A Qualitative Exploration of Chief Nursing Officer Perspectives on Maintaining Magnet® Designation

Hospital nurse managers' perspectives of the Magnet Recognition Program using an importance-performance analysis: A quantitative cross-sectional study

AIM

To explore the perspectives of nursing managers in Korean hospitals on the Magnet Recognition Program using importance-performance analysis.

DESIGN

A descriptive quantitative cross-sectional design with a survey methodology was used to evaluate nursing managers' perceptions of the Magnet Recognition Program criteria.

METHODS

After the Magnet Recognition Program's content validity was confirmed, an online survey was administered to 150 nursing managers from 10 hospitals. The results were analysed using importance-performance analysis.

RESULTS

The average importance of the questionnaire for the developed Magnet Recognition Program criteria was 3.19 ± 135 and the performance was 2.90 ± 222. Items corresponding to the areas 'Concentrate here', 'Keep up the good work', 'Possible overkill' and 'Low priority' were identified using two importance-performance analysis frames. The items corresponding to 'Concentrate here' included evidence-based nursing practice, the nursing professional practice model, nurses' participation in improving turnover rate and cases of innovation in nursing.

CONCLUSION

This study highlights areas for improvement within the Magnet Recognition Program as perceived by Korean nursing managers, emphasizing evidence-based practice, professional models and nurses' involvement in turnover reduction and fostering innovation.

PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

To achieve Magnet recognition, hospitals must understand nursing managers' perspectives on the Magnet Recognition Program criteria. This study provides insights into enhancing the work environment for nurses in South Korean hospitals and lays the groundwork for developing effective Magnet certification programs. Introducing the Magnet program into South Korean hospitals may improve the overall nursing work environment and mitigate the serious problem of nursing staff turnover.

REPORTING METHOD

The findings were reported using the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) checklist.

Laying the foundations for implementing Magnet principles in hospitals in Europe: A qualitative analysis

BACKGROUND

Magnet hospitals, a concept developed in the U.S., have been associated with improved nurse recruitment and retention, and better patient outcomes. Magnet principles may be useful to address workforce challenges in European hospitals, but they have not been implemented or evaluated on a large scale in the European hospital context.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to explore the initial phase of implementing Magnet principles in 11 acute care hospitals in six European countries. The specific objectives of the study were to investigate the type of work that characterises the early phase of implementation and how implementation leaders engage with their context.

METHODS

A multinational qualitative study was conducted, with data from 23 semi-structured, one-to-one interviews with implementation leaders in 11 acute care hospitals in six European countries. Thematic analyses guided the analysis of data.

FINDINGS

Three themes of core work processes during the early phase of implementing Magnet principles in European hospitals were identified. The first theme, 'Creating space for Magnet', describes how work was directed towards creating both political and organisational space for the project. The second theme, 'Framing to fit: understanding and interpreting Magnet principles', describes the translational work to understand what the Magnet model entails and how it relates to the local hospital context. Finally, the third theme, 'Calibrating speed and dose', describes the strategic work of considering internal and external factors to adjust the process of implementation.

CONCLUSIONS

The first phase of implementation was characterised by conceptual and relational work; translating the Magnet concepts, considering the fit into existing structures and practices and making space for Magnet in the local context. Understanding the local context played an important role in shaping and guiding the navigation of professional and organisational tensions. Hospitals employed diverse strategies to either emphasise or downplay the role of nurses and nursing to facilitate progress in the implementation.

Come aboard the Magnet Journey

In 2007, Diane Ream Rourke published in this journal, the history and explanation for Baptist Hospital in Florida to include its library on its successful Magnet journey. This article draws heavily from American Nursing Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet Information pages. It begins with a quick review of the history of the Program, further suggestions for a librarian's contribution to obtain Magnet Recognition and a brief current literature review on the values Magnet Recognition brings to a hospital's economics, patient care, and nursing staff. The quick history review and suggestions on the librarian contribution to the Magnet journey are based on an invited CE course by this author. The literature review on the values Magnet Recognition brings to a hospital's economics, patient care, and nursing staff was part of a presentation this author prepared for the Chief of Nursing. This author was a Magnet Champion and Magnet exemplar when Virtua Health first earned its first Magnet designation.