eventually left and work for said competing hospital. Our staffing is better, I see sicker patients, and we actually do what is right for the patient instead of what is right for someone's pet project.

I've had multiple coworkers who start out in our hospital and leave to go to one of the multitude of other systems in town (my system does have a couple of magnet hospitals, but it is something that we have chosen not to persue), mostly due to this conception that they will have some magical experience. Every single one ends up realizing that it is all just a show, and the reality is that those hospitals are just about filling the pockets of the senior leadership.

Ironically we have or exceed many the indicators that the ANCC wants for magnet status, but why would we waste the time and money instead of putting that towards our patients?

[humerusRN, BSN]

I have no real feelings toward Magnet. Are we a magnet hospital? Yes. Was it annoying to get the initial cert and now all the renewals? Yes. Do I see any real benefit to myself? No.