Newsworthy

You may have heard that Stormont Vail Health is a Magnet-designated hospital, but do you know what that means for the care you receive? As Topeka’s only healthcare system to reach Magnet designation, we are beyond proud of the care we are able to provide and the results we are able to see from the work that our team members contribute day-in and day-out.

What in the world does it mean to be MAGNET?

“It means that you are going to get the best possible patient care, you can trust us, we are a world-class organization, and our nurses are exceptional,” said Paula Sanders, MSN, RN, Nurse Manager Magnet Program.

“Magnet designation means that our nurses keep patient focused care at the center of all. Our nurses are valued as leaders in determining best practices for our care.”

Paula Sanders, MSN, RN, Nurse Manager Magnet Program

“From a community standpoint, a lot of people don’t know what it means to be at a Magnet-designated hospital, but those who do know find it very valuable knowing that they can come here and have to receive the best care,” said Kassadee Clark, BA, Magnet Department Assistant. “To us, the regular care given by other healthcare organizations that aren’t designated is our bare minimum.”

What are the steps to achieving this designation?

1. The healthcare organization must meet baseline requirements of a Magnet-designated hospital are met. Stormont Vail knows that we meet the basic requirements after having been designated three times.
2. Each designation is a four-year process. We start gathering evidence of meeting these standards. Evidence includes a full spectrum of data about nurses and patient care as well as a story-writing portion describing what we accomplished over the last four years.
3. For the current designation submission, the entire document of data and stories was submitted in July 2022 and was given to a team of appraisers for review.
4. Appraisers read through the entire document and confirmed that Stormont Vail met the requirements for a three-day site visit from Magnet where the organization will showcase our care and ability.
5. From there, the visit appraisers will give a recommendation to the Commission on Magnet. The Commission will determine in the following 6-8 weeks if Stormont Vail has been approved for its fourth designation.

This sounds like an extreme amount of work – what’s the best part?

“I’m a people person, I’ve worked with so many people here. I get to connect with them and really celebrate them and it is so much fun,” said Sanders, MSN. “I have so much respect for these team members and I get to show their achievements. I also have to give a huge thank you shout-out to all who participated in this Magnet journey, but especially the Magnet Steering Committee.”

“Getting to communicate interprofessionally,” answered Clark. “We literally have to think about every component of this designation which leads to communicating with others to show that it’s not just about nursing, it’s about everyone – it’s not just one group of people achieving this. We are easily in the thousands of employees who have had an influence in some way with the designation. As someone who was a PCT here for several years, it would have blown my mind knowing that I was a part of this.”

Kassadee Clark, BA, Magnet Department Assistant

Most importantly – What are the experts going to do once we have reached the fourth designation?!

“GO ON VACATION!” said Sanders.

“Take a day off and only tell Paula. We are both going to have to stop and take a few days!” said Clark.

Stormont Vail will welcome American Nurses Credentialing Center appraisers to the organization on May 1 for the Magnet site visit. The team has been working hard to prepare and welcome them to the organization. Listen to our Just Another Magnet Monday podcast and learn more about our nursing team here.

We are so proud and thankful for our team that has worked endlessly and tirelessly on helping the Stormont Vail organization become ready for the upcoming Magnet site visit. Everything we accomplish is a reflection of the determination and love contributed by team members.