Ways to Improve Healthcare

Magnet Status for Hospitals The purpose of this white paper is to explain and advocate for hospitals to seek out and obtain magnet status from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). The magnet serves the dual purpose of proving that a hospital operates at a high level and it creates a number of internal and external benefits.

While no hospital should be complacent or lackadaisical about their performance and progress, achieving magnet status per the ANCC guidelines is a high honor and it will bring prestige and recognition to the hospital. Summary of Magnet Status & its Benefits As briefly mentioned in the introduction, the magnet status of hospitals is given, rescinded and regulated by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

The magnet recognition is similar to other industry standards and certifications both in the healthcare industry and outside of it in that it shows that hospitals are operating up to or in excess of a minimum standard as it relates to quality of care, administration and innovations used and achieved within and during the practice of nursing. Achieving such status is by no means but it has a demonstrable amount of benefits (ANCC, 2014).

As stated on the ANCC website itself, the magnet designation is an organizational credential that is awarded and given to health care organizations that meet or exceed all of the ANCC standards for the overall quality of patient care, nursing excellence and level of innovation in overall nursing practice.

They describe the designation as the "ultimate distinction" for high quality nursing practice and it is a leading avenue of knowledge and stewardship for nursing best practices worldwide (ANCC, 2014) The benefits of attaining magnet status are also listed on the ANCC website.

They include the ability attract and retain top talent, the improvement of patient care, safety and satisfaction, the ability to foster a collaborative and cooperative culture, an advancement in nursing standards and overall practices and the ability to grow one's business and achieve financial success in the healthcare sector.

Drilling a beat deeper on the above, the ANCC fleshes out the benefits by suggesting that there will be increase registered nurse retention, less burnout from nurses and other staff, less patient falls, lower mortality rates, fewer pressure ulcers, higher patient satisfaction, and better overall quality of patient care and patient safety (ANCC, 2014). In short, any hospital reading this white paper should see the benefits and information above and the importance of setting one's self apart in a crowded, tumultuous and ever-changing healthcare sector.

As the Baby Boomers start to work their way through retirement age, the healthcare system will have to adapt, change and evolve greatly in the years and decades to come and beyond.

To receive a designation from the greatest minds and industry leaders that head up and support the ANCC would have immeasurable benefit and would actually help to weed out healthcare providers that are not providing quality care as people would tend to flock more to healthcare options that are high-quality, reasonably and properly priced and able to provide services in a timely and efficient manner. While people lament the idea that healthcare should not be about marketing and polish, it often is.

While some people go with the cheapest and most available option, that is not the penchant of most consumers, at least not to the most extreme degree. Patients have choices they can make and they will tend to stick with providers that have name-brand recognition, that have received industry and/or media accolades due to their quality and that have high customer surveys. The ANCC magnet designation is not the only proverbial tool in the toolbox so to speak, but it should certainly be one of the primary ones used.

The two major benefits of achieving the ANCC magnet designation is that it will differentiate and distinguish a hospital or doctor's office from its competitors and it will also lead to the highest and most efficient quality of care and society as a whole wins when more and more hospitals are reaching the bar set by the ANCC or whomever one is speaking of and the more that do so, the better.

The profit motive of a lot of hospitals is decried and criticized at times but designations like this make for some.