Emory Saint Joseph’s one of 3 hospitals in world to receive sixth consecutive Magnet designation

The American Nurses Credentialing Center recently awarded Emory Saint Joseph's Hospital its sixth consecutive Magnet designation, making it the first community hospital and one of three hospitals in the world to earn the achievement.

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"Magnet is about the culture of an organization," Julie Swann, vice president of Patient Care Services and chief nursing officer at Emory Saint Joseph's, said in a university news release Friday. "For us, living our mission of delivering compassionate, clinically excellent health care in the spirit of loving service to those in need, is our foundation. Our patients are the true north. Through this, our nursing teams strive to deliver outstanding, evidence-based care with a huge support structure surrounding us."

Emory Saint Joseph’s earned its first Magnet designation in 1995 and is now one of 492 hospitals in the country to achieve the recognition, an achievement shown to provide higher patient satisfaction, lower mortality rates, higher nurse job satisfaction and fewer reports of nurses’ intentions of leaving. This year, the ANCC especially lauded the facility’s leadership and guidance for new graduate nurses and exemplary professionalism.

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“I am so proud of our superior team of nurses and the difference they make to every patient and every family member as they deliver care each day,” Emory Saint Joseph’s CEO Heather Dexter said in a news release. “I am also so proud of our nurses for supporting each other, as this recognition cannot be accomplished without support from the entire hospital family.”

The ANCC Magnet credential, according to the the center's official website, "is not merely an award or a badge of honor. It is steadfast proof of a hard-earned commitment to excellence in health care, with contented nurses at its heart."

To be eligible, applicant organizations are required to include at least one or more nursing settings with a single governing authority and an individual serving as the CNO, the officer “ultimately responsible for sustaining the standards of nursing practice.”

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CNOs, nurse managers and nurse leaders also have to meet required education criteria. To earn the credential, all applicants for Magnet designation must collect nurse-sensitive quality data, including patient and nurse satisfaction.

The process, which requires reapplication every four years, involves a rigorous process of documentation, on-site visits and a thorough review by the Commission on Magnet Recognition.

“This is a special day for Emory Saint Joseph’s and all of Emory Healthcare, as it is a strategic priority to have all hospitals and Emory Clinics throughout our system achieve Magnet recognition,” Sharon Pappas, chief nurse executive for Emory Healthcare, said in a statement.

More about the designation at nursingworld.org.