The American Nurses Credentialing Center, a branch of the American Nurses Association, today awarded Southeast Missouri Hospital the Magnet Nursing Services Recognition Award. This is the nation’s highest honor a hospital can receive for nursing care.

The award recognizes excellence in all aspects of nursing services, including leadership and management philosophy, staff satisfaction, the practice environment and the quality of patient care.

Magnet hospitals are considered to be national models for patient care.

What is Magnet recognition?

Magnet designation is the highest level of recognition that the American Nurses Credentialing Center can accord to healthcare organizations that provide the services of registered professional nurses. The Magnet Recognition Program was created to advance three goals:

• promote quality in a milieu that supports professional practice;
• identify excellence in the delivery of nursing services to patients/residents; and
• provide a mechanism for the dissemination of “best practices” in nursing services.

The Magnet Recognition Program recognizes quality patient care and nursing excellence, providing consumers with the ultimate benchmark to measure the quality of care that they can expect to receive. As a natural outcome of this, the program elevates the reputation and standards of the nursing profession.

Achievement of Magnet designation serves to attract and retain quality employees, regardless of the healthcare organization’s size, setting, or location. Magnet designation helps consumers locate healthcare organizations that have a proven level of excellence in nursing care. “In an environment rife with controversy about patient safety in hospitals, medical error rates, and nursing shortages, consumers need to know how good the care is at their local hospital. [Magnet is] a seal of approval for quality nursing care.” (The Magnet Nursing Services Recognition Program: A Comparison of Two Groups of Magnet Hospitals.)

According to The Reader’s Digest, patients are instructed to “Locate the nearest magnet. If you can easily check into a magnet hospital you’d be foolish not to.” The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations describes Magnet as, “Recognizing quality patient care and nursing excellence, the Magnet Recognition Program provides consumers with the ultimate benchmark to measure the quality of care they can expect to receive.”

Dr. Karen Hendrickson, EdD, RN, CNAA, BC, Vice President/Chief Nursing Officer, says, "Overwhelmingly, new members of our nursing staff feel that one of Southeast Missouri Hospital’s greatest assets is the ability of our veteran nurses to take advantage of what Dr. Richard Flaksman would call 'teachable moments.' Magnet Hospital recognition means continued education and growth. This is often best accomplished through experience and knowledge passed from one nurse to another. It is this type of support from one another that helps us to retain our Magnet status and that is what Magnet means to our patients — having the most knowledgeable and experienced nurses in the area working together to provide each patient with the best care available."

She continued, "I want to thank all the nurses for going above and beyond to provide our patients with excellent care and for making it possible for Southeast Missouri Hospital to be a “Magnet” in our community."

Click here to see the Hospital's Magnet Ambassadors