Welcome!
Thank you for reading the April 2020 edition of the Magnet® Newsletter from Tipton Health Communications. This edition features information how being a Magnet Designated hospital helped to prepare nurses for the current healthcare crisis, techniques for leaders to effectively communicate with nurses, and tips and insight from the experts at Tipton Health Communications.
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- How Magnet Excellence Prepares You to Combat a Crisis
- A Message from Dan Tipton
- How to Communicate With Your Nursing Team During a Crisis
- Congratulations to Our Recent Magnet-Designated Clients
- Magnet Team Editorial Tips: Qualitative vs. Quantitative
- Breaking Down Non-EO Supporting Evidence
- DATES, DATES and More DATES: Why They are Important in your EO Documents
How Magnet Excellence Prepares You to Combat a Crisis
As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread across the nation, our national healthcare system is facing unprecedented challenges. Pursuing nursing excellence has created a strong foundation for nurses responding to the crisis, according to two Magnet Program Directors.
Madelyn Torakis, Henry Ford Health System
Madelyn Torakis
Director, Professional Practice and Magnet Program
Henry Ford Health System
A unique attribute to Magnet hospitals is that they value, respect and support the autonomous practice of nurses at all levels to do what is best for patients and families. In a crisis situation where leadership may not be readily available, autonomy is crucial to provide the best and quickest care for our patients.
In such uncertain times trust is essential. Nurses at Magnet facilities know that their CNO, as well as the rest of their leadership team, will ensure that they have their staff’s best interests in mind in all that they do. This level of trust puts staff nurses’ minds at ease and frees them up to focus on the lifesaving work they’ll be doing.
Despite the current potential of working with rationed or greatly diminished supplies, Magnet hospitals know how to be resourceful and creative. They look to their nurses on the front lines to help solve these problems through fantastic interprofessional collaboration. This teamwork that is foundational in a Magnet facility is essential in a crisis like COVID-19.
Lastly the overall “can do” attitude that our nurses possess was solidified throughout the Magnet journey. During a crisis like this, our nurses maintain that disposition and face challenges with determination.
Lindsey Ford, Geisinger Health
Lindsey Ford, DNP, RN, NPD-BC
Director, Nursing Education and Magnet
Geisinger Northeast
As a Magnet Hospital preparing our nurses to deal with the current healthcare crisis, leadership has been communicating frequently about any new updates or developments regarding COVID-19. Our leaders have also been visible, on the floor talking with staff about any concerns they may have as we move forward in this trying time. Transparency is crucial in avoiding any chaos and ensuring that our nurses are not only prepared for the immediate future but feel comfortable that we have their backs.
Educating our nurses about proper screening and care of a patient with the diagnosis of COVID-19 has also been a vital piece of the puzzle in tackling this crisis. It’s been so inspiring to watch the seamless orchestrating of processes around COVID-19 with our interdisciplinary teams.
As healthcare workers, it is all hands on deck to care for our patients, our families and our communities.
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A Message from Dan Tipton
Thank you! On behalf of all of us at Tipton Health, we extend to you our heartfelt gratitude and admiration for all that you and your extraordinary nursing teams are doing to keep our country safe, healthy and strong though the COVID-19 pandemic.
With much of your time and resources devoted to this ongoing and fluid situation, please know that we are here to support you in any way we can.
Here are a few updates about Tipton:
- Everyone at Tipton is now working from home. (All are safe and healthy!)
- We have suspended and will reschedule all client on-site services, including workshops, mock site visits, and gap analyses.
- We stand committed to supporting our clients. We are working each day to help guide our clients to successful Magnet, PTAP and Pathway to Excellence designations.
- As always, we are extending complete scheduling flexibility to our clients.
- Our communications team is available to provide support with senior leader messaging and more. Please keep in mind that now is the time for your leaders to shine! We can help.
- We’ve been busy sewing masks and spreading the word about the need for personal protection equipment for our nurses.
- Keep an eye on our website and emails for more services for our nursing partners.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at info@tiptonhealth.com or 302-454-7901. Stay safe! We can’t thank you enough for what you are doing every day – serving patients with compassion and high-quality care.
All my best to you and your teams.
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How to Communicate With Your Nursing Team During a Crisis
As COVID-19 continues to have a significant impact on hospitals and health systems across the United States, it is now more important than ever to clearly and effectively communicate with your nursing staff. In times of crisis and turmoil, frequent communication with frontline nurses from managers, directors and other leaders is crucial. A crisis of this magnitude can make or break the support and trust your nurses place in hospital leaders. Whether it is to convey support of their tireless efforts, provide organizational updates or share clinical guidance, ongoing communications are essential to ensure nurses remain engaged and in-the-know.
As healthcare communications experts, we suggest that you adopt the following strategies to guide your communications efforts.
- Communicate proactively and in a timely fashion.
- Nurses must learn about major announcements from leadership – not through the grapevine, news media or other external sources.
- Be upfront, transparent and honest in all communications.
- Nursing leadership should be actively involved and visible throughout every unit and during all shifts – not just first and second shifts and weekdays.
- Use multiple forms and channels of communication to ensure each nurse hears your messages.
- Communications must be two-way. Provide nurses with the ability to ask questions and voice concerns.
- Strive to find answers to questions as soon as possible.
- Reflect your mission, vision and values in all communications.
If you need support communicating with your nurses, Tipton Health Communications is here to help. Our core team of professional communicators are available to assist you with leadership messaging, communications plan review and more.
For more information on how Tipton can support your nurse communications efforts, call us at 302-454-7901 or email us at info@tiptonhealth.com to speak with one of our healthcare communications experts.
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Congratulations to Our Recent Magnet-Designated Clients
Tipton Health Communications is proud to congratulate and celebrate our clients that have received their initial Magnet designations and re-designations.
Celebrating Initial Designation
- Maury Regional Medical Center
- Wellspan York Surgery and Rehabilitation Hospital
- Henry Ford Hospital
Celebrating Initial Re-Designation
- Long Island Jewish Medical Center
The team at Wellspan York Surgery and Rehabilitation Hospital celebrates earning their first Magnet designation.
The Maury Regional Medical Center Magnet Team celebrates their first designation.
Henry Ford Hospital celebrates earning their first Magnet designation.
Leaders at Long Island Jewish Medical Center celebrate their second Magnet designation while practicing social distancing. They participated in a remote conference call with 100 nurses to announce its success.
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Magnet Team Editorial Tips: Qualitative vs. Quantitative
Qualitative = Pertaining to or concerned with quality or qualities; subjective, cannot be definitively measured or quantified. Example: Problems of economic policy also involve political and ethical criteria that are essentially qualitative in nature.
Quantitative = Measurable; describing or measuring of quantity. Example: Show me the quantitative analysis of your data on the population census of 2010.
Request your copy of Tipton’s Magnet® Writer’s Style Guide by contacting our team at info@tiptonhealth.com.
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Breaking Down Non-EO Supporting Evidence
As you begin to dive into writing your Magnet documents, it can be difficult to sort out how to structure your stories or determine exactly what supporting evidence you need. Our team beaks down a few of the non-EO documents that clients frequently question below.
| Non-EO | Question |
Intent/Supporting Evidence |
|
TL3a |
Provide one example, with supporting evidence, of an assistant vice president’s/nurse director’s advocacy for resources to support an organizational goal. | Intent: To demonstrate that nurses’ actions are aligned with the hospital’s strategic initiatives and that they are willing to advocate to make them happen.
Required supporting evidence: 1
Rules regarding remaining supporting evidence: 2-4
Note: We do not need to “prove” with supporting evidence that the resource was acquired, but the resource (acquired or not) does need to align with the strategic goal. |
|
TL8 |
Provide one example, with supporting evidence, where a clinical nurse(s) utilized data to advocate for the acquisition of a resource, in support of the care delivery system(s). | Intent: To demonstrate that the organization has created a culture and an evidence-based environment in which nurses at all levels (in this case, clinical nurses) are prepared to conduct research and collect data to back up their concerns regarding their nursing care.
Required supporting evidence: 3
Rules regarding remaining supporting evidence: 2 Demonstrations of the nurse’s specific advocacy steps. |
|
SE12a |
Provide one example, with supporting evidence, of the organization’s recognition of a clinical nurse for their contribution(s) in addressing the strategic priorities of the organization. | Intent: To demonstrate that nurses’ actions are aligned with the hospital’s strategic initiatives and that the hospital has a system in place to recognize those actions.
Required supporting evidence: 2
Rules regarding remaining supporting evidence: 2-3 Demonstrations that the Hospital/Nursing dept. recognized the nurse. |
|
EP9a |
Provide an example, with supporting evidence, of a time when clinical nurses collaborated with an assistant vice president (AVP)/nurse director to evaluate data in order to address an identified unit-level staffing need. | Intent: To demonstrate that the organization has created a culture and an evidence-based environment in which nurses at all levels (in this case, clinical nurses) are prepared to conduct research and collect data to back up their concerns regarding staffing levels in their area.
Required supporting evidence: 3
Rules regarding remaining supporting evidence: 2
Note: The resource needs to align with the data that was collected. |
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DATES, DATES and More DATES: Why They are Important in your EO Documents
Empirical Outcome documents (EOs) share your performance improvement projects, from reducing the falls with injury rate to improving patient satisfaction. EOs include a narrative about your successful performance improvement projects along with outcome data and a graph that show an improvement in your process. One essential component of any EO document is the date. This doesn’t just mean the date in which you implemented your intervention(s) — it means the dates for ALL the steps of your interventions.
When starting to write your EO documents, be sure to include the date (month/year) when your project was started and include the date for each additional step in your team’s work. This includes:
- The date when you formed the team
- When you conducted a literature review
- When you developed a new process
- When you educated your team
- When you implemented the new process
The Magnet ® appraiser wants to see the timeline of your interventions in chronological order. Including the dates for each step in your project can also help you write an even stronger EO document which clearly identifies the intervention time frame. A final tip before you get too deep into your EO is to make sure your initiative falls within your Magnet 48-month window.
Need help in determining your intervention time frame? Contact our team at info@tiptonhealth.com.