Bon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital has achieved Magnet redesignation for its nursing excellence by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), hospital officials learned on May 18, 2022. Magnet designation is one of the most prestigious and coveted recognitions in the country that a hospital can achieve for nursing excellence.
Mary Immaculate Hospital received initial recognition in 2017. With this redesignation, Mary Immaculate Hospital is one of two hospitals on the peninsula to maintain this prestigious status and one of only 27 hospitals across the state of Virginia to receive Magnet recognition.
“We are so proud of our outstanding nursing team for their commitment to excellence and for continuing to deliver quality, compassionate care to our community, which so closely follows the Mission of Bon Secours,” said Darlene Stephenson, president of Bon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital. “This redesignation is evidence that in addition to quality patient care, nursing excellence is a priority for our hospital. We are fortunate to have these amazing nurses here at Mary Immaculate.”
Maintaining its ANCC Magnet Recognition® status reaffirms Mary Immaculate’s nursing team as one of the most advanced and exceptional organizations in the country. This redesignation comes following a document submission in October of 2021. ANCC appraisers visited Mary Immaculate Hospital in March 2022 for a rigorous three-day appraisal visit with leaders and more than 150 members of the nursing staff. The appraisers’ goal was to “verify, clarify and amplify” what was written in the documents.
ANCC developed the Magnet Recognition Program® as a way to differentiate hospitals and health care organizations and honor nursing excellence based on a rigorous audit process. Currently, only 584 hospitals across the nation have designated ANCC Magnet Recognition® status. According to Magnet, designated hospitals are chosen based on a solid professional environment, guided by a strong visionary nursing leader who advocates and supports development and excellence in nursing practice.
“Over the past two years, our nurses have been faced with some of the toughest challenges of their careers and they are still at the top of their game,” said Robin Baldauf, vice president and chief nursing officer for Bon Secours Mary Immaculate Hospital. “It is an honor, especially on the heels of Nurses Week, to be recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center as a Magnet hospital for nursing excellence again.”
Once an organization achieves Magnet status, they must reapply every four years and go through a lengthy data collection and review process to maintain their designation. Mary Immaculate’s application for redesignation was outcome-focused, with many examples of clinical nurse and nurse leader involvement in leading changes that resulted in improved outcomes for patients and the nurse practice environment. The application also required the organization to demonstrate better than the mean nurse sensitive indicator data for the majority of the most recent eight consecutive quarters, including patient falls, urinary tract infections, central line infections and pressure ulcers, among others. In addition to exceeding benchmarks, the nursing department must also demonstrate and provide evidence of empirical outcomes for a number of standards established by the ANCC. For more information about the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet Recognition Program®, visit http://www.nursecredentialing.org/magnet.
Mary Immaculate Hospital, which recently celebrated its 70th anniversary of providing care to the community, is a 123-bed acute-care hospital with an array of health care services located in Newport News serving Virginia’s Lower Peninsula and the greater Hampton Roads region.