Recognition for the fifth consecutive time reinforces a commitment to nursing excellence.
Capital Health attained Magnet recognition again in February, a testament to its continued dedication to high-quality nursing practice. The American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet Recognition Program® distinguishes health care organizations that meet rigorous standards for nursing excellence. This credential is the highest national honor for professional nursing practice.
Receiving Magnet recognition for the fifth time is a great achievement for Capital Health, as it continues to proudly belong to the global community of Magnet-recognized organizations. Only 34 organizations worldwide have received Magnet status five times or more.
“We’re proud to be the most honored Magnet organization in our region and excited to continue a journey that began more than 20 years ago,” said Al Maghazehe, president and CEO of Capital Health. “Earning Magnet recognition isn’t about checking boxes—it demonstrates our ongoing commitment to meeting the highest standards in nursing care and our dedication to providing our community with the best possible care. This is what helped us earn Magnet recognition in the first place, and it’s what motivates us as we continue to maintain Magnet status.”
“Magnet recognition is a tremendous honor and reflects our commitment to delivering the highest quality of care to this community,” said Deborah Mican, PhD, MHA, BSN, RN, CNOR, Chief Nursing Officer at Capital Health. “To earn Magnet recognition once was a great accomplishment and an incredible source of pride for our nurses. Our repeated achievement of this credential underscores the foundation of excellence and values that drive our entire staff to strive harder each day to meet the health care needs of the people we serve.”
Magnet recognition is the gold standard for nursing excellence and is a factor when the public judges health care organizations. U.S. News & World Report’s annual showcase of “America’s Best Hospitals” includes Magnet recognition in its ranking criteria for quality of inpatient care.
To achieve initial Magnet recognition and re-designation, organizations must pass a rigorous and lengthy process that demands widespread participation from leadership and staff. This process includes an electronic application with supporting evidence of 94 standards to include written supporting patient care documentation, an on-site visit appraiser visit, and a final review by the Commission on Magnet Recognition.
The Magnet Model provides a framework for nursing practice including; Structural empowerment, transformational leadership, exemplary professional practice, new knowledge, innovations and improvements all focused on the measurement of empirical patient outcomes. Through this framework, ANCC evaluates applicants across a number of components and dimensions to gauge an organization’s nursing excellence.
The foundation of this model comprises various elements deemed essential to delivering superior patient care. These include the quality of nursing leadership and coordination and collaboration across specialties, as well as processes for measuring and improving the quality and delivery of care.
Research demonstrates that Magnet recognition provides specific benefits to health care organizations and their communities, such as higher patient satisfaction with nurse communication, lower risk of 30-day mortality and lower failure to rescue rates, and higher job satisfaction among nurses.
Health care organizations must reapply for Magnet recognition every four years based on adherence to Magnet concepts and demonstrated improvements in patient care and quality. An organization reapplying for Magnet recognition must provide documented evidence to demonstrate how staff members sustained and improved Magnet concepts, performance and quality over the four-year period since the organization received its most recent recognition.
About Capital Health
Capital Health is the Central New Jersey/Lower Bucks County region’s leader in providing progressive, quality patient care with significant investments in physicians, nurses and staff, as well as advanced technology. Comprised of two hospitals (Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton and Capital Health Medical Center – Hopewell), a Hamilton outpatient facility, and various primary and specialty care practices across the region, Capital Health is a dynamic health care resource accredited by DNV.
A five-time Magnet-designated health system for nursing excellence, Capital Health serves as a Level II regional trauma center, regional perinatal center (including a Level III NICU), and emergency mental health screening center. Capital Health also offers the region’s first and most experienced Pediatric Emergency Department and most recently, New Jersey’s first Autism-Friendly Pediatric Emergency Department. Capital Health also provides innovative programs such as Capital Institute for Neurosciences; nationally accredited Center for Comprehensive Breast Care; Center for Digestive Health; Marjorie G. Ernest Joint Replacement Center of Excellence; award-winning Cancer Center; and the Heart & Vascular Institute, which includes a state-of-the-art hybrid operating room for interventional vascular surgery and the region’s first accredited Chest Pain Center. For more information, visit capitalhealth.org.
About ANCC’s Magnet Recognition Program
The Magnet Recognition Program — administered by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the largest and most prominent nurses credentialing organization in the world — identifies health care organizations that provide the very best in nursing care and professionalism in nursing practice.
The Magnet Recognition Program serves as the gold standard for nursing excellence and provides consumers with the ultimate benchmark for measuring quality of care. For more information about the Magnet Recognition Program and current statistics, visit www.nursingworld.org/magnet.