Nursing at a Magnet Designated Hospital

Winchester Medical Center

Nurses at Valley Health are committed to promoting the health and wellness of the individuals in the communities we serve. Nurses and nursing assistants are the hearts and hands of patient care and there is a lot going on in and around our health system and we are excited to share just a few things our nursing professionals have been up to. Below you will find information on our mission, vision and nursing philosophy, as well as a link to our Nursing Annual Report.

NURSING ANNUAL REPORT

Mission

To improve the holistic health of those we serve through the art and science of nursing.

Vision

To achieve the highest quality outcomes through evidence based nursing practice.

Philosophy

The essence of nursing within Winchester Medical Center (WMC), a subsystem of Valley Health (VH), comes from the internalization of a philosophy that facilitates practice transcending all patient care settings, stages of human development, cultural and ethnic diversity, and the illness-wellness continuum. This philosophy is reflected in the mission of professional practice for WMC nurses as they endeavor to provide a caring environment that impact all that are touched by the nurses and healthcare team. This is a holistic approach to caring for one another as patients, families, healthcare team, and communities. The philosophy also supports the vision of nurses as leaders, addressing the quality of care for WMC patients in the changing health care environment, through evidence based nursing practice.

WMC’s new Nursing Professional Practice model is based on Duffy’s Quality-Caring© framework (2018).

The Nursing Practice Council recommended using an image that would enable all nurses to easily grasp how the model supports their daily practice. Aspects of the image are outlined below:

• Caring hands: Nurses caring hands cradling the greater Winchester community as represented by the pink Apple Blossom petals.
• Apple Blossom petals: The pink blooms are opening representing the strong relationship that WMC has with our community, and the realization that we are all members that belong to the community.
• The Yellow Center of the Blossom: represents the central relationships that nurses encounter with on a daily basis: the self, patients and families, the healthcare team, and the community served. The green ring around the relationships represents the Quality-Caring model embracing the four (4) relationships, and the positive emotion of “feeling cared for”.
• Black Ring: represents the eight (8)-Caring Behaviors of the Quality-Caring© Model. Using the eight (8)-caring behaviors to care for oneself, patients and families, members of the healthcare team, and the community, for the purpose of health and healing, facilitates “feeling cared for” among recipients. When individuals “feel cared for”, they experience connection, affirmation of their human dignity, understanding, appreciation; in essence, they experience the sense that they matter. Such positive emotions provoke feelings of safety and security, provides a buffer against stress, enables confidence, and promotes resilience, making it easier to learn new things, change behaviors, take risks, and follow guidelines. “Feeling cared for” facilitates patients’ and families’ active participation in health and healing, promoting quality outcomes.
• Blue Ring: Represents the ANCC Magnet Model components that surrounds nursing excellence and its inter-professional relationships creating quality outcomes.

About the Magnet Model

The Magnet Model provides a framework to achieve excellence in nursing practice and serves as a road map for organizations seeking Magnet® Recognition.

ANCC Magnet-recognized organizations serve as the source of knowledge and expertise for the delivery of nursing care globally. Grounded in core Magnet principles, they will be flexible and constantly strive for discovery and innovation. They will lead the reformation of health care, the discipline of nursing, and care of the patient, family, and community.

I. Transformational Leadership

Nursing leaders at all levels of a Magnet-recognized organization must demonstrate advocacy and support on behalf of staff and patients to transform values, beliefs, and behaviors. The CNO must be strategically positioned within the organization to effectively influence other executive stakeholders, including the board of directors/trustees.

Nursing’s mission, vision, values, and strategic plan must align with the organization’s priorities to improve performance, wherever nursing is practiced.Mechanisms must be implemented for evidence-based practice to evolve and for innovation to flourish. As a result, nurses throughout the organization should perceive their voices are heard, their input is valued, and their practice is supported.

II. Structural Empowerment

Nurses throughout Magnet-recognized organizations are involved in shared governance and decision making structures and processes to establish standards of practice and address opportunities for improvement. Nurse leaders serve on decision making bodies that address excellence in patient care and the safe, efficient, and effective operation of the organization.

The flow of information and decision-making is multidirectional among professional nurses at the bedside, leadership, interprofessional teams, and the chief nursing officer.

Nurses and nurse leaders develop strong partnerships with community organizations to improve patient outcomes and advance the health of the communities they serve. This is accomplished through the organization’s strategic plan, structure, systems, policies, and programs.

III. Exemplary Professional Practice

Exemplary professional practice in Magnet-recognized organizations is evidenced by effective and efficient care services, interprofessional collaboration, and high-quality patient outcomes. Magnet nurses partner with patients, families, support systems, and interprofessional teams to positively impact patient care and outcomes. Interprofessional team members include but are not limited to personnel from medicine, pharmacy, nutrition, rehabilitation, social work, psychology, and other professions that collaborate to ensure a comprehensive plan of care. Collegial working relationships within and among the disciplines are valued and promoted by the organization’s leadership and its employees.

The achievement of exemplary professional practice is grounded in a culture of safety, quality monitoring, and quality improvement. Nurses collaborate with other disciplines to ensure that care is comprehensive, coordinated, and monitored for effectiveness through the quality improvement model.

Nurses at all levels analyze data and use national benchmarks to gain a comparative perspective about their performance and the care patients receive. Magnet organization data demonstrate outcome measures that generally outperform the benchmark statistic of the national database used in patient and nurse-sensitive indicators.

IV. New Knowledge, Innovations & Improvements

Magnet-recognized organizations integrate evidence-based practice and research into clinical and operational processes. Nurses are educated about evidence-based practice and research, enabling them to appropriately explore the safest and best practices for their patients and practice environment and to generate new knowledge.

Innovations in patient care, nursing, and the practice environment are the hallmark of organizations receiving Magnet recognition. Establishing new ways of achieving high-quality, effective, and efficient care is the outcome of transformational leadership, empowering structures and processes, and exemplary professional practice in nursing.

V. Empirical Outcomes

The empirical measurement of quality outcomes related to nursing leadership and clinical practice in Magnet-recognized organizations is imperative.

Outcomes are categorized in terms of clinical outcomes related to nursing, workforce outcomes, patient and consumer outcomes, and organizational outcomes. These outcomes will represent the “report card” of a Magnet-recognized organization, and a simple way of demonstrating excellence.