Two Texas Medical Center Hospitals Hold Nation’s Highest Nursing Distinction

Two Texas Medical Center hospitals hold the elite distinction of receiving the nation’s highest honor for excellence in nursing and patient care.

St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital last May became the first hospital in Texas and the Southwest to be designated as a Magnet hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the nation’s largest and foremost nursing accrediting and credentialing organization.

Eight months later, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center joined St. Luke’s in receiving this prestigious award. Other Magnet recipients include such elite institutions as the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. At the time M.D. Anderson received the award last December, fewer than 45 hospitals in the world had received this high honor.

Achieving Magnet designation serves as a "magnet,"explained Rosemary Luquire, senior vice president for patient care and chief quality officer at St. Luke’s.

"This honor communicates to our patients, families and staff that, like a magnet, St. Luke’s attracts and retains some of the top nursing professionals in the country," she said. "An environment that encourages autonomy in professional nursing practice results in higher job satisfaction among nurses. Recruitment and retention of nurses is enhanced, and patients ultimately are the biggest beneficiaries because they are receiving care from nurses who are tops in their fields."

Magnet status has also enabled M.D. Anderson to expand and retain its nursing pool.

"Not only are we recruiting new nurses more aggressively, but we also are doing more to retain our existing staff by expanding professional development opportunities and providing other important incentives, including great salary and benefits packages," said Dr. John Crossley, M.D. Anderson vice president for operations and nursing practice and head of the division of nursing.

Among the cancer center’s initiatives are five professional practice governance councils staffed primarily with frontline nurses, which define and maintain nursing practice standards, and a structured professional development program. A mentoring program for newly hired patient-care nurses is also provided.

"We already believe we are part of the best nursing in the world," said Dr. Crossley, who is also a registered nurse. "Successfully completing the Magnet recognition process now allows our nurses to receive the international recognition they truly deserve."

The Magnet Program (its full name is the Magnet Nursing Services Recognition Program for Excellence in Nursing Service), was established in 1994 to recognize those health care organizations that provide the very best in nursing care and support professional nursing practice. The program provides consumers with the ultimate benchmark to measure the quality of care they can expect to receive. It is the highest level of recognition that the American Nurses Credentialing Center can accord to organized nursing services in health care organizations.

The Magnet distinction has reached such a high level of status that the Wall Street Journal reported that consumers should find a Magnet hospital when needing hospital treatment.

Specifically, the Magnet Program recognizes excellence in the management philosophy and practices of nursing services; adherence to standards for improving the quality of patient care; leadership of the chief nurse executive in supporting professional practice and continued competence of nursing personnel; and attention to the cultural and ethnic diversity of patients and their families, as well as patient care providers.

The magnet recognition status is valid for four years, after which recipients must reapply.

---

©2006 Texas Medical Center

---

E-Mail: tmcinfo@texmedctr.tmc.edu
URL: http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/05_01_02/page_01.html