South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside earns national honor for excellence in nursing

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For the second time in four years, South Nassau Communities Hospital earned national recognition for nursing excellence by being re-designated as an American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet organization.
The Magnet designation is the highest and most prestigious international distinction a healthcare organization can receive for nursing care. South Nassau is one of only 26 hospitals in the state — and one of 477 healthcare organizations nationally — to earn the accolade.
South Nassau first earned Magnet status in 2014. The re-designation is valid for four years. The award underscores South Nassau’s commitment to patient care and patient safety.
“Re-designation validates that nursing at South Nassau Communities Hospital is consistently excellent in practice care, collaboration and patient experience,” said Sue Penque, chief nursing officer and senior vice president of Patient Care Services at South Nassau. “Our nurses are among the very best in the profession and their high standards and commitment to provide our patients with intuitive, expert bedside care and in a healing and nurturing environment will continue on.”
South Nassau President and CEO Richard Murphy said that the organization is fully invested in maintaining Magnet status.

“I commend our nursing leadership, nurses and our entire patient care staff for its hard work and dedication to the core values of how we meet the needs of our patients so that today we are able to celebrate Magnet re-designation,” he said.
Research comparing Magnet organizations with non-Magnet organizations has found Magnet recognition to be associated with higher job satisfaction among nurses; higher nurse-perceived quality of care; lower rates of nurse occupational safety incidents; lower rates of patient falls; and improved skin integrity. Data also showed that Magnet hospitals are better able to attract and retain high-quality, professional nurses. This helps ensure a positive work environment as well as makes certain that the continuum of care remains coordinated, eliminating unnecessary and duplicative care, reducing costs and improving patients’ performance and outcomes.
Magnet recognition has been shown to provide specific benefits to hospitals and their communities, including:
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
Higher job satisfaction among nurses
Lower nurse reports of intentions to leave their position
To achieve Magnet re-designation, South Nassau staff members completed a rigorous process. It began with the submission of an electronic application for re-designation, followed by written documentation demonstrating qualitative and quantitative evidence that South Nassau patient and nursing outcomes in several quality and patient safety areas (including patient falls, hospital-acquired pressure ulcers, healthcare-acquired infections, pediatric pain management, and peripheral IV complications) exceed comparisons to national benchmarks. Additionally, South Nassau had to show proof that it exceeds national benchmarks for patient and family satisfaction, as well as nurse satisfaction.
The application and documentation submitted by South Nassau was scored by the American Nurses Credentialing Center to determine whether the facility was deserving of an on-site evaluation to thoroughly assess its worthiness of Magnet re-designation. After the multi-day, comprehensive on-site review process, a detailed appraisal report was completed and a vote was held by the ANCC to determine whether re-designation would be granted.
During the appraisal, the ANCC had to certify that South Nassau is proactively adhering to five components deemed as global issues in nursing and healthcare:
Visionary leadership transforming the organization to meet changing needs
Empowered staff properly prepared to face all challenges
Competent, dedicated and empowered nurses
Continued innovation within staff knowledge, clinical practice, and systemic improvements
Outcome measurement systems in place across the entire organization
Magnet designation is among a multitude of other awards for safety and quality that South Nassau has earned during the past year.

Courtesy South Nassau Communities Hospital; compiled by Mike Smollins