For the second time in four years, The American Nurses Credentialing Center bestowed Magnet recognition for nursing excellence on Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, according to an announcement today by Richard D. Cordova, FACHE, president and CEO of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

“Earning Magnet recognition the first time in 2008 was a milestone in the history of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles,” Cordova says. “To have achieved Magnet status a second time confirms the unwavering dedication of our nurses and our nursing leadership and their commitment to providing the best in patient care. It demonstrates why we are ranked among the top children’s hospitals in the United States, if not the world.”

The Magnet Recognition Program was developed by the ANCC, the world’s largest and most prestigious nurse credentialing organization, to recognize health care organizations that demonstrate quality patient care, nursing excellence and innovations in professional nursing practice. According to the ANCC, Magnet designation benefits consumers by identifying hospitals with superior nursing care and quality patient outcomes. It is the highest honor a health care organization can receive for professional nursing practice.

The staff at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles celebrates the news of the hospital’s Magnet® recognition for nursing excellence. (Seated l-r): Margaux Chan, RN, BSN,CPN, Susan Crandall, RN, BSN,CCRN, Mary Dee Hacker, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, Richard Cordova, FACHE, President & CEO.

Only a select group of 395 hospitals out of almost 6,000 U.S. health care organizations have achieved Magnet status, recognizing only the very best hospitals across the country. In California, Children’s Hospital is one of only 28 recognized Magnet organizations.

Hospitals must reapply for Magnet recognition every four years and Children’s Hospital received word Jan. 16 from the Commission on Magnet leadership that it had achieved Magnet redesignation for another four years. A rigorous four-year application process that was overseen by the leadership of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Vice President for Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer  Mary Dee Hacker (Glendale, Ca.), MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN and Suzanne Taylor (Simi Valley, Ca.), MSN, RN-BC, EMT, the hospital’s director of Clinical Education and Professional Development, preceded the Magnet recognition redesignation.

“The entire organization demonstrates incredible professional commitment daily,” Hacker says. “Everybody cares about our patients; everybody cares about our patient families and every single person working here strives to be better.”

In 2008, the Commission on Magnet introduced a new vision, and a new conceptual model that required an organization’s nursing force to prove that they are leaders in five key areas: Transformational Leadership; Structural Empowerment; Exemplary Professional Practice; New Knowledge, Innovations and Improvements and Empirical Outcomes.

The Magnet commission reported that Children’s Hospital exceeded many of the high Magnet standards and stood out as an example to hospitals across the U.S. in several areas, including the hospital’s transformational nursing leadership practices, its current and long-term strategic priorities in a changing medical market and the organization-wide adaptation to a new hospital building, the Marion and John E. Anderson Pavilion. In addition, the commission cited many practices and programs that exceeded its stringent standards, including: daily interdisciplinary rounds with patients and families; efficient medication administration; outreach programs for homeless youth; children’s reading and library programs; spinal education for scoliosis patients; teleconferencing interpreter services; and bedside technology to enhance patient care and parent-nurse communication.

“Our nurses are indefatigable,” Hacker says. “They provide the highest quality of care built on a foundation of evidence-based best practices, and they have achieved the goal of becoming leaders in research and education. Our nurses work as college professors, lecture at national and international conferences and have been published in professional journals and textbooks.”

Margaux Chan (La Crescenta, Ca.), RN, BSN, CPN, and Susan G. Crandall (Azusa, Ca.), RN, BSN, CCRN, the hospital’s Magnet Program co-managers, coordinated the Magnet application process, which involved the efforts of more than 100 nurses and staff in the creation of a document of more than 4,000 pages, detailing the hospital’s nursing practices, standards, governance and leadership.

Cheers erupted on Jan. 16 just before noon when the Magnet commission delivered the great news in a phone call to more than 300 Children’s Hospital physicians, nurses and staff who were waiting in anticipation in the hospital’s John Stauffer Conference Room. “The Magnet redesignation verifies and validates the excellence of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles,” Hacker told the boisterous crowd moments after receiving the news. “We cannot thank the commission enough for this honor.”

About Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has been named the best children’s hospital in California and among the top five in the nation for clinical excellence with its selection to the prestigious U.S. News & World Report Honor Roll. Children’s Hospital is home to The Saban Research Institute, one of the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States. Children’s Hospital is also one of America’s premier teaching hospitals through its affiliation since 1932 with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.