Mountain View, CA - June 1, 2010 - El Camino Hospital nurses, executives, hospital board of directors, and other caregivers cheered last Friday morning at the announcement that the hospital had once again been awarded the prestigious Magnet Designation by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).
The Magnet Recognition Program was developed by the ANCC to recognize health care organizations that provide the very best in nursing care. Granted to only 372 hospitals in the world--including just three in Northern California--the Magnet designation is widely considered to be the highest possible recognition of quality patient care.
"It is a great recognition for all of us at El Camino Hospital," said Chief Clinical Operations and Chief Nursing Officer Diana Russell, who led El Camino Hospital in its successful bid to be designated for the second time in a row. "You are Magnet nurses," she told the assembled caregivers. "You are at the very top of your profession and this is a testament to your dedication and hard work."
CEO Ken Graham called El Camino Hospital's nearly 1,000 nurses a "phenomenal caregiving resource," and said that "This recognition demonstrates El Camino Hospital's unparalleled commitment to the care of its patients and community."
Independent research has shown that Magnet-designated facilities consistently outperform non-Magnet organizations by delivering better patient outcomes and increased patient satisfaction. Magnet hospitals also enjoy increased nurse retention and recruitment rates and higher job satisfaction.
The Magnet designation, granted once every four years, is given after an intense vetting process that includes thousands of pages of documentation just to earn a site visit, followed by a personal evaluation conducted by ANCC representatives. Their report is then reviewed and decided on by a commission of experts.
The award continues to put El Camino Hospital in a leadership role in providing unrivaled care to its patients, Russell said: "We were the first hospital in the Bay Area to become Magnet, now we're the first to be redesignated."