Our exceptional nurses
November 22, 2010
For more than 30 years, I have seen through the eyes of colleagues, children and families that Children’s Memorial Hospital is a very, very special place. The reasons are many—spanning the expertise of our physicians to the skill of our researchers. But there is nothing that captures the very heart of what we do more than our nursing staff. Their care and compassion is unfailing. From the bedside to the boardroom, these men and women are consummate professionals.
So we were not surprised when word came this summer that the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program® had once again designated Children’s Memorial as a Magnet hospital for excellence in nursing services. A Magnet hospital since 2001, Children’s Memorial is the first freestanding children’s hospital in the country and the first hospital in Illinois to achieve a third designation.
How significant is this? Only 6 percent of hospitals in the U.S. have achieved Magnet designation and less than 1 percent of these hospitals have been able to maintain designation three or more times. According to the ANCC, the country’s leading nursing credentialing organization, Magnet designation is widely accepted as the gold standard of patient care.
In addition to superb hands-on patient care, the Magnet distinction commends our nurses for their mentorship of nursing students and of each other, for their role in research and their leadership in priority areas such as medication safety and infection control. Their leadership has also extended to the planning process for our new facility, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, which will open in 2012. The Magnet status is also conferred for hospitals that provide opportunities in career advancement, meaning that we can retain the best nurses, and attract the highest quality of individuals who specialize in pediatrics.
This achievement has not only been a tremendous source of pride and inspiration to those of us who work here, but more importantly, it signals to families that Children’s Memorial Hospital offers the exceptional level of care that every child deserves. To learn more about our nurses, read the latest Nursing Report.