First Magnet Hospital - University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC) in Seattle

What Is a Magnet Hospital?

Jul 12, 2021

Pictured Above: The first facility to be awarded Magnet status in 1994 was the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. Photo Credit: Atomic Taco, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Magnet hospitals are certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). These facilities are driven by nurses not only in patient care but in making decisions at high levels about changes and institutional goals. The ANCC sets high standards, and their mission is to:

“Continually elevate patient care around the world in an environment where nurses, in collaboration with the inter-professional team flourish by setting the standard for excellence through leadership, scientific discovery and dissemination and implementation of new knowledge.”

Magnet Program Background

The program began in 1983 as a task force that was dedicated to studying how to create work environments to attract and retain experienced and qualified nurses. The Magnet program initially only recognized hospitals but added long-term care facilities in 1998. Today, the ANCC Magnet program lays the framework for the future of nursing research and practice in the future and helps facilities along the Magnet Journey to achieve goals within the five Magnet categories.

How Does a Hospital Achieve Magnet Status?

To achieve Magnet status, a hospital must display a high level of excellence in five categories:

Transformational leadership
Structural empowerment
Exemplary professional practice
New knowledge, innovation & improvements, and
Empirical outcomes

The ANCC believes in empowering staff to build the changes they want to see at their facility. The basis of the Magnet Program is founded on a comprehensive understanding of nursing and the constant application of new knowledge and evidence to support nursing practice. The ANCC promotes nursing autonomy and stresses the importance of interdisciplinary relationships and collaborations within healthcare. A facility’s performance is measured on clinical, workforce, patient, consumer, and organizational outcomes.

Examples of Magnet Hospitals

RNs who want to find a nursing job in a nurse-driven culture and provide input about changes within their hospital should seek employment at Magnet facilities. There are currently 561 Magnet Facilities. The top 3 states with the most Magnet-designated facilities are Texas at 51, Illinois at 42, and California is third at 41.

Vivian has jobs posted for nurses at some exceptional Magnet-designated facilities, as well as some that are on their Journey to Magnet status. Five out of the six hospitals in the HonorHealth system in Arizona have achieved Magnet status, including Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center and Scottsdale Shea Medical Center. SSM Health boasts two Magnet facilities including St. Mary’s in Madison, Wisconsin, and SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis.

The University of Miami Health System nursing jobs have some awesome bonuses and they are hiring experienced nurses to help produce positive changes to their hospitals and clinics. UHealth will join Magnet Status alongside other huge names like Johns Hopkins Hospital, Duke Health System, Mayo Clinic, and Cleveland Clinic as they work to better serve nurses in the workplace and strive to advance nursing practice and contribute to the reformation of healthcare.

Rachel Norton BSN, RN

Rachel Norton became an RN in 2007 and has been part of the Vivian team since 2019. She has always worked in critical care, and spent the first 12 years of her career working in a surgical neuroscience trauma ICU. She's also worked as a flight nurse, started travel nursing in 2010 and continued working in the ICU until joining Vivian full-time in 2022. As a user researcher, Rachel advocates for healthcare workers to help bridge the gap between employee and employer expectations.