Media Center

April 2007

Hudson Valley Hospital Center 1st in Region To Receive MAGNET Status

Prestigious Nursing Award Raises Quality of Care in Cortlandt Hospital
The nursing leadership team at Hudson Valley Hospital Center, Cortlandt Manor, NY proudly announces that the Department of Nursing has received the prestigious Magnet Award for Nursing Excellence. Hudson Valley Hospital Center is the first hospital in a seven-county region (Putnam, Dutchess, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Ulster, Sullivan) to attain the highly coveted Magnet™ designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Our Nursing Department began working toward this goal in 2002. Magnet designation is granted only to hospitals that undergo a rigorous, voluntary evaluation that must have the support of executive leadership. Magnet designation is the highest national recognition a nursing service can receive. “The Magnet journey is a commitment to excellence. It was the perseverance, professionalism and dedication of our nurses, who make a difference in the lives of our patients every day, that enabled this recognition,” states Kathy Webster, RN, MSN,CNAA, vice president of patient services.

Less than five percent of hospitals nationwide have earned this distinction in the 17 years since the ANCC developed the Magnet Recognition Program®. Today, only 243 hospitals of some 6,000 nationwide have achieved Magnet status. Hudson Valley Hospital Center’s designation brings the number of hospitals in New York State to 16 so designated by ANCC's Magnet Program. “We have always known our nursing staff provides a superior level of care, but it is a very special time when the professional credentialing body recognizes our nurses to be performing in the top 5% of the country,” states Edward B. MacDonald, Jr., chairman of the hospital board of directors.

Magnet hospitals like Hudson Valley Hospital Center attract the most skilled, dedicated nurses—good news for patients in Westchester and Putnam counties! For our nursing staff, Magnet™ designation means a work environment where education, certification in one’s specialty, and providing compassionate care is encouraged, appreciated and expected. Magnet designation recognizes the importance of our nurses, who collaborate daily with an interdisciplinary team within the framework provided by supportive nursing and executive leadership. Magnet hospitals exemplify the very best quality patient care and clinical outcomes. “To say that I’m proud is an understatement,” said John C. Federspiel, hospital president. “This is one more benefit for the community, another step up as we, the healthcare providers in the region, continue with the highest quality care and innovative approaches to medical treatments.”

Research has demonstrated that hospitals that meet the stringent requirements to achieve Magnet status are better able to recruit nurses and have greater nurse satisfaction and retention. In addition, Magnet hospitals spearhead advances and improvements in patient-safety measures. Magnet hospitals such as Hudson Valley Hospital Center promote professional growth and academic advancement, providing opportunities for nursing research and cutting edge “evidence-based practice” innovations to be disseminated to other hospitals. For example, Hudson Valley Hospital Center was the first in the region to become a Stroke Center, and has developed unique academic-practice partnership initiatives with Pace University’s Lienhard School of Nursing, one of which is helping to alleviate the state's nursing shortage. All of this leads to excellence in nursing services and a top notch nursing staff for years to come!

Magnet Facts

1. Only 75 percent of hospitals that apply for Magnet receive a site visit. And only 60 percent of those who apply receive the Magnet designation.
2. "Magnet designation helps consumers locate health care organizations that have a proven level of excellence in nursing care," according to the ANCC. "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 hospitals. [Magnet is] a seal of approval for quality nursing care."
3. Magnet status is a professional accreditation that recognizes health care facilities for excellence in nursing.
4. Hospitals that utilize Magnet concepts have been associated with lower mortality rates, shorter lengths of stay, increased patient satisfaction, and increased staff satisfaction. In research studies, Magnet status has also been found to dramatically improve a hospital's ability to recruit and retain nurses, physicians, and other staff members.
5. Magnet Recognition program began in 1990 and was designed to address the growing nursing shortage of the time. The first “Magnet Hospital” was designated in 1994.
6. In the 1980s, the American Academy of Nursing (AAN) researched hospitals that did not have recruitment/retention problems (i.e. no shortage) and discovered “key elements”. They called these “Forces of Magnetism” (hence the name) because they had the power to attract and retain nurses (nurse magnets!) of high quality. 
7. Research on Magnet hospitals (the original 41 identified in the AAN survey research process and subsequent “designated” magnet hospitals) over the past 20 years has led to the discovery of the following causative relationship: Magnet hospitals attracts and retains nurses who have high job satisfaction because they can give quality care. HENCE, the ability to give quality care (the environment that supports that) is what makes nurses stay and feel satisfied!