Valley Health Winchester Medical Center (WMC) has achieved Magnet recognition
for the third time, a testament to its continued commitment to high-quality
nursing practice. The American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet
Recognition Program® distinguishes health care organizations that
meet rigorous standards for nursing excellence. Magnet designation is
the highest honor for professional nursing practice.
Clinical practice in a Magnet hospital is grounded in a culture of safety,
quality monitoring, evidence-based practice and quality improvement. Valley
Health Winchester Medical Center is one of only 23 hospitals in Virginia
and 7% of hospitals nationwide (378 out of 6,300) to achieve Magnet designation.
Only nine of Virginia’s Magnet hospitals have been designated three times.
“Magnet recognition is a tremendous honor and reflects our commitment
to nursing excellence and delivering the highest quality of care to our
community,” said
Mark H. Merrill, President and CEO of Valley Health System.
“To achieve Magnet recognition the first time was a tremendous accomplishment
and source of pride for our nurses and health system. Our repeated achievement
of this credential underscores the foundation of excellence and values
that drive our entire staff to bring the best health care to the people
we serve.”
Since our first Magnet recognition ten years ago, Winchester Medical Center
continues to focus on a variety of elements essential to delivering superior
patient care, including the quality of nursing leadership and coordination
and collaboration across specialties, as well as processes for measuring
and improving the quality and delivery of care.
“Magnet is more than a nursing designation; it is a hospital designation,” said
Grady W. (Skip) Philips, III, President, Valley Health Winchester Medical Center and Senior Vice President,
Valley Health.
“It reflects the hard work and dedication of our entire interdisciplinary
team — a team that works together in a collaborative way to achieve
excellence in patient care each day. It is this commitment to providing
our community with high-quality care that first helped us become a Magnet-recognized
organization, and it’s why we continue to maintain Magnet recognition
ten years later.”
The Magnet Model provides a framework for nursing practice, research, and
measurement of outcomes. Through this framework, ANCC evaluates hospital
applicants across a number of components and dimensions to gauge an organization’s
nursing excellence. In its recent application, WMC cited ninety-nine unique
examples of how nursing worked together with interdisciplinary partners
and highlighted the hospital’s dedication to quality outcomes for
patients and a work culture that values teamwork and cooperation.
“I am so proud of our team for their commitment to meet and exceed
these high standards,” said
Anne Whiteside, BSN, MBA, Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer at Valley Health Winchester
Medical Center.
“The Magnet application process gets more rigorous each time, requiring
evidence to substantiate all of our work. As we look back on our original
designation, we can appreciate how we have expanded our impact in many
settings of care and improved our collaboration with others to offer our
patients the best care possible. The reviewers spoke highly of our clinicians,
our culture, and our commitment to serving the community.”
Research demonstrates that Magnet recognition provides specific benefits
to health care organizations and their communities, such as:
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Higher patient satisfaction with nurse communication, availability of help
and receipt of discharge information.
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Lower risk of 30-day mortality and lower failure to rescue rates.
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Higher job satisfaction among nurses.
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Lower nurse reports of intentions to leave their positions.
Magnet recognition is the gold standard for nursing excellence and is a
factor when the public judges health care organizations. U.S. News &
World Report’s annual showcase of “America’s Best Hospitals”
includes Magnet recognition in its ranking criteria for quality of inpatient care.
The Magnet Recognition Program — administered by the American Nurses
Credentialing Center, the largest and most prominent nurses credentialing
organization in the world — identifies health care organizations
that provide the very best in nursing care and professionalism in nursing
practice. The Magnet Recognition Program serves as the gold standard for
nursing excellence and provides consumers with the ultimate benchmark
for measuring quality of care. For more information about the Magnet Recognition
Program and current statistics, visit
www.nursecredentialing.org/magnet.