Hundreds of nurses and their colleagues at ChristianaCare gathered in a conference room at Christiana Hospital and listened through a livestream across the organization’s campuses and practices for an announcement they’ve been anticipating for many months.
“For your commitment to nursing excellence and quality care, we are thrilled to recognize ChristianaCare with its fourth consecutive Magnet designation,” said David Marshall, JD, DNP, RN, chair of the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Magnet Recognition. “This accomplishment is a powerful testament to your dedication to the nurses who practice there, the entire health care team, and — most importantly — the patients you serve.”
Shouts erupted, balloons and streamers floated up and, in the happy commotion, there was even a little cowbell. As the only four-time Magnet-designated health care organization in Delaware, ChristianaCare has achieved this global recognition — the highest honor in nursing practice — for continued dedication to excellence and innovation, high-quality patient care and experience, nurse engagement and work culture.
“Magnet designation recognizes ChristianaCare nurses are simply the best!” said ChristianaCare President and CEO Janice E. Nevin, M.D., MPH. “A fourth Magnet designation is an incredible achievement and reflects the vital importance and commitment of our nurses as we serve together with love and excellence.”
ChristianaCare has more than 3,000 nurses, and they make up the largest segment of ChristianaCare’s workforce. ChristianaCare is the largest nonprofit organization and private employer in the state of Delaware.
This most recent designation for ChristianaCare includes Christiana Hospital, Wilmington Hospital, ChristianaCare HomeHealth and Community Care Services, through early 2029.
What it means to be Magnet
“Our fourth consecutive Magnet designation means that our nurses and all of our caregiver colleagues have upheld the ANCC’s very high standards in patient care since our first recognition in 2010,” said ChristianaCare Chief Nurse Executive Danielle Weber, DNP, RN. “That is a long time to bring your ‘A’ game every day — through 15 years of change, including a pandemic — and to sustain growth in professional practice, innovation and culture. Magnet recognition raises the bar for patient care and inspires every member of our team to achieve excellence every day.”
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, exceptional nurse engagement 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.
The ANCC Magnet Recognition Program® has conferred Magnet status to less than 10% of hospitals and health systems in the United States. There are 621 Magnet-designated health organizations internationally. ChristianaCare was the first in Delaware to achieve Magnet designation, in 2010.
For nurses, Magnet Recognition means education and development through every career stage, which leads to greater autonomy at the bedside. For patients, it means the very best care, delivered by nurses who are supported to be the very best that they can be.
While Magnet is a nursing-led initiative, the designation reflects the work of caregivers across the organization. Magnet redesignation itself is a rigorous process. Health care organizations must reapply for Magnet status every four years and demonstrate adherence to the Magnet concepts for nursing excellence and engagement and measurable improvements in patient care and quality.
The ANCC commended ChristianaCare on these exemplars:
- Advocacy for and acquisition of organizational resources specific to nurses’ well-being. particularly through the Nursing Integrative Care Program.
- An innovative strategy to address the shortage of certified registered nurse anesthetists in Delaware through a partnership program between ChristianaCare and Wilmington University to launch the state’s first Nurse Anesthesiology program.
- Outstanding nursing research engagement and growth of the nursing research enterprise especially through the Nursing Research Fellowship in Robotics and Innovation.
