Nursing Magnet Recognition

 Amanda Wilde (Host): Eisenhower Medical Center has been recognized with its third Magnet designation. To date, just under 10 percent of nearly 6,000 hospitals in the nation hold this prestigious designation. We'll talk about the significance of this achievement as we delve into the world of Nursing Excellence with Ben Farber, Vice President of Patient Care and Chief Nursing Officer at Eisenhower Health. 

This is Living Well with Eisenhower Health. I'm Amanda Wilde and Ben, thank you so much for being here.

Ben Farber, DNP, RN, CNL, NEA-BC, CENP: Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to be able to share a little bit about our Magnet journey with you.

Host: That's great. Let's start from the beginning. Explain what Magnet designation is.

Ben Farber, DNP, RN, CNL, NEA-BC, CENP: Magnet designation is granted by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. As you mentioned, just under 10 percent of hospitals nationwide have it, with fewer that are carrying multiple repeat designations. It's really around quality of nursing care provided to patients and patient outcomes. And the reason it's called Magnet Designation is that when it was developed, it was developed based off the standards that hospitals held that were magnets to nursing during a major nursing shortage.

So there was a small group of hospitals that was fully staffed and was able to keep their staff on board while hospitals, maybe even down the street, were struggling to get enough staff to care for patients. And there was research done to look at all of the programs in place that allowed them to keep their nurses. And, during that research, they also found that those hospitals tended to have higher outcomes from a quality perspective.

Host: So this is a crucial achievement for the nursing staff and also for Eisenhower Health as a hospital. Can you explain a little more about that?

Ben Farber, DNP, RN, CNL, NEA-BC, CENP: I'm happy to. So what it tells the community is that we have longevity with our nursing staff. We're hiring the best prepared nurses. Over 80 percent of our nurses have bachelor's degrees or higher. And, roughly half of our nurses are certified in their specialty with that number continuing to grow. It also means, and the research would tell you this as well, that we are providing the highest quality care with the best possible patient outcomes for our community.

Outside of the outcomes and quality of care, it also means that nursesenjoy working here and want to be employed by Eisenhower.

We know that we create an environment where nurses are a huge part of the care team and have a voice in the type of care that we provide and the type of care that our patients get, as well as the policies and processes that affect the work that they do.

Host: What is the process you go through to achieve this designation?

Ben Farber, DNP, RN, CNL, NEA-BC, CENP: So Magnet is basically a continuous process and the designation reoccurs every five years. During that time, we have more than a hundred points that we have to meet within the Magnet Manual, and all of those pieces that are in the Magnet Manual are really developed to make sure that we are a place where nurses have a voice in the care being provided, where we're providing better quality, where we're providing strong outcomes, and that we're retaining the nurses that we hire and have a strong recruitment pipeline.

We, at the end of that five years, write a document that goes into Magnet showing everything that we've done, and we include exemplars that are specific stories about each point in that manual that we've met. And then the Magnet team comes on site and validates and amplifies the work that we've done to ensure that not only do we have that one story under each subject in the Magnet manual, but we have multiple stories and we're living it every day of the time that we're designated.

Host: You mentioned the recognition lasts five years, and then you reassess. Eisenhower just received its third magnet designation. Is that common?

Ben Farber, DNP, RN, CNL, NEA-BC, CENP: Well, when you think about less than 10 percent of American hospitals having Magnet designation at all, the longer that you hold that designation, the less common it becomes. So, I would say that we're in a very small minority of hospitals nationwide that hold 3 peet of Magnet designation.

Host: And how do you prepare as a nursing staff? How does the nursing department prepare for the Magnet visit?

Ben Farber, DNP, RN, CNL, NEA-BC, CENP: So this is something that we live and breathe every day. So while we do a little bit of extra prep because we're going to have surveyors in the organization during the process, our team is re preparing itself every day. We involve them in the stories that we produce and write. They're involved in shared governance, which is where they have a voice in the way that we run the organization and the policies and procedures that affect them and their work. 

And that's on a monthly basis, those meetings happen with work happening between the meetings, and they're also involved in governance of their own units on a daily basis, which means that basically they're staying prepared throughout the five years with just a little bit of an extra push right before the survey.

Host: There's a lot of empowerment of nurses as part of your program and nursing innovations. What is the difference between a hospital with Magnet recognition and one that doesn't have the recognition?

Ben Farber, DNP, RN, CNL, NEA-BC, CENP: So you mentioned the empowerment piece. That is a big difference, oftentimes that nurses are much more empowered within Magnet organizations. The teamwork is stronger. They're also involved in committees at every level of the organization, things like the ethics committee, the quality committee.

So they have a constant eye on outcomes. Additionally, we have what are called unit based councils, and they're councils that look at unit problems, that look at unit metrics, and figure out opportunities for us to continuously improve those metrics. So the big difference is that the nurses are empowered to come with solutions to real life problems that every large organization, healthcare or not, would experience on a daily basis to ensure that not only is the environment great for them to work in, but also that we're creating the best outcomes for patients and the highest quality of care. 

Host: What does that mean for you in leadership to create that environment?

Ben Farber, DNP, RN, CNL, NEA-BC, CENP: One of the sections of the manual talks about transformational leadership, and I liken that to us being drivers. So I would oftentimes say that we lead from behind. We know where the beginning and the end points are, but we don't necessarily know how to do the work to get from that beginning to end point, and that's where we rely on our team. Our team really has to be the driving force in creating that change and creating the solutions to the work that they experience every day, which means that we have to be open to listening.

We have to be open to not always implementing our own ideas, but other people's ideas. And we also have to be open to supporting on a regular basis rather than just managing. So, it truly is making sure that we're leading at every possible opportunity in a way that allows the voices of the bedside team's to be amplified.

Host: So your emphasis is on team and the team ethic, but also listening to individuals, individual voices and supporting versus just managing staff.

Ben Farber, DNP, RN, CNL, NEA-BC, CENP: Correct.

Host: Ben, thank you for explaining this remarkable achievement of receiving Magnet recognition for the third time. And thank you for your commitment to nursing excellence.

Ben Farber, DNP, RN, CNL, NEA-BC, CENP: Thank you so much for allowing me to be on with you and share a little bit about Magnet with you, and about the amazing team that we have at Eisenhower. And if I could just close with thanking the nursing team and the leadership team, as well as the team of physicians and the whole team of ancillary staff that help support us in getting these recognitions.

Host: It takes a village. Ben Farber is Vice President of Patient Care and Chief Nursing Officer at Eisenhower Health. For more information, visit EisenhowerHealth.org/about/nursing. This is Living Well with Eisenhower Health. Health care as it should be.