PHILADELPHIA (June 26, 2018) – The Nursing Department at Fox Chase Cancer Center has successfully achieved its Magnet®designation for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Fox Chase has held Magnet status continuously since 2000, when it became the first hospital in Pennsylvania to earn it. This is the fifth consecutive designation for Fox Chase.
The Magnet Recognition Program is regarded as the nation’s highest form of recognition for excellence in nursing. Less than 10 percent of hospitals nationwide have attained this designation. Among many areas of performance, applicants must demonstrate high scores on patient satisfaction, nurse satisfaction, adherence to standards for improving the quality of patient care, inter-professional collaboration, leadership of the chief nurse executive in supporting professional practice, and continued competence of nursing personnel.
“Earning Magnet status five consecutive times is a true testament to the nursing staff we have here at Fox Chase, who pride themselves on providing the best patient care day in and day out,” said Anne Jadwin, MSN, RN, AOCN, NE-BC, vice president of nursing and chief nursing officer at Fox Chase. “We are proud to be among an elite group of institutions with this caliber of nursing practice and inter-professional collaboration.”
Magnet institutions pass a rigorous review requiring months of preparation, during which they must demonstrate superior nursing practice and excellence in patient care. They submit extensive data showing that they meet certain standards in the four key areas of transformational leadership, structural empowerment, exemplary professional practice, and new knowledge/innovation/improvements. ANCC appraisers visit high-scoring hospitals for a three-day assessment. During the site visit, hospital staff—senior management and all levels of care providers and support staff —share feedback about how well the hospital meets patients’ needs and how well the providers and staff work together.
Patients benefit by seeking treatment at Magnet hospitals. Research shows that Magnet hospitals have higher patient satisfaction scores, lower mortality rates, lower incidence of hospital-acquired conditions like infections, and better ratios of nurses to patients.
The ANCC established the Magnet Nursing Recognition Program in 1993. Magnet recognition is valid for four years, after which the institution must reapply. Fox Chase was the first specialty hospital in the United States to earn Magnet designation, and successfully renewed its status in 2004, 2009, 2013, and 2018.