Cedars-Sinai Re-Designated A Magnet Hospital For Enhancing Nurses' Growth, Patient Care
Cedars-Sinai is one of only four organizations in the state and 118 nationwide to achieve this status, which recognizes commitment to nursing development and quality care. In 2000 the medical center was the first in southern California to receive Magnet designation.
"ANCC appraisers evaluated nursing standards on-site, surveyed nurses, and examined programs and systems to gauge the hospital's commitment in numerous areas," says Linda Burnes Bolton, RN, DrPH, FAAN, vice president and chief nursing officer at Cedars-Sinai. "By critiquing all of these elements, they developed a very thorough understanding of the way the medical center cares for its patients and its nurses."
ANCC refers to its judging criteria as the 14 Forces of Magnetism, which include:
Although applying for Magnet designation and re-designation requires a significant amount of paperwork and planning, the ANCC's reviewers judge the hospital's documentation by examining the systems, programs and professional interactions they see in practice and by dozens of interviews with a variety of individuals and independent parties.
"We had more than 40 meetings with 20 nurses in each meeting where they interviewed staff nurses," says Dr. Burnes Bolton, adding that in order to ensure candor no one on the administrative staff was permitted to attend. The reviewers were on campus for five days, even meeting with nurses on the night shift. They also talked to members of the community.
"They interviewed patients and community partners, including the Los Angeles Police Department, the LA Unified School District, City of West Hollywood, People Coordinated Services, religious organizations such as the Temple Beth AM, 88th Street Church of God and Christ, and schools of nursing.. They spoke to such voluntary organizations as the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross, and they spoke to the schools of nursing that send students to Cedars-Sinai," Dr. Burnes Bolton says. "Reviewers take into consideration what the employees, the medical staff and the community think about the institution, and they look at data in terms of turnover rate, vacancy rate and patient satisfaction surveys."
Achieving re-designation is about a two-year process. After being awarded Magnet status for four years in 2000, Cedars-Sinai applied for re-designation in 2002 and hosted the ANCC's survey team this past March 22 through 26. The reviewers made their recommendations to the ANCC's board or directors, which notified Cedars-Sinai of its re-designation in a letter on May 26.
"Our Nursing Division is a nationally recognized leader in nursing practice, education, research, recruitment and retention, patient satisfaction and quality improvement," says Tom Priselac, Cedars-Sinai's president and chief executive officer. "I believe Magnet designation reflects a culture that encourages nurses to grow and excel personally, to participate in decision-making processes, to collaborate with the medical staff and other team members, and to provide the level of patient care that led them to choose their profession. Because of this, our Nursing Division allows us to meet our top priority – quality patient care – every day."
In the weeks before the site visit, Dr. Burnes Bolton urged the nursing staff to be themselves, saying that their expertise, skill, community involvement and participation in decision-making processes at Cedars-Sinai would be apparent. "Our work during the survey is simply to demonstrate our many achievements, to take this opportunity to ‘show off' just a little for our assessors," she said. "Certainly, Cedars-Sinai has demonstrated its commitment to sustaining an environment that attracts the best nurses who deliver the most personalized care, and much of that is thanks to the participation and thoughtful input of our nurses."
Feedback from the ANCC survey team appears to support her view. "It's one thing for us to say we think we have the best nurses, and to have patient and community surveys that rank our nursing care at the top," says Dr. Burnes Bolton. "But when an internationally recognized, independent nursing organization finds that Cedars-Sinai's nursing services represent the highest standards in the nation and internationally, that's a bold statement that validates our efforts and our commitment."
ANCC, the nation's largest nursing credentialing organization, is a separately governed organization within the American Nurses Association. The Magnet Recognition Program awarded its first recognition in 1994, and Cedars-Sinai was the 16th hospital in the nation to qualify when it became a Magnet hospital in 2000.
Research published in respected medical journals shows that compared to other hospitals those with Magnet designation have lower mortality and infection rates along with higher patient satisfaction and nurse staffing levels. "Magnet hospitals are known for providing the best care and employing highly knowledgeable nurses who serve as advocates for their patients," says Dr. Burnes Bolton, who has been in her chief nursing position for eight of her 33 years at Cedars-Sinai. "Nurses at these hospitals truly care for the patient as a human being, and they're going to do everything they can to support the patient and family."
Cedars-Sinai is one of the largest nonprofit academic medical centers in the Western United States. For the fifth straight two-year period, it has been named Southern California's gold standard in health care in an independent survey. Cedars-Sinai is internationally renowned for its diagnostic and treatment capabilities and its broad spectrum of programs and services, as well as breakthroughs in biomedical research and superlative medical education. It ranks among the top 10 non-university hospitals in the nation for its research activities.
Source: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center