Magnet® Matters: What is a Magnet® hospital?

The is the first in a series of articles to educate faculty and staff about what it means to be a Magnet® hospital.  WVU Medicine-WVU Hospitals is up for re-designation this year. Contact Magnet® Program Director Lya M. Stroupe with questions.

To be selected for Magnet® designation by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), hospitals must have a proven track record of excellence in nursing services. In short, they are the country’s elite hospitals.

WVU Medicine-WVU Hospitals has been named a Magnet® hospital three times. It became the first and only West Virginia hospital to achieve such recognition in 2005, and was re-designated in 2009 and 2015. The hospital, which remains the state's only Magnet® hospital, is up for re-designation again this year. 

What is Magnet®?

• This is the highest honor awarded by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and universally recognized as the “gold standard” of nursing excellence. There are only 492 organizations in the world with this designation.

• To nurses, Magnet® recognition means education and development through every career stage, which leads to greater autonomy at the bedside.

• To nursing colleagues, it means collaborative teamwork to better serve patients.

• To patients, it means the very best care, delivered by nurses who are supported to be the very best that they can be.

What are the benefits of Magnet®?

• Highest standard of care for patients

• Business growth and financial success

• Lower nurse turnover

• Increased engagement

• Lower mortality rates

• Lower patient fall rates

• Lower nosocomial infections

• Lower hospital-acquired pressure ulcer rates

• Lower central line-associated bloodstream infection rates