The United States faces a shortage of some 1 million nurses, but there is no such problem at Magnet hospitals -- those with a voluntary certification for the best quality nursing and the gold standard in patient care.
"In the 1980s during the first nursing shortage, we knew some facilities had nurses staying and they sought to find out why," Elaine Scherer, director of the Magnet Recognition Program, told UPI's Caregiving. "It was the first time research had been done to determine why nurses stayed rather than why they left facilities, and these key issues helped develop the Magnet program."
Magnet was developed by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association, to recognize healthcare organizations that provide the very best in nursing care. The program requires hospitals to develop, maintain and evaluate planning systems to improve the delivery of nursing care.
Research during the past two decades supports the theory that nurses that stay at a facility because they are empowered have the environment and support from their leadership to provide excellent care to their patients, according to Scherer.
"In the 1980s, we learned nurses left hospitals because they were burned out -- patient overload, the inability to have a say in the scheduling, the conditions of the hospital and how it was run," Mary Smolenski, director of the credentialing program, told UPI's Caregiving.
"The original research, and research since involving interviewing a large group of staff nurses, showed how important competent colleagues and strong nursing leadership are."
Only 3 percent of the nation's 5,794 hospitals are Magnet hospitals, so designated because they attract and kept good nurses. The Magnet program is a rigorous one involving an evaluation process of two to seven years and, if achieved, the designation is for a four-year period. The facility cannot rest on its laurels and must maintain the standard of excellence and develop systems to improve them.
"It has to be the administration's decision -- the entire board of directors must agree to the process, which is not easy. You have to work for it; it's rigorous and very difficult every four years to maintain (a) standard of excellence," said Smolenski.
"We do see hospitals having difficulty maintaining the high standard -- sometimes a central event like a natural disaster makes it difficult, but we see how they handle it. If there need to be staffing cuts, how do they plan for the cuts, how are the cuts restored, what is their planning process, how do they deal with problems?"
A key component of a Magnet facility is policies that encourage nurses to confidentially express their concerns without retribution. Another key is the commitment to education and advanced training.
"There is evidence (that) nurses with B.A. degrees can deal with a higher patient ratio -- the level of education is linked to competence," said Scherer. "What it comes down to is that better educated, better trained, more experienced colleagues can handle more, and nurses who work with more experienced colleagues than with novices tend to stay working at a hospital," Scherer said.
While Magnet hospitals are where nurses want to work, it's also a place where many caregivers would want their loved ones treated. For example, Magnet facilities must be in compliance with all government and accreditation regulations including the National Patient Safety Goals. That means:
-- Improving the safety of using medications and infusion pumps.
-- Reducing the risk of health-acquired infections.
-- Accurately and completely reconciling medications and other treatments.
-- Reducing the risk of patient harm resulting from falls.
A list of Magnet facilities is at: http://nursingworld.org/ancc/magnet/consumer/locations.html; 200 facilities are currently undergoing the process of evaluation.
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Alex Cukan is an award-winning journalist, but she always has considered caregiving her primary job. UPI welcomes comments and questions about this column. E-mail: [email protected]
