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Ochsner Medical Center Achieves Fourth Magnet® Recognition

Only one percent of U.S. hospitals have achieved designation four times.

NEW ORLEANS Ochsner Medical Center on Jefferson Highway attained Magnet recognition again in April 2019, a testament to its continued dedication to high-quality nursing practice. The American Nurses Credentialing Center’s 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 fourth time is a great achievement for Ochsner Medical Center, as it continues to proudly belong to the global community of Magnet recognized organizations. Just 492 U.S. health care organizations out of over 6,300 U.S. hospitals have achieved Magnet recognition and only one percent of U.S. hospitals have achieved the designation four times.

Research demonstrates that Magnet recognition provides specific benefits to health care organizations and their communities, such as:

  • Higher patient satisfaction with nurse communication, availability of help and receipt of discharge information.
  • Lower risk of 30-day mortality and lower failure to rescue rates.
  • Higher job satisfaction among nurses.
  • Lower nurse reports of intentions to leave their positions.

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.

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.

The Commission on Magnet also awarded Ochsner Medical Center an additional honor for its exceptional nursing care.

“In addition to the Magnet Accreditation, the Commission on Magnet also granted one exemplar, or recognition of a significant example of nursing excellence, for reducing unplanned extubation rates in the Pediatric Intensive Care,” said Deborah Ford, chief nursing officer, Ochsner Medical Center. “Through these designations, Ochsner nurses are truly changing healthcare for the better.”

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 most recent recognition.

“We’re a better organization today because of the Magnet recognition we first achieved 16 years ago,” said Tracey Moffatt, MHA, BSN, RN, Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President of Quality, Ochsner Health System. “Magnet recognition raised the bar for patient care and inspired every member of our team to achieve excellence every day. It is this commitment to providing our community with high-quality care that helped us become a Magnet-recognized organization, and it’s why we continue to pursue and maintain Magnet recognition.”

Ochsner Medical Center employs more than 1,400 nurses and is currently hiring. For more information about career opportunities at Ochsner, please visit www.ochsner.org/nursing.

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About Ochsner Health System

Ochsner Health is Louisiana’s largest non-profit, academic, healthcare system. Driven by a mission to Serve, Heal, Lead, Educate and Innovate, coordinated clinical and hospital patient care is provided across the region by Ochsner's 40 owned, managed and affiliated hospitals and specialty hospitals, and more than 100 health centers and urgent care centers. Ochsner is the only Louisiana hospital recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a “Best Hospital” across three specialty categories caring for patients from all 50 states and more than 70 countries worldwide each year. Ochsner employs nearly 25,000 employees and over 4,500 employed and affiliated physicians in over 90 medical specialties and subspecialties and conducts more than 700 clinical research studies. Ochsner Health is proud to be a tobacco-free environment. For more information, please visit ochsner.org and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

About The 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.nursecredentialing.org/magnet.