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Pressroom:
Children's awarded Magnet status in recognition of nursing excellence
First exclusively pediatric hospital in New England to receive the distinction
January 14, 2008
(Boston, Mass.)--Children's Hospital Boston has been awarded Magnet status, an exclusive designation developed by the American Nurses Credentialing Center to recognize health care organizations that exemplify nursing excellence. Only 5 percent of hospitals worldwide have achieved Magnet status; Children's is now the first exclusively pediatric hospital in New England to receive the distinction.

"The entire organization is so proud of this accomplishment," says James Mandell, MD, president and CEO. "It reinforces what we've always known about our nurses: that they provide the best care every day to some of the sickest children in the world, and they do it with expertise, empathy and the firm belief that they truly can make a difference in the lives of our patient families."

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Children's nurses celebrating after receiving Magnet status
Widely considered the gold standard in recognition of nursing excellence, the application for Magnet status began in September 2006 with a multi-phased examination and evaluation of the hospital's nursing practices. Once the application was accepted, a three-day site visit to Children's and its network was conducted by the Magnet Recognition Program in November. While at Children's, the surveyors examined the 168 nursing criteria outlined in the application and conducted interviews with hundreds of nurses, hospital staff and administrators, patients and families.

"The entire Magnet review process was extremely rewarding as it demonstrated the collective efforts and experience of people throughout this organization to successfully care for our patients and families," says Eileen Sporing, MSN, RN, senior vice president of Patient Care Operations. "I am privileged to work alongside such wonderful people and having Magnet status underscores the fact that Children's has a world-class nursing organization."

Magnet status provides consumers with the ultimate benchmark to measure the quality of care that they can expect to receive. According to studies conducted by the Journal of Nursing Administration, Magnet hospitals achieve better outcomes and rank significantly higher in organization support, workload and satisfaction among nursing staff than non-Magnet hospitals. Currently, there are about 275 Magnet-certified hospitals nation-wide--and only five in all of Massachusetts.
The Magnet Recognition Program was first created in 1983 by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (a unit of the American Nurses Association) in an effort to distinguish the top nursing institutions from their peers. The program identified 14 characteristics of hospitals that were best able to recruit and retain nurses known as the Forces of Magnetism. In order to achieve and retain Magnet status, hospitals must embody these Forces:
  1. Quality of Nursing Leadership
  2. Organizational Structure
  3. Management Style
  4. Personnel Policies and Programs
  5. Professional Models of Care
  6. Quality of Care
  7. Quality Improvement
  8. Consultation and Resources
  9. Autonomy
  10. Community and Healthcare Organization
  11. Nurses as Teachers
  12. Images of Nursing
  13. Interdisciplinary Relationships
  14. Professional Development

Contact:
James Newton
617-919-3110
james.newton@childrens.harvard.edu

Founded in 1869 as a 20-bed hospital for children, Children's Hospital Boston today is the nation's leading pediatric medical center, the largest provider of health care to Massachusetts children, and the primary pediatric teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. In addition to 377 pediatric and adolescent inpatient beds and comprehensive outpatient programs, Children's houses the world's largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center, where its discoveries benefit both children and adults. More than 500 scientists, including eight members of the National Academy of Sciences, nine members of the Institute of Medicine and 10 members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute comprise Children's research community. For more information about the hospital visit: www.childrenshospital.org/newsroom.

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Additional Resources
What is Magnet?
Magnet status and patient care
American Nurses Credentialing Center
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