The Magnet Recognition Program is a program developed by the American Nurses Credentialing Centre (ANCC) that recognizes healthcare institutions for high quality patient care, innovations in the professional nursing practice and general nursing excellence. Consumers often rely on this Magnet designation to gauge the credentials for high quality nursing care provided by various healthcare organizations. The Magnet program derives its basis from the quality standards and indicators defined by the American Nurses Association (ANA) Scope and Standards for Nurse Administrators (2004). The stated intent of the program is to provide healthcare consumers with an ultimate benchmark which they can use to measure the quality of care they anticipate to receive in the existing health care organizations.
Research utilization is the systematic implementation of knowledge from research into actual nursing practice. It is a process in which the knowledge developed from a scientific research is transformed from research findings into conceptual, instrumental and persuasive utilization. The utilization is accompanied by a process designed to access the outcomes emanating from the clinical change. Research avails a lot of information about quality healthcare but this information may be rendered irrelevant if proper utilization techniques are not put in place. The Magnet program is designed to act as a benchmark for quality healthcare and use a set of 14 variables known as “forces of magnetism” to access the quality of healthcare (Morgan 2007). It is these forces of magnetism that should act as the basis for research utilization proposals. It is therefore not very unusual to find nursing research utilization proposals containing elements that are congruent with the forces of ACNN Magnet certification. For instance both stipulate that problem identification and support should occur through the evaluation of research studies. Current research presents plausible solutions to the existing problem. Later, evaluation and implementation of the new practice change takes place with modifications where needed. In the process quality care and nursing excellence are achieved.
The Medical Staffing Network (MSN) being one of the most renowned health care staffing corporations in America with more than 80 national offices and around 40,000 medical professionals also has a role to play in the Magnet’s journey to facilitate research utilization proposals in organizations. To effectively facilitate research utilization proposals in any medical organization, it is crucial that nurses amongst other staff have essential skills to properly analyze research for its application to actual practice. In addition, nursing researchers should write the implications for nursing practice in their various research publications. This is where the MSN comes into play.
The MSN should be able to avail nursing staff in organizations who possess the above described skills and abilities. In addition, the MSN should make it a priority to ensure that the nursing staff disseminated into the various nursing organizations is able to recognize the Magnet’s program overarching goal of creating an organizational culture that places great value in nursing care excellence (Morgan 2007).
The MSN should also ensure that professional nurses become involved at every organizational level in the integration of evidence based and research practice into operational and clinical processes taking into consideration the community and organizational resources (Morgan 2007). Such actions will ensure that there is a smooth facilitation of research utilization proposal in the organizations and the goals of the Magnet Program of achieving nursing excellence and quality care provision are met.
References
Morgan, S. (2007). The forces of magnetism: Core characteristics to achieve magnet recognition. Retrieved from http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/562944
