“Magnet” Hospitals Report Superior Operational Excellence and Lower Mortality Rates

A study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing found that hospitals that achieve “magnet” status exhibit better quality of care, lower mortality rates in surgical patients, and overall operational excellence. 

According to researchers from Penn Nursing, only 8 percent of hospitals in the U.S. have received magnet status, an award given by the American Nurses' Credentialing Center to hospitals that satisfy a set of criteria designed to measure the strength and quality of their nursing. Researchers found that magnet hospitals saw 14 percent lower odds of death than non-magnet hospitals and 12 percent lower odds of failure to rescue. Emphasis on communication, incentive programs for best-practice nursing, fewer overextended nurses, and overall nurse satisfaction are the key factors researchers attribute to better outcomes at magnet hospitals.

Satisfaction in the workplace and high standards for nurses have been associated with better patient care for a long time, reported an article from Fierce Health. "Our findings reinforce that better work environments for nurses are the distinguishing factor between magnet and non-magnet hospitals and are the key to better patient outcomes," said lead study author Matthew D. McHugh, a public health policy expert at Penn Nursing. This study is one of many that have found a correlation between improved patient care and magnet status; a study from the Journal of the American Medical Association found Magnet hospitals to have better neonatal ICU outcomes.

Magnet hospitals receive recognition based on multiple areas of care and procedure; it is not only the operational excellence of the nurses alone, but also how their presence is received and implemented into the hospital as a whole.

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