UNC Hospitals has recently been recognized as a ‘Magnet Organization’ by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).
Fewer than nine percent of all hospitals in the United States receive the Magnet institution title – making this a prestigious award for UNC Health. According to the ANCC, Magnet Recognition is more than an award or a badge of honor, “it’s steadfast proof of a hard-earned commitment to excellence in health care.”
UNC Hospitals is one of only 160 hospitals nationwide to have received this distinction three times.
UNC Hospitals said it would not have been able to attain this title without the hard work of its diligent nurses and other team members within the institution. Team members like Cathy Madigan, the Chief Nursing Officer and Senior Vice President for UNC Hospitals.
Madigan said while the process to be considered as a Magnet organization was a bit different during a pandemic, it was still just as meaningful.
“Magnet designation focuses on the fact that we have excellent patient outcomes, we do good research, we work together well as a team and it focuses on nursing,” Madigan said. “I think it’s a really special award because it really looks at outcomes for patients and that means that nursing has to work well with all of our colleagues.”
One of the reasons Magnet status is so prestigious is because it can only be attained once every four years. Madigan said the Magnet award originally came about in the early eighties when a task force started looking at why some hospitals do better in terms of attracting and retaining nurses.
“They identified specific components and characteristics that they were able to say ‘these are the things that a hospital has to have in place in order to have good attraction and retention of nursing staff’ – which is how the Magnet name even came about,” Madigan said.
Madigan said nursing schools often tell their students to look for employment at a Magnet organization, as the title means they have demonstrated an environment that is good for nurses to work in.
Usually, to be considered for this recognition, each hospital has to submit a comprehensive document outlining its practices. If and when a hospital is approved, representatives from the ANCC will conduct a site visit – although these visits looked a little different during a pandemic.
“I give great credit to the Magnet team,” Madigan said. “They were able to literally have one of our staff take their iPad to every single unit in the hospital. We had four surveyors that worked with us for three days – about 10 hours a day – and they talked to lots of our staff, our physician teams, our leadership teams and it was just really different doing it virtually.”
Madigan said, outside of the recognition, what’s really wonderful about the Magnet process is its focus on what each hospital is doing well. For UNC Hospitals, this includes all of its different units – Hillsborough’s Campus, the WakeBrook Campus and the Meadowmont Clinics.
“I think in the nursing practice environment, one of the things that our staff do really well is we have a lot of support in place for a staff member or nurse to say ‘you know I have a really great idea,’” Madigan said. “We have support in place to say ‘that is a great idea – let’s go ahead and help you to explore that.’ Some of the things that were mentioned in our Magnet exemplars came out of that exact, inquisitive nature.”
One of these great ideas brought about the creation of “Quality TV”, or QTV. QTV is a wall-mounted electronic screen that displays quality data in highly visible locations for patients, visitors, and staff. The Magnet team felt the central location of QTV reflects a commitment to data transparency and makes the access and viewing of key metrics nearly effortless.
Madigan said supporting staff and providing them with enough resources to flourish is so important to their quality of care – and just one of the many reasons UNC Hospitals is once again distinguished as a Magnet organization. Overall, she said this process has allowed for some much-needed reflection for UNC’s nurses as they continue to work their way through the pandemic.
“No matter how challenging it has been these last several months, our staff have never taken their eye off of the patient and doing what’s right for the patient,” Madigan said. “I am exceptionally delighted to be able to celebrate them and all the good work that they do.”
Learn more about the Magnet Recognition Program here.
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