MD Anderson earns fifth Magnet designation for nursing excellence

MD Anderson News Release October 13, 2020

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center today announced achievement of its fifth consecutive Magnet designation, the highest distinction for nursing excellence granted by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program. MD Anderson received a unanimous vote from the appraisal team and joins an elite group of institutions, with only about 20 hospitals nationwide being recognized five times during the program’s 26-year history.

“Magnet recognition is truly the gold standard in nursing, and we are honored to have maintained this designation since first receiving it in 2001,” said Carol Porter, D.N.P., RN, FAAN, senior vice president and chief nursing officer at MD Anderson. “I am so proud of each of our 4,400 nurses for their professional accomplishments, their expertise in oncology care and their extraordinary focus on our patients.”

Studies from the ANCC show that Magnet-recognized hospitals have higher patient satisfaction scores, lower mortality rates, lower incidence of hospital-acquired conditions and better nurse-to-patient ratios. Additionally, Magnet designation signals to patients, their families, current and potential employees and the public that MD Anderson supports cutting-edge best practices in professional nursing, focuses on data-driven outcomes and values nurses.

Reaccreditation is required every four years, and hospitals must show they continuously exceed standards. Teams undergo a rigorous review and application process requiring months of preparation to demonstrate superior nursing practice and excellence in patient care. Magnet appraisers typically visit each high-scoring hospital to conduct a multiple-day assessment and to learn about its nursing community, including clinical research, education, structure and patient outcomes; however, MD Anderson’s Magnet site visit had to be conducted virtually due to COVID-19 safety precautions.

Appraisers utilized iPads on wheels and virtual meetings to visit inpatient units, ambulatory centers and procedural areas. More than 1,000 nurses, leaders, providers and staff across MD Anderson spoke with appraisers in meetings and area visits, logging over 57,000 minutes on a virtual platform.

“We never imagined we’d be undergoing our reaccreditation during a pandemic, but our teams rose to the challenge – as they always do – and developed an impressive and collaborative process demonstrating how our nurses consistently outperform national benchmarks in quality patient care,” said Rosanna Morris, R.N., M.B.A., chief operating officer at MD Anderson. “This prestigious recognition highlights the world-class capabilities of our nurses, and it reinforces to patients and caregivers that they will receive the highest quality of cancer care at MD Anderson.”

The virtual appraisers validated MD Anderson’s written application – which included more than 80 source documents highlighting examples of evidence-based interdisciplinary practice, nurse-driven excellence in quality measures, and nursing research – and verified that Magnet standards are enculturated throughout the institution.

MD Anderson also was recognized by appraisers for eight exemplars of excellence in nursing practice, including:      

The CARTOX Program, which oversees care for MD Anderson’s CAR T cell therapy patients,

The Hemovigilance Unit (HVU), a collaborative effort between the Nursing, Laboratory Medicine and Information Technology departments to monitor cancer patients before, during and after blood transfusions, and

The organizational response to COVID-19 in which MD Anderson quickly enacted proactive strategies and precautions to monitor the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and protect its patients and workforce.

“Continuous Magnet designation is a remarkable achievement that demonstrates the culture of professional nursing practice standards and interprofessional collaboration at MD Anderson,” said Peter WT Pisters, M.D., president of MD Anderson. “As an institution, we are so honored to again receive this recognition, and we remain enthusiastically dedicated to the continued growth and advancement of our outstanding nurses and nursing leaders.”

View the full release here.