Journey to Magnet Excellence

Creating and sustaining a culture of excellence is what it means to be on the Magnet^® journey. The process of applying for Magnet designation is thorough and lengthy, demanding widespread participation within the organization. Health care organizations find the journey to be a revealing self assessment, creating opportunity for organizational advancement, team building, and enhancement of individual professional self esteem.

1. Analyze Gaps

• Compare your organization's current performance with the elements of each source of evidence.
• Develop Action plans to achieve higher performance levels.

2. Access Assistance

• Once your application is accepted, a Senior Program Analyst is assigned to your organization. Throughout the application process, the designated Magnet Program Director may contact the assigned analyst to clarify questions regarding the intent of the standards and documentation requirements.

3. Transform Culture

• Educate staff about the Magnet Model and the evidence needed to show how they are embraced by your organization.
• Create infrastructure to support programs such as shared governance, quality improvement, peer review, evidence based practice, collegial teamwork, nursing research, etc.
• Engage the nurse staff to use these infrastructures to advance professional nursing practice in the organization.
• Critically examine the organization culture that evolves as a result of these changes to ensure that the infrastructures and culture are firmly embedded in the organization.
• Create timeline and work teams to complete written documentation portion of the application.
• Acknowledge achievements and continually evaluate and improve.
• Gain top leadership support and involvement.