University of Maryland Medical Center Earns Third Consecutive Magnet® Designation

Rare achievement among nursing programs recognizes excellence in an environment of dedicated compassionate care

For the third consecutive time, the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) nursing has achieved a four-year Magnet® designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Magnet® is the gold standard in nursing, as only 8 percent of hospitals in the country have earned this recognition, and only 3 percent of hospitals in the country have achieved Magnet® at least three times. This important and prestigious recognition positions UMMC nursing among the best in the nation and is a strong validation of the culture of nursing excellence at UMMC.

"This honor recognizes our great pride in providing world-class nursing care in a team-based environment," says Mohan Suntha, MD, MBA, president and chief executive officer at UMMC and the Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. "This recognition exemplifies the uniquely collaborative relationship between our nurses and the entire medical center community, and we thank the staff members, physician faculty, residents and leaders for their contributions, participation and efforts to make the Magnet® journey successful, which translates to better care for patients."

During the congratulatory phone call, ANCC leadership also cited several areas where UMMC is an industry leader, including:

• Robust community engagement and workforce development initiatives, specifically the strong collaboration between UMMC clinical nurses and community partners. The report cited successful programs such as Stop the Bleed, the Mobile Integrated Health Initiative, the Mobile Market, the Edmonson High School Simulation Lab, Coordinated Care Center and senior outreach services.
• Community health improvement, as well as economic, education, youth development programs and the completion of a Community Needs Health Assessment.
• Exemplary professional practice for the Zoom telehealth conferencing and outperforming benchmarks for infection prevention and stroke treatment.

"Every day, our nurses fulfill our mission to deliver exemplary patient care as they contribute to both the UMMC mission and nursing profession when they conduct innovative research, translate findings into best practice, and utilize evidence-based practices to improve patient care delivery and care outcomes," said Lisa Rowen, DNSc, RN, CENP, FAAN, senior vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer at UMMC, chief nurse executive at the University of Maryland Medical System, and adjunct professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing. "Medical center nurses are dedicated to the highest quality of care, distinguishing themselves as caregivers, educators, leaders and scholars. We are inspired every day by their commitment to excellence and making a positive difference in patients' lives."

The Magnet® Recognition Program designates organizations worldwide where nursing leaders successfully align their nursing strategic goals to improve the organization's patient outcomes. The Magnet® Recognition Program provides a roadmap to nursing excellence, which benefits the entire organization. Magnet® Recognition means education and development through every career stage, which leads to the very best care, delivered by nurses who are supported to be the very best that they can be.

Applicants for Magnet® designation must collect nurse-sensitive quality indicators – such as nurse communications, hospital-acquired pressure injuries, hospital-acquired infections, and patient falls – at the unit level and benchmark that data against a database at the highest and broadest level possible (i.e., national, state, specialty organization, regional or system) to support research and quality improvement initiatives. Organizations must contribute their own data to a national database that compares the organization's data against cohort groups at the national level.

"This recognition is about individual and team excellence, and is obtainable only because the entire staff works as a team," says Carolyn Guinn, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, UMMC's Magnet® program director. "We could not have achieved it in 2009, 2014 and again this year, without the broader collaboration between nursing and every other department and discipline in the medical center. Our partnerships with the University of Maryland Schools of Nursing, Medicine and Social Work also played a vital role in securing a third designation."

The site visit was conducted by a savvy and seasoned appraisal team, which noted UMMC's deep commitment to patients, families and the community. Their comments reflected the medical center's focus on safety and continuously improving care through innovation, research, performance improvement and evidence-based practice. They also remarked on the scope of the care delivered to patients both within the hospital walls and in the community.

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About the University of Maryland Medical Center

The University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) comprises two hospitals in Baltimore: an 800-bed teaching hospital – the flagship institution of the 14-hospital University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) – and a 200-bed community teaching hospital, UMMC Midtown Campus. UMMC is a national and regional referral center for trauma, cancer care, neurological care, cardiac care, diabetes and endocrinology, women's and children's health, and has one of the largest solid organ transplant programs in the country. All physicians on staff at the flagship hospital are faculty physicians of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. At UMMC Midtown Campus, faculty physicians work alongside community physicians to provide patients with the highest quality care. UMMC Midtown Campus was founded in 1881 and is located one mile away from the University Campus hospital.