So you’re interested in furthering your education and are considering getting your accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Northeastern. You might be wondering what sets Northeastern University apart.
Northeastern University partners with outstanding hospitals in Boston, and many are Magnet hospitals. Magnet status, not to be confused with magnets you put on your fridge, is a prestigious recognition awarded by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).
What does a hospital have to do to achieve Magnet recognition, and why should you be aware of magnet hospitals in Boston? Allow us to educate you.
How to Become a Magnet Hospital
Before becoming a Magnet hospital, health care organizations have to demonstrate excellence in inpatient, nurse, and organizational results. In order to achieve Magnet recognition, hospitals must excel in these five main areas:
- Transformational Leadership: A Magnet hospital has many strong nurse leaders who have vision, knowledge, and influence to guide their teams
- Structural Empowerment: Magnet hospitals have strong nurse leaders who create environments where the hospital’s missions and vision come to life and where all nurses are encouraged to achieve desired results
- Exemplary Professional Practice: All nurses work well together, communicate, and develop professionally in order to provide the highest quality of care for their patients and the community
- New Knowledge, Innovations, and Improvements: Magnet hospitals allow nurses to take the lead in research efforts. They allow nurses to contribute new findings, evidence, and design quality improvement to the nursing profession
- Empirical Outcomes: Strong structures and processes are in place to achieve outstanding nursing results and the impact of those results. Empirical outcomes focus on the difference nurses make in their daily work
Applying for Magnet Status
If a hospital has shown excellence in the five areas, the next step is applying for Magnet recognition and taking the Journey to Magnet Excellence. Hospitals don’t achieve Magnet status overnight; the application process takes a lot of time and hard work, but hospitals are able to receive valuable feedback and improvement opportunities.
Hospitals that apply for ANCC Magnet Recognition have the opportunity to:
- Develop plans to improve performance
- Identify strengths and weakness and how they can improve
- Build stronger nursing teams
- Establish permanent systems and process to achieve goals
Becoming a Magnet hospital is no easy task, and hospitals that do achieve Magnet recognition have proved to be exemplary models of nursing care.
Importance of Magnet Hospitals
Now that we know how hospitals achieve Magnet recognition, let’s focus on why working at a Magnet hospital is important and what it means for nurses.
Achieving Magnet status, the highest and most prestigious international distinction in health care organizations, has been shown to have a positive impact on:
- Nurse retention
- Nurse recruitment
- Nursing quality care
- Patient results and safety
- The work environment
- Nurse career growth
Achieving Magnet recognition is considered the “gold standard” in the nursing hospital profession. Other hospitals often look to Magnet organizations to learn how they can improve patient results, reduce re-admittance and hospital stays, and attract and retain the best nursing staff.
Many experienced nurses prefer to work in Magnet organizations because they experience great job satisfaction.
Magnet Hospitals in Boston and Northeastern
Northeastern University is proud to partner with some of the best hospitals in the United States, including a few Magnet hospitals in Boston. The hospitals Northeastern partners with have long, rich histories of serving the Boston community and treating patients from all walks of life.
Get to know a few of our hospital partners:
Massachusetts General Hospital
Founded in 1811, Massachusetts General Hospital is the oldest and largest hospital in New England. MGH first became a Magnet hospital in 2003 and was the first hospital in Massachusetts to earn Magnet status from ANCC.
Currently, Massachusetts General Hospital is ranked as the fifth hospital in the United States by U.S. News & World Report. Mass General has the country’s largest hospital-based research program. Its main campus is in Boston, with a total of nine health centers in the Boston area.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
First recognized as a Magnet hospital in 2005, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is world-renowned for its cancer treatment and research center. DFCI has been a trailblazer in developing treatments for pediatric cancer. Specifically, in 1947, the year Dana-Farber Cancer Institute was founded, researchers were the first in the world to attain temporary remissions of acute lymphocytic leukemia, the most common cancer in children.
Boston Medical Center
The largest 24-hour Level 1 trauma center in New England, Boston Medical Center prides itself on serving the local community. Founded in 1855, Boston Medical Center has 514 beds and employs nearly 1,500 nurses.
Tufts Medical Center
Tufts Medical Center was founded in 1796 by two men you have probably heard of–Paul Revere and Samuel Adams.
Located in downtown Boston between Chinatown and the Boston Theater District, Tufts Medical Center was the world’s first pediatric trauma center. Today the hospital has 415 beds and a Level 1 Trauma Center.
Nursing Career Growth
If you are already a health care worker, chances are you would make a great nurse. Due to your experience, you already understand the health care landscape, know-how to provide outstanding patient care, and have an understanding of general medical knowledge and terms.
Many health care workers have made the jump to nursing for the following reasons:
The Need for Nurses
Nursing is one of the fastest-growing careers in health care, and for good reason. The United States is already facing a significant nurse shortage and the gap between available nurses and job openings is growing.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts the RN workforce will grow from 3 million in 2019 to 3.3 million in 2029, an increase of 221,900 or 7%.
More Career Advancement
Another reason health care workers turn to nursing is career advancement. Nurses have the opportunity to further their education and become researchers, administrators, educators, clinical leaders, and more. In nursing, more education equals more opportunities.
Nurses' Salary
For some health care workers, becoming a nurse is a way to expand their skillset and income while still being able to care for patients.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, registered nurses take home a median annual salary of $75,330. In the nursing profession, if you pursue more education, your earning potential also grows. Below are the median salaries for a variety of advanced nursing degrees:
- Nurse anesthetists - $183,580
- Nurse practitioner - $111,680
- Nurse midwives - $111,130
Paramedics, EMTs, licensed practical nurses (LPNs), respiratory therapists, X-Ray techs, and more health care workers looking for career growth, better pay, and upward mobility should consider nursing and working in one of the Magnet hospitals in Boston.
Are you a hardworking, dependable health care worker who’s interested in becoming a nurse? Contact an admissions advisor today!
