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Inside scoop from our experts: Ease staff nurses' site visit jitters with preparation

HCPro's Weekly Update on the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program®*, February 24, 2009

This week, a reader asks how to prepare staff nurses for the site visit. Read the response from our advisor Katherine Riley, MSN, RN, NE-BC, ANCC Magnet Recognition Program® coordinator at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington, VT.

Q: What are some helpful tips to prepare staff nurses for the site visit?

A: The site visit is an exciting time for staff nurses because they get to show appraisers how they have been providing excellent patient care, what research projects they have completed, and quality initiatives of which they have been a part. But it’s also important to ease staff nurses’ jitters about the site visit by preparing them. Start site visit preparation initiatives by:

• Using your unit-based MRP champions to educate nurses about the 14 Forces of Magnetism—and the 5 Model Components they encompass—by creating posters explaining each Force. The champions can also provide examples about how other nursing units exemplify the program’s standards.
• Meeting with key councils and committees to ensure they understand how their work supports the culture of nursing excellence.
• Having staff nurses display posters about evidence-based practice, research, and quality improvement projects with which they were involved. This will help nurses speak more freely to appraisers about the work they are conducting to improve patient care.

Editor’s note: Do you have a question for our experts? If you'd like us to consider your query for publication, please send it to associate editor Cameran Erny at cerny@hcpro.com.

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