Northern Westchester Hospital achieves Third Magnet® Recognition

In acknowledgement of Northern Westchester Hospital’s (NWH) nursing professionalism, teamwork and superiority in patient care, the Chair of the Commission on Magnet announced that the hospital has achieved Magnet® recognition. The American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program® is the most prestigious distinction a health care organization can receive for nursing excellence and quality patient outcomes. NWH originally achieved this designation in 2012 and has been redesignated three times. The 2021 designation includes 15 exemplars for best practices.

With this credential, NWH again joins the global community of Magnet-recognized organizations. Just 561 or 8.95% of more than 6,090 U.S. healthcare organizations have achieved Magnet recognition. NWH was also the first hospital nationwide to be both Planetree Designated with Distinction and Magnet recognized, which means that NWH is a nationally recognized leader for patient-centered care, committed to fostering patient and family engagement and creating innovative programs and services that are fundamentally attentive to the needs of patients and their families.

According to Catherine Manley-Cullen, MS, RN, NEA-BC, associate executive director, Patient Care Services and chief nursing officer, the designation reflects NWH’s commitment to nursing excellence and the organization’s focus on quality outcomes and patient safety. She notes that NWH provides incentives for its RNs to obtain higher levels of education, including baccalaureate, and graduate preparation, as well as certification in their specialties.

“We’re proud to meet ANCC’s rigorous standards for nursing excellence, which is the ultimate benchmark to measure nursing practices, outcomes and the quality of patient care,” she says. “Achieving Magnet recognition reinforces the culture of excellence that is a cornerstone of how we serve our community, and tangible evidence of our nurses’ commitment to providing the very best quality, and family-centered care to our patients.”

“It is extremely rare for a site to receive magnet designation without a request for supplemental documentation, so we are tremendously proud of the feedback we received from ANCC,” says Cathy Waters, MSN, RN, OCN, NEA-BC, Magnet Program Director. “Receiving 15 exemplars for best practices truly validates the culturally and socially sensitive care that clinical nurses provide throughout the hospital and our community. This is the result of truly collaborative efforts by all our team members.”

ANCC cited NWH for best practices in 15 areas including the treatment of socially isolated COVID-19 patients; NICU patients; pediatric patients with neurobehavioral disorder; behavioral health and complementary therapies; care for the community’s immigrant population; homeless individuals and families; and global health outreach. In addition, NWH outperformed national benchmarks for RN satisfaction; prevention of falls, pressure injuries and infections; and a variety of inpatient and ambulatory patient satisfaction outcomes.

In many cases, ANCC highlighted NWH’s creativity. For example, it was so successful in helping isolated COVID patients forge human connections using iPads, music therapy and Reiki that the program expanded into the community to reach socially isolated seniors. To help parents with infants in the NICU deal with COVID visitation restrictions, nurses instituted the use of Angel Eye technology, a camera that allowed friends and family to watch infants through a password-protected, HIPPA compliant website. The hospital also established a community garden where staff grow fresh vegetables that are provided to patients in need at time of discharge.

Research demonstrates that Magnet recognition provides specific benefits to health care organizations and their communities that includes higher patient satisfaction with nurse communication, availability of help and receipt of discharge information; lower risk of 30-day mortality and lower failure to rescue rates; and higher job satisfaction among nurses.

Magnet recognition is the gold standard for nursing excellence and is a factor when the public evaluates healthcare organizations. U.S. News & World Report’s annual showcase of “America’s Best Hospitals” includes Magnet recognition in its ranking criteria for quality of inpatient care.

The Magnet Model provides a framework for nursing practice, research, and measurement of outcomes. Through this framework, ANCC evaluates applicants across a number of components and dimensions to gauge an organization’s nursing excellence. The foundation of this model comprises various elements deemed essential to delivering superior patient care, including the quality of nursing leadership, coordination and collaboration across specialties, as well as processes for measuring and improving the quality and delivery of care.

To achieve Magnet recognition, organizations must pass a rigorous and lengthy process that demands widespread participation from leadership and staff. This process includes an electronic application, written patient care documentation, a site survey and a review by the Commission on Magnet Recognition.