To become a competent and valued member of a Magnet-recognized medical facility, a nursing practitioner is expected to have completed the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree. My Magnet journey has been completed via the accomplishment of the BSN program, during which I was able to accumulate and develop a set of nursing skills, knowledge, and competencies necessary for making a valuable contribution to hospitals with excellent performance and the healthcare system of the USA in general. This paper is designed to describe the experiences and lessons learned during the program, demonstrate the skills and competencies generated during the Magnet journey, and explain how they are helpful in the nursing practice. The paper demonstrates that the abundance of disciplines and clinical practice experiences allows for informing one’s decision-making, quality of performance, and delivery of patient-centered, evidence-based care to the served populations. The reflection on the acquired competencies and obtained personal improvements are presented within such three areas as Magnet concepts, QSEN competencies, and program outcomes.
Professional Nursing-Related Improvement throughout the Program: Improvements within Magnet Concepts
Magnet recognition is a renowned and valuable reward obtained by healthcare facilities that allow them to engage in continuous improvement of performance excellence for flawless patient care delivery. According to the program’s mission, Magnet helps “nurses, in collaboration with the interprofessional team, flourish by setting the standard for excellence through leadership, scientific discovery, and dissemination and implementation of new knowledge” (American Nurses Credentialing Center [ANCC], 2020, para. 1). The BSN program was an invaluable source for my improvement of competencies and skills within the domain of Magnet concepts and principles, which will help me collaborate effectively in an advanced healthcare setting. According to the Upstate Medical University (2022), there are five core Magnet concepts, including transformational leadership, structural empowerment, exemplary practice, new knowledge, innovation and improvements, and empirical outcomes. These elements, in their unity, create a fundamental basis for one’s individual professional growth in an environment striving for performance excellence.
Transformational Leadership
During the educational journey, I was able to master my leadership skills and establish a solid basis for the leadership style necessary for adequate working with individuals in a hospital and beyond. Indeed, through the studying of leadership theories in general and the principles of transformational leadership in particular, I formed a fundamental understanding of the importance of using transformational leadership to encourage exceptional quality of work and strive for continuous improvements. According to Asif et al. (2019), transformational leadership is “a type of relational leadership where the leaders have respect and trust from their followers and put extra efforts to accomplish institutional objectives” (p. 2). During the program, I learned that transformational leadership comprises four components, namely idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration (Asif et al., 2019). Since my obtainment of a BSN provides me with an opportunity to advance my career in the direction of once taking a leadership position, this knowledge will help me create meaningful and goal achievement-oriented relations with employees within a healthcare facility.
Structural Empowerment
The second crucial Magnet concept is structural empowerment, which relates to the organizational efforts aimed at fostering talent retention. Indeed, structural empowerment implies creating a favorable and motivating environment, which, in accord with transformational leadership, allows for increasing nursing staff’s productivity, efficiency, and performance excellence (ANCC, 2020; Upstate Medical University, 2022). During my Magnet journey, I learned that for a nurse to maintain their high level of expertise and remain a valuable part of a highly effective medical facility, they should be encouraged by the working environment and opportunities to engage in academic work, professional certification, and collaborations in committees (White, 2018). In such a manner, this knowledge has made me aware of the ways to seek developmental opportunities within my clinical practice to maintain a high level of professional expertise.
Exemplary Professional Practice
The third Magnet concept, exemplary professional practice, embodies the considerations of continuous practice improvement. The improvements are implemented through inter-disciplinary work, engagement of patients and families, as well as the provision of care according to Professional Practice Model and Care Delivery Model (Upstate Medical University, 2022). I have learned about the ways to instill a culture of safety and prioritize effective and efficient care through quality assurance across the different aspects of my work as a nurse. This knowledge has set a high benchmark for my vision of what proper patient care should be, which is why I am motivated to perform at an exemplary level.
New Knowledge, Innovation, and Improvements
The journey through the program allowed me to acquire new knowledge and familiarize myself with the idea of the importance of instilling new knowledge, up-to-date scholarly findings, and innovative solutions to perfect patient care. Overall, the program taught me the principles of committing to continuous improvements in my own skills and practice, as well as the quality level increase of the whole facility through my work as a unit in the organization. For example, in the program, I realized that access to the latest knowledge and innovative solutions in the field of nursing allows for being properly informed about the most effective, safe, and efficient means of care (Haller et al., 2018). The change this knowledge might provide for my practice as a nurse in a neurology unit is that I will attend conferences, clubs, seminars, and professional courses to learn the newest pieces of evidence in the field of my expertise.
Empirical Quality Results
The final yet central Magnet concept is empirical outcomes or quality results. They involve “the outcomes that are generated from the structures and processes that are in place in the organization” (Haller et al., 2018, p. 330). In particular, these outcomes include “clinical outcomes related to nursing; workforce outcomes; patient satisfaction results; and organizational outcomes” (Haller et al., 2018, p. 330). Within the context of my individual improvements in this area, the knowledge I acquired helps me navigate the complexities of nursing work while being guided by organizational goals and patient benefits. For example, whenever challenged with a dilemma in my nursing decision-making, I refer to the big picture and justify my solutions with the patient’s interest and organizational outcomes.
Improvements within QSEN Competencies
Another area of improvement where I was able to perfect my knowledge and skills is the domain of Quality and Safety Education in Nursing (QSEN) competencies. This sphere of competencies relates to the nursing issues of delivery of care to patients through proper evidence-based practice, safety priorities, quality improvement, and collaborative performance. The Magnet journey helped me improve my skills in terms of delivering patient-focused care with the help of best practices and collaborative efforts.
Patient-Centered Care
In the course of the program completion, I was able to achieve competence in patient-centered care through engagement in culturally sensitive care and spiritual needs assessment. Indeed, according to Spencer (2021), patient-centered care involves the consideration of specific patient needs and the ability to meet them through safe and contemporary evidence-based nursing practices. In my experience, the examples of using these skills relate to the successful establishment of rapport with patients representing ethnic minorities through the identification of their cultural perception of their conditions. Moreover, I continuously integrate spirituality-related communication with my patient to foster their recovery by focusing on their needs.
Teamwork and Collaboration
Another essential competency among QSEN competencies is teamwork and collaboration. It entails the skills of efficient interaction and exchange of care-related information with peers and team members (Spencer, 2021). I have substantially improved my skills of engaging in effective teamwork by shifting my work from the individual realm to continuous peer interaction to gain better patient outcomes. While teamwork is a challenging task that requires dealing with multiple factors, it serves as a facilitator of safety and quality of care for patients.
Evidence-Based Practice
In the BSN program, in general, and the Magnet journey, in particular, I managed to improve my knowledge about evidence-based practice and my skills in properly integrating it into my work. In particular, the evidence-based practice involves the investigation of best practices among the served population through literature reviews to be shared with coworkers and implemented in patient-focused treatment (Spencer, 2021). The skills I gained through the educational journey helped me in my decision-making when selecting or recommending the best treatment approaches for my patients. I engage in continuous scholarly literature reviews, and attend conferences and organizational programs to obtain the most recent information on clinical evidence relevant to neurology.
Quality Improvement
Another essential QSEN competency is quality improvement, which is inherently connected with evidence-based practice. Indeed, the commitment to continuous improvement of the quality of care has been taught in the program, which is why I was able to accumulate a substantial body of knowledge and skills on how to improve the quality of my practice. I have acquired skills of risk management and patient outcomes assessment to obtain data about possible drawbacks and their timely mitigation (Spencer, 2021). In my practice, I apply the skills of critical thinking and analytical thinking to detect areas of quality improvement.
Safety
Safety is one of the core values within the healthcare system and the facility where I currently work, in particular. The Magnet journey helped me advance my critical thinking skills to assess different factors in the patient care setting and ensure that the patient’s safety is prioritized at all times. For example, I implement the latest evidence-based practices to minimize the risks of hospital-acquired infections and pressure ulcers in my patients (Spencer, 2021). Moreover, I make sure to comply with the safety guidelines and protocols in effect at my facility to minimize risks and follow conventional procedures (Spencer, 2021). Overall, the prioritization of patient safety as the outcome of the program completion has helped me improve the quality of my work and enhance patient satisfaction.
Informatics
The use of nursing informatics as a developed competence has been a more practice-oriented skill, which allows me to access databases and use software for the benefit of the patient’s outcomes and the convenience of my duty accomplishments. Indeed, according to Spencer (2021), when managing large volumes of data and ensuring decision-making, informatics helps nurses remain efficient. In my daily practice, I use nursing informatics skills when reviewing and filling out electronic patient health records and studying health history, as well as working with prescriptions.
Improvements Based on Program Outcomes
The communication experiences through the Magnet journey were a fruitful contribution to my professional growth. Firstly, I was able to practice effective communication strategies for competent interaction with patients under stressful circumstances. The skills of active listening, empathetic communication, and feedback eliciting were particularly mastered and helped me in my daily activities as a nurse in an acute neurology unit. Secondly, in the program, I had valuable experiences in enhancing my skills of communicating with peer nursing practitioners to facilitate problem-solving and decision-making capabilities. Indeed, interprofessional collaboration is based on effective and clear communication, which is why this experience remains relevant to my current practice (Spencer, 2021). Thirdly, the program advanced my experience in establishing efficient inter-disciplinary communication to incorporate multi-dimensional evidence to inform patient-centered best practices. Since my work requires continuous interactions with pharmacists, physicians, and occupational therapists, these skills improvements serve as a significant basis for achieving performance excellence.
Integrated Evidence for Patient Care
Through the program curriculum, I have acquired knowledge and skills in integrating evidence and cultivating clinical judgment when providing quality care to patients. In my practice, I strive to find the balance between best practices and patient preferences through the search for evidence and engaging in inter-professional collaboration (Asif et al., 2019). Although the integration of multiple factors is a challenging task when aiming for performance excellence and patient satisfaction, the program has equipped me with proper clinical judgment skills that help me differentiate between different pieces of evidence when a solution needs to be found fast. The review of evidence charts and the identification of relevant data across voluminous information bodies help me navigate daily routines in my nursing practice.
Evaluation of Patient Care Environment
Throughout the program, the issue of preserving patient safety throughout their hospital experience has been repeatedly emphasized. Specifically, I have acquired valuable skills in clinical reasoning and analytical thinking when evaluating the environment for safety issues. Indeed, according to GĂĽltekin et al. (2018), acute care units are marked by elevated stress levels, which might hinder patient outcomes due to the burden of psychological distress. In my work, I apply the skills of environmental evaluation by surveying patients and using safety standards to ensure that harmful factors are eliminated in a timely manner.
Leadership for Research and Management
Leadership skills are particularly important for a nursing practitioner due to the ability to recognize the relations between followers and leaders and cooperate in a functional environment. For example, as one of the outcomes of the Magnet journey, I was able to apply leadership skills, such as empowerment and self-education, to work with my patients when engaging in patient education practices (Asif et al., 2019). Furthermore, the improved management skills due to the program completion helped me navigate teamwork and initiate collaborative practices with my peers to maximize evidence-based practice integration in the facility. One of the specific examples of using management skills in my practice is the organization of a conference for the nursing staff to present findings for safety assurance in the unit.
Exhibition of Nursing Professionalism
Finally, the Magnet journey has empowered my ability to facilitate my professionalism as a nurse. In general, professionalism within the context of the Magnet journey is viewed as a pivotal element intertwining all the concepts since the strive for achieving high levels of professionalism allows for cultivating safety innovation, leadership, empirical outcomes, and structural empowerment (Haller et al., 2018). Thanks to the program, I was able to develop my professional values and integrate them into my practice. The values include performance excellence, prioritization of patient needs, clarity of communication, integration of evidence, and direction at innovation. These values, intertwined with the improvements in the Magnet concepts, have informed my performance as a quality-driven nursing practitioner.
Conclusion
In summary, the paper has presented my experiences through the Magnet journey, acquired skills and knowledge, generated improvements, and their benefits for my nursing practice. Overall, the BSN program has provided me with a substantial theoretical basis for competent, quality, safe, and evidence-based patient-centered care. The integration of Magnet concepts into the program has further advanced my competencies in the areas pertinent to working in performance excellence and continuously improving facilities. QSEN competencies and program-specific outcomes have become an inevitable part of my daily work with my patients. I strive to engage in research and continuous learning for professional growth. I work with the latest evidence and scholarly literature to make informed decisions based on best practices, as well as integrate culturally sensitive care principles to meet patients’ needs and maximize their favorable recovery outcomes. Collaborative work and interdisciplinary communication skills empower me and help bring improvements to my work environment.
References
American Nurses Credentialing Center. (2020). About Magnet. Web.
Asif, M., Jameel, A., Hussain, A., Hwang, J., & Sahito, N. (2019). Linking transformational leadership with nurse-assessed adverse patient outcomes and the quality of care: Assessing the role of job satisfaction and structural empowerment. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(13), 1-15.
Gültekin, Y., Özçelik, Z., Akıncı, S. B., & Yorgancı, H. K. (2018). Evaluation of stressors in intensive care units. Turkish Journal of Surgery, 34(1), 5-8.
Haller, K., Berends, W., & Skillin, P. (2018). Organizational culture and nursing practice: The Magnet recognition program® as a framework for positive change. Revista MĂ©dica ClĂnica Las Condes, 29(3), 328-335.
Spencer, J. A. (2021). Integrating service learning into the RN to BSN curriculum with the application of QSEN competencies. Journal of Professional Nursing, 37(6), 1044-1048.
Upstate Medical University. (2022). Magnet recognition model. Web.
White, L. (2018). The value of ANCC’s Magnet recognition program [R]: A CNO’s perspective: Reap the benefits of retention, innovation, and a safe workplace. American Nurse Today, 13(9), 36-38.