Bloomington Hospital honored for nursing

Last week, more than 100 staff members and associates of Bloomington Hospital gathered in the hospital’s Wegmiller Auditorium with high hopes that the American Nurses Credentialing Center would recognize them with nursing’s top honor, the Magnet designation.

Vice President of Patient Care Services, Ruth Ann Morris, said everyone had their fingers crossed when the phone call came.

Their excitement turned to joy when the speaker announced Bloomington Hospital’s designation as a Magnet hospital.

“The crowd erupted,” Morris said. “We had streamers and confetti and dancing in the aisles. We were thrilled.”

Mary McNamara of the American Nursing Association said the Magnet designation evaluates nursing programs on 14 different qualities of excellence they term “Forces of Magnetism.”

As a result, only 4 to 6 percent of hospitals in the United States receive the Magnet designation, McNamara said. 

Morris said the hospital displayed excellence on each of the three days different surveyors came to write reports for the designation.

Despite what might seem like slim odds, Morris said she did not have any doubts that Bloomington Hospital would eventually achieve its goal.

“We always believed we would do it. We just didn’t know how long it would take,” she said. “This is a hospital that is able to recruit very good nurses, keep good nurses and support those nurses.”

Lindsey Williams, a registered nurse, said she believes Bloomington Hospital’s knack for keeping good nurses is key to its success.

“I have worked at other hospitals and have never seen the rate of retention as is demonstrated at Bloomington Hospital,” Williams said. “If the staff is satisfied, often, the patients will receive better care.”

Currently, Bloomington Hospital employs more than 700 nurses. A significant amount of those employees are IU graduates and student nurses gaining clinical experience.

Morris said the designation could be of great benefit for these students.

“They give an excellent education at IU,” she said. “Adding that they received experience from a Magnet hospital can only help them.”

The Magnet designation lasts for four years. Once the time period has ended, the hospital can reapply for the acknowledgment, but the standards of the achievement are raised.

Morris said this will not stop Bloomington Hospital’s nursing program from applying in the future.

“Right now we’re a week into our celebration,” she said. “But by next week we’re probably going to have to roll up our sleeves and go back to work so in four years we’re ready to do it again.”