news views Fall 2013
A Publication of the Department of Nursing and Patient Care Services University of Maryland Medical Center
The Magnet Re-designation Submission Kristin L. Seidl, PhD, RN, Director of Quality and Safety and Rachel Hercenberg, MS, Project Specialist, Clinical Practice & Professional Development
The University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) has been a Magnet designated organization since 2009. In order to maintain Magnet status, UMMC must submit written documents every four years showcasing how nursing at UMMC meets the program’s standards. On August 1, 2013, the UMMC Magnet re-designation document was submitted to four appraisers and to the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). The ANCC has oversight of the Magnet Recognition Program and is the largest and most prestigious nurse credentialing organization in the United States.
2009
Unlike the 15-inch thick, printed document that was mailed across the country in 2009, this year’s document was sent as a 15 GB thumb drive. Over the past two years, the Magnet Team identified appropriate evidence and collected information to be submitted in the written documents. With help from nurses and staff members across the Medical Center, Kristin Seidl, PhD, RN, Director of Quality and Safety, compiled the content. In the three months prior to submission, Dr. Seidl met with Rachel Hercenberg, MS, Project Specialist, CPPD twice per day with many phone calls in between to strategically retrieve and review demonstration documents. With collaboration from the entire Department of Clinical Practice & Professional Development, the team secured and formatted demonstration documents to support the 622 pages of text. Using Adobe Acrobat Professional, Hercenberg created a document that resembled an electronic encyclopedia: 622 single-spaced PDF pages, with 1,886 demonstration PDF documents, hyperlinked throughout those 622 pages. This was no easy feat! Consider for a moment the organizational skill that is needed to keep track of over 1,800 documents (some electronic, some hard copy) and the attention to detail required to ensure that each document was inserted in the appropriate place in the document. As one can imagine, it turned into a very simple strategy for developing carpal tunnel continued on page 10. syndrome and a newfound need for eye glasses!
2013
Lisa Rowen’s Rounds: Writing the Chapter with the Patient I recently read a blog posted by Eric Palmer, RN, BSN, MSN, MHA that conceptualizes a patient’s experience as a chapter in their life. As an avid reader, I related to this notion, and thought about how often people describe a meaningful event as a chapter in their personal book. Frequently, many people want to end a particular chapter that was Lisa Rowen, DNSc, RN, FAAN, painful to live through and move on to better times. Senior Vice President of When our patients and family members are in the Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer thick of it, they are looking for the metaphorical light
at the end of the tunnel, the sun peeking out of the clouds or a new chapter to begin. Consider your life story and all the chapters in your book. You may have many chapters on your childhood, your education, career and your significant relationships. If you are a parent or grandparent, each one of your children and grandchildren may have their own chapter in your book. Who are the significant characters in your book? How would you describe them and their impact on you? How do they speak to and with you? continued on page 4.