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Discussion

Magnet

How do hospitals get magnet status?

Is working at a magnet hospital noticeably better from a nursing perspective or is it no different?

I'm applying for a job at a magnet hospital, should I think of the magnet status as a plus?

My old hospital was a huge teaching hospital affiliated with a med school, and is one of the best hospitals in the country, but interestingly is NOT magnet.

Are those large teaching hospitals just too physician/research focused to earn magnet status?

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    I, personally, have not seen a huge difference in a place with Magnet and a place without Magnet.

    Yes...teaching institutions can be Magnet. Massachusetts General Hospital was one of the first hospitals in the state to be Magnet...and it is a good place to work...but it was a good place to work before Magnet. Q&A: The MGH and Magnet - Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA

    Most patients have no clue what it means and really don't care.

    How to become Magnet facility? YOU purchase the How to book for $300.00. You pay an enormous amount of money and have a lot of committees.

    annual costs ranged from $100,000to a maximum of $600,000 for 1 year of this journey,

    with varying ranges in between years

    https://www.nursingeconomics.net/necfiles/hrsolutions/hrs_SO10.pdf
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    • Experts

    The Magnet program can be a real help to a hospital ... and it can help a hospital improve its care and it work environment. But that doesn't mean that it always is a help.

    For some hospitals, the desire to have the Magnet designation is what spurs them to make improvements (for nurses and patients) that the would not otherwise make. I work for such a hospital. Over the past few years, we have been "on our Magnet journey" as they say, and several improvements have been made that would never have happened if the ultimate goal were not the Magnet designation. Ideally, those improvements would have been made simply because they are the right things to do, but sometimes it takes an "extra motivator" (like an award and/or the desire for prestige) to actually get the hospital to spend money.

    However, other hospitals don't need that "award" possibility to spur them to implement similar programs. They will do good things simply because they are the right thing to do -- and not need that extra incentive to get them to spend money. That explains why some non-Magnet hospitals are just as good (or even better) than many Magnet hospitals.

    Also, some hospitals discontinue "being on their best behavior" after they get the designation. So the bottom line is that you have to look at the details about each specific hospital when you are job hunting. The Magnet designation can be associated with good things ... but it is no guarantee. And some non-Magnet hospitals are just as good.

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    The magnet hospital I worked at was far worse in almost every way than the non magnet hospital. Nurse-patient ratios, support staff and services, pay etc.

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    They pay the ANCC a LOT of money. Magnet is the biggest scam in nursing, IMO.

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    They pay the ANCC a LOT of money. Magnet is the biggest scam in nursing, IMO.

    Right up there with the ONS/OCN. I'm renewing my membership (because I have to) paying $120 for a year of magazines I'll rarely look at and not much else. Then at check out they ask me to donate more to them. Ugh.

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    I have been at hospitals that were achieving magnet status and mostly they kept emphasizing higher education for the nurses. It did not seem to improve the staffing ratios, but it was a certification that could be shown to the public. I was curious if the conditions were better in magnet hospitals, but from the feedback here, I guess not.

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    Huge PR/Marketing scam. Money that could be spent on better staff ratios. A way to get unions out of the way, give illusions that nurses are "governing themselves" when in fact managment governs them.

    Regardless of status, any facility that has a nurse educator has the opportunity to offer nurses more education. That is not exclusive to Magnet status.

    And there's a high percentage of patients who do not "choose" which hospital they are brought to. Many more who go to the closest one, the one that their MD is affiliated with--It is not a "bring me to the Magnet hospital!!" situation.

    As a pp indicated, excellence in nursing is supported or not by any facility--Magnet or not.

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