The ANA’s Magnet Status process is a significant award which can be awarded to a hospital. This Status program has positive impact upon the working conditions for the employees of the hospital and the patients’ outcome at the same time. The integration of the evidence-based approach to the nursing practice requires implementation of the four main stages, including the leadership commitment, identification the areas of concern, focus on the internal expertise, implementing the evidence-based approach in practice and contributing to research.
The leadership commitment is required for creating favorable conditions for empirical research and implementation of the achieved results in professional practice and improving the patients’ outcomes. A significant advantage of this status is involving nurses into the decision making process (“Thinking about Taking the Magnet Status Journey”). Feeling that they do make things happen, nurses enhance their commitment and improve the performance.
The main empirical outcomes of the Magnet Status include transformational leadership, structural empowerment, innovative improvements and exemplary professional practice (“Thinking about Taking the Magnet Status Journey”). Affecting various levels of the hospital operations, the work which is done for receiving the Status is expected to increase the effectiveness of the procedures and allows hospitals to grow and flourish.
The task of the hospital administration is to create the environment in which nurses read and critique professional articles and question the effectiveness of the existing practices, changing their practice and the research outcomes through implementing the research findings into practice (Turkel, Reidinger, Ferket, & Reno, 2005, p. 254). Application of the evidence based practice as the first but significant step in Magnet recognition process allows modeling nursing excellence within the clinical setting.
The participation in the Magnet recognition process has positive implications for the nurses’ involvement into the decision-making process and improving their commitment which results in better patient outcomes.
Reference List
Dowden, S., McCarthy, M. and Chalkiadis, G. (2008). Achieving organizational change in pediatric pain management. Pain Research and Management, 13(4): 321- 326.
Turkel, M., Reidinger, G., Ferket, K. & Reno, K. (2005). An essential component of the magnet journey: fostering an environment for evidence-based practice and nursing research. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 29(3), 254-262.
“Thinking about Taking the Magnet Status Journey”. Online video clip. American Nurses Credentialing Center. Web.