By Staff Reports
(Honolulu)– The Queen’s Medical Center (Queen’s) has once again achieved Magnet® status – the highest institutional honor for hospital excellence – from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).
Queen’s achieved Magnet status in 2009 and today received redesignation for four more years.
“The Queen’s Medical Center is humbled to be honored with this very prestigious national recognition,” said Art Ushijima, President of The Queen’s Medical Center. “It is a testament to the solid commitment our entire Team has made to put patients first, and to strive for the very highest standards of excellence for the people of Hawaii.”
Receiving Magnet status is one of the highest achievements a hospital can attain. Magnet recognition is held by less than six percent of hospitals in the United States. The Queen’s Medical Center is the only hospital in Hawaii to achieve Magnet status.
A hospital must undergo a rigorous review process demonstrating they are committed to sustaining nursing excellence, improving professional practice, and transforming the culture of a work environment to achieve Magnet status. The application process was capped off with an intensive three-day site visit by credentialing representatives from the ANCC, who visited The Queen’s Medical Center in November 2013.
“Magnet status recognizes nursing excellence, but it truly recognizes the excellent work that is being done throughout The Queen’s Medical Center,” said Cindy Kamikawa, RN, Vice President of Nursing and Chief Nursing Officer for The Queen’s Medical Center. “During the exit meeting, the lead appraiser commented, ‘Your Mission, Values & Philosophy of Patients First is truly alive in your organization. Everyone we spoke to, it is apparent that your patients and families are at the center of your universe. We felt it, we saw it.’ Every one of our employees from every department in the hospital works together as a team to provide the best healthcare we can for the people of Hawaii. Magnet is not the end of our journey; it is the journey by which we shall continually seek to improve ourselves for the benefit of our patients and our community for many, many years to come.”
Magnet was created after a 1983 study by the American Academy of Nurses revealed that certain hospitals had exceptional staff retention rates, high job satisfaction and a high level of patient satisfaction. After analyzing their data, the researchers came up with the qualities that define exceptional hospitals.
The ANCC calls Magnet accreditation a “seal of approval for quality because a Magnet hospital must have superior patient outcomes and patient satisfaction.”
The Queen’s Medical Center was founded in 1859 by Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV to provide in perpetuity quality health care services to improve the well-being of Native Hawaiians and all the people of Hawaii. It is currently the largest private hospital in Hawaii and leading medical referral center in the Pacific Basin. For more information about The Queen’s Medical Center, please visit www.queens.org.