Magnet Steering Committee

In January 2004, UI Hospitals and Clinics became the 100th hospital in the United States and 101st in the world to be awarded Magnet designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Today, 255 health care organizations are recognized as “Magnet” facilities and hundreds more are in the queue. All these health care organizations are reaching for the same goal: to be recognized nationally and internationally for their nursing excellence.

The Magnet designation term is four years, which means that 2007 was the year UI Hospitals and Clinics started its Magnet Journey to re-designation. Because the recognition program is based on quality indicators and standards of nursing practice, the Department of Nursing Services and Patient Care submitting volumes of documents that included data, while others told stories of excellent skill, dedication, and patient care.

The reviewers of the documents, along with the appraisers who made a site visit in June, base their recommendations on how well an organization meets or exceeds certain qualitative standards represented by the “14 Forces of Magnetism.” These were identified more than 20 years ago as essential reasons why hospitals and health care organizations were able to successfully recruit and retain high quality nurses. In turn, it was discovered that a “halo effect” accompanies these organizations, drawing even more excellence by attracting the finest physicians, technicians, and other staff members.