What is Magnet status?

Shands at UF, which consistently ranks as one of US News & World Report’s Best Hospitals in America, recently became only the 12th hospital in Florida and the 88th in the nation to achieve Magnet status by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).

Sharing in this designation as of May 2008 are Shands at the University of Florida, Shands Rehab Hospital, Shands HomeCare, Shands Vista, Shands Florida Surgical Center and Shands at UF Dialysis Center. Magnet designation is held by less than one percent of all acute care hospitals in the country. It is the nursing profession’s most prestigious national honor.

The Magnet Recognition Program was developed in 1992 by ANCC, a branch of the American Nurses Association, to recognize hospitals that provide the best in nursing care and a supportive professional nursing environment. The program is designed to provide consumers with the ultimate benchmark to measure the quality of care available at a medical facility.

To obtain Magnet status, we demonstrated our nursing team’s effectiveness in meeting standards for nursing care related to clinical competence and assessment, education, cultural diversity and collaboration. We met 65 stringent ANCC quantitative and qualitative standards that defined the highest quality of nursing practice and patient care.

ANCC representatives then conducted a site visit before awarding us Magnet status designation. The whole process took more than two years.

We are proud of this accomplishment that is so well deserved by our employees.

Working at a Magnet Hospital Means:

We’re recruiting the best and the brightest nurses nationally and internationally.

The community recognizes you as the best of the best.

We’re developing tomorrow’s leaders in nursing.

You’re part of an interdisciplinary team whose members demonstrate respect and admiration.

The best students will want to train here.

You’re joining a team of nurses who are dedicated to the highest level of quality care and who understand and respect the cultural and ethnic diversity of our patients, their significant others, and our fellow healthcare providers.

Other healthcare providers across the nation will look to you as a model of the best practices in nursing services.

You’re part of a team that’s achieving excellent patient outcomes.

You’re a main contributor to our healthcare system’s overall success.

You’re learning from and growing under a nursing leadership team that’s taking nursing to a new standard of excellence.

You’re raising the standard of care for all other healthcare professionals who work around you.

You’re joining a team of employees who are treated fairly and equitably, and with the utmost respect.

You’re complying with all federal and state nursing regulations and adhering to and exceeding quality standards.