King launches Magnet Hospital Programme at Hutt DHB

Health Minister Annette King says that she is excited Hutt Valley District Health Board has accepted her invitation to introduce the “Magnet Hospital” programme in New Zealand.

The programme, which originated in the United States, is designed to improve the quality of care and patient safety, and to enhance the working environment and professional satisfaction of nursing staff.

The Hutt Valley District Health Board will be the first DHB to participate in the internationally acclaimed ’Magnet Hospital’ programme, but Ms King says she would like to see the programme rolled out around New Zealand.

“I am delighted Hutt has been so keen to show the way, and I am sure other hospitals will follow suit as soon as they can.

“I absolutely believe that New Zealand nurses are strongly motivated to provide the best possible service in our hospitals. Their organisations are consistently looking at ways this can be done, and their members can be encouraged to remain in the profession.”

Ms King said the New Zealand Nurses Organisation and the Ministry of Health showed their commitment to the nursing environment by bringing out United States Magnet Hospital expert Professor Linda Aiken to the NZNO patient safety conference in November.

“I met Professor Aiken while she was here, and it did not take much to convince me that the Magnet Hospital programme offered great benefits to New Zealand in terms of promoting and sustaining professional nursing practices.

“I was particularly delighted when she told me that her research, carried out across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and New Zealand, showed that New Zealand nurses are already closer than nurses in the other countries to “Magnet” status. That says a lot about the quality of our nursing workforce.

“The Magnet Hospital programme is not about money. It is about the way people work, and the way they are appreciated. That is what the Hutt board has been quick to appreciate, and I know other hospitals are keen to get started too.”

Ms King said Magnet Hospitals shared a set of organisational features that resulted in quality healthcare, and attracted, motivated and retained well-qualified and committed nursing staff.

The model had been closely examined for its suitability and relevance to New Zealand, as hospitals here, including Hutt Hospital, were confronted with similar nursing recruitment and retention problems as those experienced worldwide.

“The Magnet programme has achieved improved patient care and outcomes in those hospitals in the United States and Britain where it has been implemented.
It has the real potential to make Hutt Hospital a centre of excellence and a hospital of choice for nurses.”

For more information, contact John Harvey (04) 471 9305 or Zoe Priestley (04) 470 6851.

Questions and Answers

What are magnet hospitals?

The magnet hospital concept was initially developed in the 1980s in the US. At a time of staffing shortages, the objective was to identify the characteristics of successful healthcare employers in challenging labour markets.

A policy study published in 1983 identified a set of magnet hospitals according to the organisational characteristics, which served as magnets for professional nurses – they attracted and retained a staff of well qualified nurses and therefore were consistently able to provide quality care.

The initial search for the factors underlying the magnetism of successful hospitals has stimulated ongoing research over 15 years to further understand the organisational traits and their effects on patient outcomes and health care costs, as well as on the well being of nurses. Subsequent research has demonstrated that magnet hospitals have:

·Reduced Medicare mortality and morbidity rates
·Reduced mortality rates associated with the care of patients admitted to acute care settings with a diagnosis of AIDs
·Increased levels of patient satisfaction
·Reduced nursing turnover
·Shorter average length of stay
·Reduced needlestick injury rates among nurses
·Decreased likelihood of nurse burnout
·Decreased likelihood of nurses reporting they are dissatisfied.

What makes magnet hospitals work?

·Participatory, supportive management style
·Well-prepared and qualified nurse executives
·Decentralised organisational structure
·Adequate nurse staffing
·Deployment of clinical specialists
·Flexible working schedules
·Clinical career opportunities
·Professional practice models of care delivery
·Professional autonomy and responsibility
·Availability of specialist advice
·Emphasis on teaching responsibilities of staff
·Planned orientation of staff
·Emphasis on in-service / continuing education
·Competency based clinical ladders
·Management development.

Do magnet hospitals cost more?

Research findings suggest that higher investment in nurse staffing and better nurse practice environments in magnet hospitals leads to fewer adverse patient events that would necessitate long stays, more ICU days and more ancilliary costs for drugs, respiratory assistance, etc.

Magnet hospitals also have demonstrated much lower turnover rates than comparable hospitals. Initial international benchmarking of the overall nursing turnover costs, not just advertising and recruitment, is about $22,000 (US) or $48,000 (NZ) per nurse.

Thus, magnet hospitals over the long term are more cost effective and achieve better patient outcomes than other hospitals.

What would New Zealand hospitals gain from adopting the principles of magnet hospitals?

From an organisational perspective, magnet hospitals gain on a number of fronts:
·Empowered nursing leaders and staff who are committed to high quality care and to the organisation because of the environment that exits
·Decreased costs due to low turnover - The average estimated nursing turnover rate across all District Health Boards is 19 percent. Independent research demonstrates that nurses in magnet hospitals experience higher job satisfaction and low burn out rates. It enhances recruitment and retention of highly qualified nurses. Magnet hospitals average turnover rates of approximately 5 percent - lower than the national average.
·Stronger relationships among nurses and physicians
·A flexible professional workforce that can initiate and work with change
·Patient outcomes are more positive in magnet hospitals – patients have fewer complications, units show lower mortality rates and higher patient satisfaction.

Opportunity to trial principles in New Zealand context

In New Zealand, there is also the potential to include a stronger community focus with the possibility of including facilities such as residential or hospice facilities. New Zealand could gain international recognition as the only organisation to achieve magnet status outside the USA is Rochdale in the United Kingdom.

Accreditation

Since 1996 the American Nurses Credentialing Center has been accrediting magnet institutions.