AdventHealth Shawnee Mission Achieves Magnet® Recognition Again

MERRIAM, Kan., January 29, 2024 — AdventHealth Shawnee Mission attained Magnet recognition again in January 2024, a testament to its continued dedication to high-quality nursing practice. The American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program® distinguishes health care organizations that meet rigorous standards for nursing excellence. This credential is the highest national honor for professional nursing practice.

Receiving Magnet recognition for the second time is a great achievement for AdventHealth Shawnee Mission, as it continues to proudly belong to the global Magnet community – a small, select group of domestic health care organizations and hospitals in the U.S. Fewer than 10% of hospitals in the U.S. have Magnet designation with AdventHealth Shawnee Mission being one of only three Magnet hospitals in the state of Kansas.

“Magnet recognition is a tremendous honor and reflects our commitment to delivering the highest quality of care to this community,” said Raimonda Shelton, chief nursing officer for AdventHealth Shawnee Mission. “To earn Magnet recognition once was a great accomplishment and an incredible source of pride for our nurses. Our repeated achievement of this credential underscores the foundation of excellence and values that drive our entire staff to strive harder each day to meet the health care needs of the communities we serve.”

During the review and site visit process, the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program identified examples that helped solidify AdventHealth Shawnee Mission’s Magnet redesignation, including:

• maintaining greater than or equal to 80% of professional registered nurses earning a baccalaureate or higher degree in nursing,
• nurse satisfaction and hospital acquired infections, specifically central line associated blood stream infection (CLABSI), within the nursing units outperformed national statistics,
• and the implementation of the Emergency Department’s Rapid Care Path, a nurse-driven workflow change, enabled patients to be seen in a timelier manner and resulted in a substantial reduction in Left Without Being Seen.

Magnet recognition is the gold standard for nursing excellence and is a factor when the public judges health care organizations. U.S. News & World Report’s annual showcase of “America’s Best Hospitals” includes Magnet recognition in its ranking criteria for quality of inpatient care.

The Magnet Model provides a framework for nursing practice, research, and measurement of outcomes. Through this framework, ANCC evaluates applicants across a number of components and dimensions to gauge an organization’s nursing excellence.

The foundation of this model comprises various elements deemed essential to delivering superior patient care. These include the quality of nursing leadership and coordination and collaboration across specialties, as well as processes for measuring and improving the quality and delivery of care.

To achieve initial Magnet recognition, organizations must pass a rigorous and lengthy process that demands widespread participation from leadership and staff. This process includes an electronic application, written patient care documentation, an on-site visit, and a review by the Commission on Magnet Recognition.

Health care organizations must reapply for Magnet recognition every four years based on adherence to Magnet concepts and demonstrated improvements in patient care and quality. An organization reapplying for Magnet recognition must provide documented evidence to demonstrate how staff members sustained and improved Magnet concepts, performance and quality over the four-year period since the organization received its initial recognition.

“AdventHealth Shawnee Mission is a better organization today because Magnet reinforces our focus on nursing professional practice” said Sam Huenergardt, president and chief executive officer for AdventHealth Mid-America Region. “Magnet raised the bar for nursing culture and patient care and encouraged our team to focus on excellence every day. It is this commitment to shared leadership which provides our community with high-quality care. These are core tenets of Magnet-recognized organizations, and it’s why we continue to pursue and maintain Magnet recognition.”

About AdventHealth Kansas City

With a sacred mission of Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ, AdventHealth is a connected system of care for every stage of life and health. A focus on whole-person health and commitment to caring for the body, mind and spirit unify the system's nearly 50 hospital campuses and hundreds of care sites in diverse markets throughout almost a dozen states. AdventHealth in Kansas City includes AdventHealth Shawnee Mission in Merriam, KS; AdventHealth Lenexa; AdventHealth South Overland Park; AdventHealth Centra Care and AdventHealth Medical Group. Visit AdventHealthKC.com for more information.

About ANCC’s Magnet Recognition Program

The Magnet Recognition Program — administered by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the largest and most prominent nurses credentialing organization in the world — identifies health care organizations that provide the very best in nursing care and professionalism in nursing practice.

The Magnet Recognition Program serves as the gold standard for nursing excellence and provides consumers with the ultimate benchmark for measuring quality of care. For more information about the Magnet Recognition Program and current statistics, visit www.nursingworld.org/magnet.