A culture of nursing excellence: A community hospital’s journey from Pathway to Excellence® to Magnet® recognition

Abstract

Creating a culture of nursing excellence requires strategic planning, transformational leadership, and effective change management. The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) provides 2 programs that recognize nursing practice. The Pathway to Excellence Program^® recognizes health care organizations that provide nurses with positive and safe practice environments. The ANCC Magnet Recognition Program^®, the highest level of recognition for nursing, recognizes health care organizations that demonstrate excellence in nursing and quality patient outcomes. Both of these programs promulgate the valuable contributions of nurses to influence the practice environment and ultimately enhance patient outcomes. ANCC recognition, as either a Pathway to Excellence^® or a Magnet^® recognized facility, is a significant achievement for both the nursing enterprise and the organization. The transition from achieving Pathway to Excellence^® recognition to Magnet^® recognition requires organizational change management through transformational leadership and employee engagement at multiple levels. This article addresses one community hospital’s strategy to advance a culture of nursing excellence through integration of the Pathway to Excellence^® 12 Practice Standards and enculturation of the Magnet^® Model to achieve Magnet^® recognition. The ADKAR^® Model of change management was applied throughout this journey in a systematic approach that created awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, and reinforcement. Key strategies were implemented to engage employees and resources were provided to advance the culture of nursing excellence within the health care organization.