Edward Hospital Recognized As Among Top 2% in Nursing Care Nationwide

NAPERVILLE, Ill., July 18 /PRNewswire/ — Edward Hospital learned today it has been awarded the prestigious Magnet Award for nursing excellence, an honor earned by less than 2% of the nation’s 6,000 hospitals, including only eight this year. Edward is the first hospital in DuPage County and only the fifth in the Chicagoland area to achieve this designation.

Hospitals that apply for this distinction must demonstrate adherence to more than 60 criteria of excellence in patient care and nursing professionalism before they are approved for this distinction by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), part of the American Nurses Association. ANCC’s thumbs up for Edward followed three years of preparation, 2,000 pages of documentation, a three-day site visit and deliberation by Magnet Commission experts.

Patients do better at Magnet hospitals

“We are thrilled to receive this recognition of the caliber of patient care at Edward,” said Edward President and CEO Pamela Meyer Davis. “I feel like we have just earned a gold medal for nursing care; Magnet is the ultimate seal of approval. We know our more than 1,100 nurses are highly qualified clinically, and our patients are constantly telling us that they have received care and service well beyond their expectations. This is a major reason why we’ve been able to achieve high patient satisfaction scores.”

Research indicates that patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes are better at hospitals where nurses work within the framework of excellence that Magnet represents

“I also believe this award reflects on each and every one of the 4,000 employees at Edward. Without all the other health care professional and support departments behind the scenes, this level of excellence in patient care would not be possible,” Davis added.

Magnet nurses enjoy autonomy, professional environment

“Being a Magnet Hospital will help attract and retain the best nurses,” said Edward Vice President, Operations and Chief Nursing Officer Trish Anen. “Nurses know that at a Magnet hospital they will have an important role in decision-making and policy development, very good nurse to patient ratios, and opportunities for professional development.”

At Edward, nursing satisfaction scores are in the top 10 percent in the country and the nursing turnover rate is below both Chicago area and national averages.

Said Edward Medical Staff President David Piazza, M.D., “On behalf of the Medical Staff we are delighted to see confirmation of what we already know: Edward Hospital’s nurses are simply the best. Our nursing staff is critical to providing the quality care that we have achieved at Edward Hospital. They are on the front lines at the bedside and represent all of us carrying the vast majority of the responsibility for patient care. Congratulations to our hard working nursing staff.”

Magnet hospitals have been found to excel in 14 characteristics or “forces of Magnetism”: quality of nursing leadership, organizational structure, management style, personnel policies and programs, professional models of care, quality of care, quality improvement, consultation and other resources, autonomy, community involvement, nurses’ role in education, nursing image, interdisciplinary relationships and professional development.

Magnet preparation led to improvements

Throughout Edward’s Magnet preparation, teams of Edward nurses worked at finding out how the organization performs in each of these characteristics and what could be done better. These teams were responsible for enhancements that made Edward an even better place for nurses to work. A few examples are:

   — A new shared leadership structure includes hospital-wide councils and      unit councils that give nurses a forum for refining policies relating      to quality of care, professional development and nursing practice.   — Participation in the National Quality Indicators (NDNQI) data base,      which allows us to benchmark ourselves against more than 300 other      hospitals on such nursing care-related indicators at patient falls,      hospital-acquired pressure ulcers, etc.   — Substantial growth in nursing research at Edward.   — Initiation of on-site classes that assist nurses in preparing for their      specialty certification exam.  On-site degree completion classes and      tuition reimbursement were already in place.   — Dedicated nurse educators were added to the OB, Med-Surg, Surgical and      Cardiac areas.  This is just one of several career paths open to Edward      nurses.    

Edward nurses have been leaders in numerous other quality improvement and safety initiatives which also were taken into account by the Magnet staff.

Edward Hospital & Health Services is a full-service, regional healthcare provider with more than 4,000 employees serving residents of the western suburbs of Chicago, including Naperville, Bolingbrook, Plainfield, Lisle, Woodridge, Aurora/Fox Valley, Romeoville and Warrenville. Edward has earned a reputation as a leader in complex medical specialties and innovative programming including revolutionary imaging technology; care for the most critically ill newborns, minimally invasive surgery, the latest mind and body classes, beating heart surgery, in vitro fertilization, and access to the latest clinical trials for cancer and heart disease. Caring for patients at Edward are more than 800 physicians, which include independent members of the medical staff, employed physicians and independent contractors.

Edward Hospital & Health Services

CONTACT: Deborah Linton of Edward Hospital & Health Services,+1-630-527-3929, dlinton@edward.org

Web site: http://www.edward.org/