PROFESSIONALISM
MAGNET. The word conjures
images of items on a refrigerator
door or maybe a red and white iron
horseshoe. For professional nurses,
however, it’s more like pure gold.
Magnet is a designation developed
by the American Nurses Creden-
tialing Center, ANCC. It is given to
organizations that can prove they
meet rigorous standards for nurs-
ing excellence. To date, fewer than
7 percent of all registered hospitals
in the United States have achieved
Magnet recognition. Kootenai Health
is among them.
I T T A K E S A L O T
T O B E A T T H E T O P
“When Kootenai frst started look-
ing at what it would take to receive
Magnet designation, there were a
few surprises,” said MarianWilson,
R.N. “The informationwe were read-
ing said we would need to report on
the research our nurses were doing,
but at that time, our nurses weren’t
conducting formal nursing research.
We really had to change the way we
thought about the role of nurses.”
They did. Today Kootenai Health
nurses work closely with profession-
als from a variety of felds to research
everything from better ways to pre-
vent urinary tract infections to the
effects of yoga on adolescent patients
and better ways to helpmothers suc-
cessfully nurse their newborns. In
its most recent Magnet survey, the
ANCCgave Kootenai an “Exemplar,”
its highest ranking, for research.
“When you think about it, who is
better equipped to improve patient
care than the nurses who are caring
for patients every day?”Wilson said.
Nurses Raising the Bar
K OO T E N A I H E A L T H , F I R S T D E S I GN AT E D A MA GN E T
FA C I L I T Y I N 2 0 0 6 , R E C E N T LY R E C E I V E D R E D E S I GN AT I ON
D I S C O V E R
For more information on
recent and ongoing nursing
research at Kootenai Health, visit
KootenaiHealth.org/Magnet
.
By Kim Anderson
E X P A N D E D B E N E F I T S
The work Kootenai’s nurses are do-
ing is helping patients beyond their
own walls as well.
“We’re sharingwhat we learn from
our research with other hospitals to
help them improve their practice as
well,” Wilson said. “We are also pre-
senting information at conferences,
publishing in health care journals
and learning fromother Magnet hos-
pitals. It’s all about fnding what is
best for patients and spreading the
word so everyone benefts.”
Research is just one aspect of
Magnet designation. Others include
strong, knowledgeable nursing
leadership, management practices
that support staff involvement in
decision making, the encourage-
ment of continued education and
professional development, strong
partnerships with other local organi-
zations and schools of nursing, and
an environment focused on continu-
ously improving patient care. In all
there are 14 “forces of magnetism”
Kootenai had to show proof of to
retain its Magnet designation.
It wasn’t easy. Each time an or-
ganization seeks redesignation as
Magnet, the bar is raised.
“The survey team isn’t just look-
ing for evidence that you meet the
standard,” said Carmen Brochu,
chief nursing officer at Kootenai.
“They want to fnd proof that you are
improving. Status quo cannot exist.
To be Magnet you have to recognize
that no matter howwell you are do-
ing things, you can always fndways
to do them better. It is the reason
Magnet sets the rising bar for nurs-
ing nationally and internationally.”
Kim Berberick, Patrick
Stanford and Marian Wilson
are all part of Kootenai’s
outstanding nursing team.
KOO T E NA I
H E A L T H
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