May 19, 2022 Jersey City Medical Center Achieves Magnet® Recognition Again

Recognition for the Fourth Time Reinforces a Commitment to Excellence

Magnet Recognized designationJersey City, NJJersey City Medical Center, a facility of RWJBarnabas Health, attained Magnet recognition again, a testament to its continued dedication to high-quality nursing practice. The American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program® distinguishes health care organizations that meet rigorous standards for nursing excellence. This credential is the highest honor for professional nursing practice.

Receiving Magnet recognition for the fourth consecutive time, especially with a number of areas, “of distinction,” is a great achievement for the Medical Center, as it continues to belong to the global Magnet community – a small, but select group of domestic and international health care organizations and hospitals.

“Magnet recognition is a significant honor and reflects our commitment to delivering the highest quality of care to Hudson County, and that we truly value nursing excellence and outstanding care and treatment of our patients,” said Michael Prilutsky, President and CEO. “To earn Magnet recognition the first time was a great accomplishment and an incredible source of pride for our nurses. Our repeated – this is the fourth time – achievement of this credential underscores the foundation of excellence and values that drive our entire staff to strive harder each day to meet the health care needs of the people we serve.”

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.

The Magnet Model provides a framework for nursing practice, research, and measurement of outcomes. Through this framework, ANCC evaluates applicants across a number of components and dimensions to gauge an organization’s nursing excellence.

The foundation of this model comprises various elements deemed essential to delivering superior patient care. These include the quality of nursing leadership and coordination and collaboration across specialties, as well as processes for measuring and improving the quality and delivery of 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.

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 have sustained and improved Magnet concepts, performance and quality over the four-year period since the organization received its most recent recognition.

“Patients trust their nurses to provide caring and skilled services and nurses regularly report a desire to work in organization with the Magnet designation,” said Margaret Ames, DNP, RN, Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President of Patient Care Services. “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 fourteen years ago, and it’s why we continue to pursue and maintain Magnet recognition.”

About Jersey City Medical Center

Jersey City Medical Center (JCMC), an RWJBarnabas Health facility, is Healing, Enhancing, and Investing in Hudson County. It is a comprehensive full-service acute and sub-acute care 348-bed teaching hospital. A not-for-profit hospital, JCMC is a state-designated Level II Regional Trauma Center with close to 16,000 admissions and over 80,000 Emergency Department visits annually. The hospital specialty services include maternity, orthopedics, heart and vascular care, and behavioral health. JCMC is the only full-service heart hospital in Hudson County, offering access to outstanding cardiologists and sophisticated and advanced treatments, such as cardiac surgery and Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacements (TAVR). RWJBarnabas Health and Jersey City Medical Center are in partnership with Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey – the state’s only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. JCMC is also a state designated stroke center, a regional comprehensive cardiac center, a perinatal intensive care center, a regional level 3 neonatal intensive care unit for critically ill newborns, and home to the most advanced robotic-assisted surgical program in Hudson County. JCMC, a provider of Advanced Life Support for Hudson County, runs 911 Medical Call Screening for Hudson County and operates one of the state’s busiest EMS systems.

About ANCC’s 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 nursingworld.org/magnet.