Magnet Challenges

Rauen (2016) wrote that certification demonstrates that the nurse has the knowledge and skills beyond the basics in the specialty area. The patient, physician, and nurses expect a higher standard when a nurse works in a dedicated field. When a nurse is working in a focused field, more knowledge needs to be obtained to understand the nature and complexity of the disease. The professional certification shows others that there is acknowledgment of quality of care. As hospitals and nurses become more competitive, this standard is raised and consequently a higher quality of care is expected. And, one way of designating high quality of care is through certifications. Professional certification is recognized by American Nurses Credential Center’s (ANCC’s) Magnet Recognition Program for excellence in nursing services. According to the ANCCs (2017), The Magnet Recognition Program’s goals and guiding principles are to promote quality, identify excellence and disseminate best practices. With a hospital having a Magnet status, this will attract and retain top nurses, improve patient care, foster a collaborative culture, and advance nursing standards and practice.

Some of the challenges are transitioning the licensed vocational nurses to return to school and obtain the associates or bachelor degree in nursing. Then the next focus was to encourage the associate degreed nurse to return to school and obtain the bachelor degree in nursing. Now the attention is for our specialized nurses to obtain certification in their area of specialty. During some of these challenges, our Magnet coordinator and Chief Nursing Officer had resigned. We now have a vacancy for the Magnet coordinator and now have a new Chief Nursing Officer. Now, it is working to gain momentum again to work towards