Charles Nailen/The Hoya Christine Walsh (right) and Mariella While check supplies in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit at Georgetown University Hospital.
The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) has designated Georgetown University Hospital with “magnet status,” an award presented to fewer than 2 percent of hospitals in the nation recognizing health care organizations that provide superior nursing care.
Georgetown University Hospital is the first hospital in the District of Columbia to receive this award.
In order to complete the 2,700-page appraisal documentation required for magnet status, nursing administrators at Georgetown began the application process during June of last year.
The designation of magnet status increases the ability of GU Hospital to attract, recruit and retain highly skilled nurses.
According to a study by the American Healthcare Association, hospitals that are designated as magnet healthcare organizations had a vacancy rate of 9.6 percent, which is less than the 12.7 percent rate present in other short-term care hospitals and almost half the 18.5 percent rate present in long-term healthcare facilities.
This lowered vacancy rate is particularly valuable to hospitals nationwide during a time of nursing shortages.
“Magnet hospitals have higher-educated nurses, great [doctor-nurse] relationships and teamwork with all the health-related specialties,” Molly Billingsley, assistant vice president for nursing and patient support services, said. “Statistically, research has suggested that magnet hospitals have reduced rates of mortality and morbidity and increased patient satisfaction.”
Billingsley credits the agreeable atmosphere of the hospital with the authority and influence that the Chief Nursing Office has in the decision-making at GU Hospital.
Many of the top administrators are registered nurses, allowing them to advocate on behalf of the nurses, patients and other staff at the hospital, she said.
In addition, GU Hospital has a policy of “shared governance,” in which nurses who are closest to patients are allowed to make the nursing practice decisions that they feel is best for that patient.
Fourteen major criteria are required for the documentation, Christine Walsh, a registered nurse at the hospital, said.
These criteria mainly involved the hospital’s implementation of standards on the basis of its structure, leadership and management philosophies. These standards included the level of satisfaction among nurses and patients, the turnover rate among nurses, the level of education of nurses and the relationship between nurses and physicians.
Once the written documentation was submitted to the ANCC, each of the standards was scored. The application is then either accepted or rejected depending on the score the hospital receives.
According to Walsh, when GU Hospital submitted their documentation they received a reply from the ANCC which accepted their application with commendation. A site visit was then conducted at the hospital in November in order to verify the content of the written documentation and evaluate the work environment.
According to Walsh, the satisfying work environment is the reason why she has decided to continue her practice at GU Hospital.
“I work with great people. That’s the reason I stay at Georgetown,” Walsh said. “I like the atmosphere. It’s much more caring than other places. I hope the best nurses will come to Georgetown and that those nurses who are already here will stay and continue to develop what we have built.”
