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Nurse workshops envision magnet status by Heather Woolwine Public Relations On July 19 and 21, MUSC staff nurses and nurse leaders gathered at James Island County Park for the summer Magnet Champions Workshop and Magnet Leadership Workshop to celebrate and continue designing the culture of excellence that MUSC must exemplify to reach magnet status.  As reported last November, the MUSC Medical Center sent a letter of intent to the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) announcing the pursuit of Magnet Hospital status via the Magnet Professional Recognition Program. Dubbed “the gold standard” in hospital care, magnet hospitals constitute only 1 percent of all U.S. health care organizations. Currently, none exist in South Carolina. The workshops held last week enabled 100 staff nurses and 100 nurse leaders to exchange ideas, set goals, and discuss incentives associated with the type of culture indicative of a magnet hospital environment. Members of the Riverdogs team generate enthusiasm with a cheer for MUSC's culture of excellence during the magnet workshop at James Island County Park. On July 19 and 20, nurses and nurse leadership were divided into teams with Charleston attractions to further expand and discuss what makes MUSC magnet material. “The energy and enthusiasm was palpable at these workshops. It was great!” said Marilyn Schaffner R.N., clinical services administrator. “Going for magnet status is a goal that will benefit everyone in the organization.  I am glad to be a part of this exciting journey!”  “Because of our physical interaction with patients, we (as nurses) are major players in sculpting a culture of excellence at MUSC,” said Darrell Jones, R.N. “In a culture of excellence, everyone benefits. Even if we don’t achieve magnet status, the nursing staff will have better working relationships and conditions, and the patients will receive better care and experience better outcomes. They’ll receive the best care available from the best staff around.” In short, magnet hospitals are the ultimate in coordinating excellent patient care because they allow those who interact the most with patients to help steer the hospital’s course. By integrating nursing into various levels of decision-making, nursing staffs are able to move beyond traditional roles and add their intelligence, experience, and research potential to the organization’s pool of resources. “I came to MUSC from a magnet hospital, and I know that pursuing magnet status can be painful at first, but the rewards are tremendous. I saw the nursing staff transform into a group of energetic, enthusiastic, powerful individuals and I’d like to see that at MUSC too,” said Jessie Stevenson, R.N., ambulatory care services nurse coordinator. “The nursing staff at MUSC wants to define themselves, and as leaders we encourage and foster that desire. Magnet status is a way to say to everyone in the organization: ‘We have found a way to meet everyone’s goals.’” Yvonne Martin, R.N., 8W nurse manager, said the success of magnet status lies in getting the word out to everyone in the hospital. “As leaders, we have found and continue to find those key nurses within our units who are enthusiastic about creating this culture and will go out and champion it throughout their area,” she said. “You have to give them the ball and let them run with it. Education is key to magnetism; by providing educational opportunities on our unit during lunches and using positive reinforcement, we are growing our own oncology nurses and have seen our unit go from a 55 percent vacancy rate to an 11 percent vacancy rate.” Many staff nurses and nurse leaders reported numerous initiatives and stories throughout the medical center related to the pursuit of nursing excellence during the two workshops, including: The STICU achieved the goal of having each clinical nurse leader certified in critical care as a CCRN with the goal of 100 percent staff certification. The IOP nursing staff and leadership conducted extensive analysis of their safety procedures, customer service relationships, and education planning to develop a safety video and new procedures that resulted in a dramatic decrease in the use of seclusion and restraints with patients, an increase in patient and staff morale, and a positive change in the adult population on the various units of the IOP building, reported Linda Lewis, R.N., nurse director. The Rheumatology-Ambulatory Care clinic nurses and leaders on the 5th floor of Rutledge Tower highlighted their relationships with the physicians they work with on a daily basis. Sheryl Naugle, R.N., ambulatory care services, said the physicians that she and her team work with deal with problems on the front end and frequently recognize that the nursing staff is a vast resource when it comes to assessing patients needs, whether acknowledging their symptoms over the phone or finding a way to pay for their medications.  “We’re lucky that we work with physicians who are willing to share their knowledge and spend their time explaining treatments and outcomes,” she said. “It helps us to feel involved and focused on the big picture.” “As you bring in an educated, competent staff, you create a better environment for everyone. Physicians trust the nurses because they see our competence, and patients trust us because they see it firsthand,” said Greg Swant, R.N., Hollings Cancer Center nurse coordinator. “Magnet status is more than a nursing excellence award; it falls onto the excellence of the university itself. “Most magnet hospitals have a waiting list of nurses because of the inherent positive environment that comes with magnet status. They don’t experience the nursing shortages that non-magnet hospitals do.” Current data and research demonstrates the positive changes for nurses and patients associated with magnet status.  Magnet nurses have seen decreased needlesticks, decreased turnover, decreased work-related injuries and illnesses, decreased fatigue and burnout, increased satisfaction with career and current employment, and increased ratings of quality of care.  Magnet patients demonstrate decreased mortality, decreased failure-to-rescue rates, decreased shock and cardiac arrest, decreased pulmonary compromise after surgery, decreased infections, decreased falls, decreased medication administration errors, decreased unplanned hospital readmissions, decreased length of stay and decreased pressure ulcers.   Friday, July 30, 2004 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.