Magnet And Its Effects On Nursing Practice

The report encouraged the assessment of NRPs’ efficacy, predominantly their capability to enhance patient outcomes, nurse retention, and professional proficiency. Despite the increasing amount of research on residency program outcomes, best practices for implementation are still changing. Therefore, this paper focuses on the best practice recommendations. NRPs have made a tremendous impact on the nursing field to both novice nurses as well as the expert nurse. The main themes appearing when reviewing the literature were reports about clinical competency, preparing new graduates for interprofessional teamwork, training, orientation, and mentorship for newly graduated nurses. These topics will be discussed in this paper as they pertain to nurse residency programs and newly licensed

Philosophy of nursing is an intricate framework based on the nurse’s views, ideas, practice, beliefs, and ethics that give guidance and meaning to the care, treatment, and research of the nursing profession. (What is a Philosophy of Nursing, n.d.) “Most would agree then that nursing is increasingly recognized as a ‘multi-paradigm discipline’” (Powers & Knapp, 2011, p. 129).

There are many challenges facing today’s nursing leaders and managers. From staffing and scheduling, to budget cuts and reduced reimbursements, today’s nursing leaders must evolve to meet the ever changing health care environment. Constance Schmidt, Chief Nursing Officer at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center (CRMC), identified retaining experienced registered nurses (RN) as one of the biggest problems she faces as a nursing leader. She went on to state “Nationally, most hospitals have more than 60% of their nurses with at least 5 years of experience. At CRMC, it’s the reverse. We have more than 60% of our nurses with less than 5 years of experience” (personal communication, March 28, 2014). The two largest factors affecting those numbers are the nursing shortage and nursing retention. The first, the nursing shortage, was identified years ago and has been researched countless times. Some projections indicate the number representing the gap between available registered nurses, and the positions needing to be filled, could be over a million before the end of the current decade. The latter, retention of nurses, is a problem in every health care facility in the nation. Nursing turnover results in both a significant financial cost to hospitals, and a significant impact on the community through its effects on patient outcome.

A nurse is a caregiver, a patient’s advocate, an educator; being a nurse is caring. There are basic components that all nurses should meet or should accomplish. The Mississippi Nursing Competency Model is a model that allows nurses to enhance their education and practice. This model exemplifies what core competencies a nurse of the future should represent, by her skills, attitudes, and knowledge. These core competencies include: patient-centered care, safety, professionalism, systems-based practice, informatics and technology, communication, teamwork and collaboration, leadership, quality improvement and evidence-based practice. Because I am still learning, there are still certain competencies that I was not able to either accomplish or accomplished

There is no one definition for philosophy of nursing, there are many that can help illustrate its meaning. According to Cherry and Jacob (2010) philosophy is the set of values and beliefs that guide the actions of the organization and serves as the basis of all planning (p. 344). All nurses should be mindful of the mission and philosophy of their employing organization as well as recognizing the connection between their own intimate values and the organizations. Schrock (1981a) “points out that philosophy of nursing is often mistakenly construed to refer to an ideology of nursing” (p. 1089). Schrock also states some examples like nurses are born, not made and nursing is an art based on common sense (Schrock, 1981a, p. 11). As nurses, understanding our profession helps us to focus more on the care of the patient and improving how we approach different situations.

Patients want and expect to receive high quality care. Nurses want to provide the best care possible to their patients and like everybody else; want a pleasing job environment. Hospitals, on the other hand, are expected to provide a safe environment to patients, have enough nursing staff and remain profitable (Keller, Dulle, Kwiecinski, Altimier & Owens, 2013). The ultimate goal is to improve quality of care and patient safety across the United States; therefore, all the different interests of these major stakeholders should be taken into

214) “The ACA and the need for APRNs, nurse faculty, and nurse researchers would have increased dramatically under any scenario.” (L R Cronenwett [RWJF Iniative on the Future of Nursing], 2010, table 1). “Not only must schools of nursing build their capacity to prepare more students. Nursing need to focus on fundamental improvements in the delivery of nursing care to improve patient safety and quality is key.” (IOM, 2010, p. 208)

Once a facility obtains Magnet status the journey is continuous. Every four years a re-designation process, takes place to ensure the standards to maintain excellence as a Magnet hospital (McClure, 2005). Magnet status changes hospitals for the better. Increased education, nursing leadership, and nursing retention are just a few examples of the influence of the Magnet model.

Professional practice models can help guides nursing practice in any healthcare setting. Nursing care models are commonly adopted by Magnet organizations because they promote staff autonomy, shared decision making, patient-centeredness, and quality care. Nurses most often develop PPMs which reflect not only nursing values but the organization’s values as well. This paper will explore several elements of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s (BWH) Professional Practice Model (PPM). First, the model’s fundamental nursing framework will be identified. Next, a brief discussion on how the model promotes patient-centeredness, evidence-based practice, and interdisciplinary collaboration will be presented. Lastly, a summary of how the model fosters quality, safety, informatics, shared governance and leadership will be reviewed.

The magnet hospital model is an international design to provide optimal framework for nursing care and future research. The model is composed of transformational leadership, empirical outcomes, exemplary professional practice, structural empowerment, and new knowledge combined with innovations and improvements. Hospitals that participate in the model and were awarded the title are constantly looking to improve and expand. They strive to provide expert care globally. Scheduling and staffing are done in a way to keep nurses from burning out. The lower the burnout rate the higher the rate of satisfaction and overall health of patients. When nurses are not burnt out they work optimally and want to work with their patients and that creates

In the early 1980s it came to light that while the supply of nurses had reached a record high, only 80% of hospitals nationwide had adequate nurse staffing levels (American Nurse Credentialing Center, 2011, p. 8). To address this issue a taskforce was formed within the American Academy of Nursing (AAN). Through an initial study of 165 hospitals, the AAN determined the characteristics of healthcare organizations that were magnetically attracting and retaining nurses as employees (American Nurse Credentialing Center, p. 9). In this study the AAN found “Forces of Magnetism” that contributed to the high level of job satisfaction amongst nurses, superior quality of care, low job turnover, and high level of nurse involvement in leadership, decision-making, and research. In the early 1990s, catapulted by the findings of this initial study, the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) developed the Magnet Recognition Program. The intention of the ANCC’s Magnet Recognition Program was threefold: To reward hospitals that demonstrated “excellence in the delivery of nursing services to patients;” to encourage quality in the nursing work environment to support practicing professional nurses; and to guide navigation for the dissemination of evidenced-based clinical nursing practice (American Nurse Credentialing Center, 2011, p. 14).

The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ACNN) sponsors the Magnet Recognition Program, which focuses on the development of nursing practices and evaluates the environment where nursing is practiced. This program is well recognized by organizations throughout the country, as the Magnet Journey and is considered to be one of the highest achievements that organizations can obtain (Broom, & Tilbury, 2007). Organizations that strive to achieve the Magnet designation, acknowledge the link between a healthy work environment and the development of an organization of nursing excellence. Hospitals utilizing the Magnet concept demonstrate the following characteristics; (a) authentic leadership, (b) skilled communication, (c) effective decision making, (d) quality patient care processes, (e) collaboration and teamwork among all healthcare workers, (f) professional growth and accountability, (g) clinically competent staff and (h) adequate staffing levels (Shirey, 2006). All the above components

Magnet hospitals are named for their potential to attract and retain qualified nurses. Magnet hospitals are facilities that have been certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center for promoting positive patient outcomes through best practices in nursing (Upenieks, 2003). The Magnet environment fosters autonomy and professional nursing practice. Research shows that Magnet hospitals have better work environments, a more highly educated nursing workforce, superior nurse-to-patient staffing ratios, and higher nurse satisfaction than non-Magnet hospitals (Aiken, Kelly, & McHugh, 2011). Implementation of that environment requires the ability to create trust, accountability, and open communication in changing times.

The researchers surveyed 3186 nurses on staff at 56 hospitals; 52 academic hospitals and 4 non-academic hospitals. The researchers compared the results of the nurses’ surveys with information about the location of the hospital (rural or urban), the hospital environment (managerial support, good relationships among team members, the nurses’ involvement in decision-making), the nurses’ educational levels, and the staffing (nurse:patient ratio). The researchers also interviewed nurse managers and leaders to evaluate their input on nurse retention and nursing shortages in a qualitative portion of the study. In the article “Effective strategies for nurse retention in acute hospitals: A mixed method study”, the researchers state “the results show that nurse staffing and the quality of the nurse practice environment (i.e. managerial support of nursing care, good relations between doctors and nurses, nurse participation in decision-making and organizational priorities on quality of care) are significantly associated with intention-to-leave the hospital” (Van den Heede et al., 2013, p. 192). This association is related with increase nurse satisfaction with environment and staffing is related to decreased intention to leave the hospital, or an inverse relationship. These researchers also shed light on the fact that Magnet hospitals have far better nurse retention and nurse satisfaction. Thus, focusing on and achieving a Magnet status can be an effective

In the early 1980s there was a significant nursing shortage and high turnover at hospitals. Research by the American Academy of Nursing recognized forty-one hospitals that attracted nurses to work at their location because of their more collaborative and supportive work environments. These hospitals were more effective with filling nursing job vacancies compared with similar hospitals. The American Nurse’s Credentialing Center (ANCC), an organization of American Nurses Association developed a voluntary recognition program to formally credential Magnet hospitals, and the first Magnet hospital was credentialed in 1994 (Kelly, 2011). ANCC review certain criteria that are design to measure the quality and strength of nursing practice at the hospital. Nurses who work at these Magnet hospitals have higher job satisfaction and reports that they have better communication between the nurses and other healthcare team. Most importantly, Magnet hospitals have high quality nursing care, better patient outcomes, and high patient satisfaction.