Magnetic Enthusiasm!

Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital, Charleston, S.C.

There was an electric buzz of excitement at work today. After years of hard work by the nursing staff, as many people as could possibly squeeze in to the board room this afternoon held their breath and waited to hear if we had been awarded the prestigious national award of being designated a Magnet Hospital. Yipee! What fun! Of course we had!

According to the Center for Nursing Advocacy:

Magnet status is an award given by the American Nurses’ Credentialing Center (ANCC), an affiliate of the American Nurses Association, to hospitals that satisfy a set of criteria designed to measure the strength and quality of their nursing. A Magnet hospital is stated to be one where nursing delivers excellent patient outcomes, where nurses have a high level of job satisfaction, and where there is a low staff nurse turnover rate and appropriate grievance resolution. Magnet status is also said to indicate nursing involvement in data collection and decision-making in patient care delivery. The idea is that Magnet nursing leaders value staff nurses, involve them in shaping research-based nursing practice, and encourage and reward them for advancing in nursing practice.

The neat thing about Magnet Status is that it is nurse driven and gives responsibility for leadership, power and recognition to nurses and they were celebrating today. We are now in a prestigious group of 4% of the hospitals in the country and the only one in the lowcountry and I am proud as punch of the people I work with today.

Congratulations to the excellent nursing staff at Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital, Pennie Peralta, Tanya Lott and Pat Marquis who led our efforts. You are the best and amaze me every day!