Magnet Hospital Status

[1Tulip]

Is anyone out there part of a Magnet hospital? Were you involved in the Certification process? Were your nurses keen on making the push for the Certification or did they view it as something everyone else wanted them to shoulder?

We have no magnet hospitals in our state and one of the largest medical centers here wants to be the first. They have had, in the past, an adversarial relationship with their nurses who are unionized as a result.

I'd be interested in any perspectives you can share.

[blueheaven]

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.

[OriolesMagic]

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.

[JJGRN]

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 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.

[tralalaRN]

Magnet status was really high-lighted in my orientation. I didn't last long at this hospital d/t poor staffing and many other scarey issues. .the hospital did not treat their nurses well at all. In my next position, I kept running into RNs from the former magnet hospital - they were leaving in droves. I can't help but think, as others have on this forum, that magnet designation is a feather in the cap of hospital management, but little else. .

[PMFB-RN, RN]

Personally, I view it as a good thing: more push for education, more money for clinical ladders, more shared governance.

*** Or more importantly in terms of Magnet surveyors, the appearance of those things. I have now worked at two hospitals during their "quest for Magnet" and have been very disappointed on seeing how much of the things done for Magnet certification where just for show.