Magnet Certified

Indiana University Health Goshen Hospital achieved Magnet™ status for the first time in 2004. The hospital continues to be the only hospital in the region to achieve this distinction, awarded to less than six percent of hospitals nationwide. With current Magnet re-designation, IU Health Goshen Hospital is among an elite group of only two percent of hospitals in the nation to hold such distinction. Designated hospitals have successfully created a work environment that nurses find both personally and professionally rewarding, advancing the practice of nursing and improving patient outcomes.

The American Nurses Credentialing Center developed the Magnet Recognition Program to honor organizations that demonstrate a sustained excellence in nursing through goals to:

• Promote quality in a setting that supports professional practice.
• Identify excellence in the delivery of nursing services to patients/residents.
• Disseminate “best practices” in nursing services.

To earn Magnet designation, hospitals undergo an extensive application process that can take longer than a year to complete. Then the hospitals must be re-designated after four years to ensure compliance. In 2004, IU Health Goshen Hospital received the distinction on its first try and received re-designation in 2009.

The history of Magnet

During the nursing shortage of the early 1970s and 1980s, the American Academy of Nursing established a Task Force on Nursing Practice in Hospitals. This task force conducted a study of the organizational factors at various hospitals, focusing on those hospitals that were able to maintain a competent nurse workforce during this shortage. The task force wanted to identify and describe variables that created an environment that attracted and retained well-qualified nurses who promoted quality patient, resident or client care.

These 14 characteristics that distinguish “Magnet” organizations from others became known as the "Forces of Magnetism," which may be thought of as attributes or outcomes that exemplify excellence in nursing. 

Empowering our Colleagues

Our nurses know their ideas are heard and valued every day. Our unique culture is created through TUL Gold Standard (The Uncommon Leader) and shared governance, which help make us a Magnet hospital and allow us to attract and retain Colleagues. At IU Health Goshen Hospital, the concept of shared governance and unit practice councils empower nurses to use their clinical knowledge and expertise to develop, direct and sustain our own professional practice. Nurses have a voice in determining practice, standards and quality of care. Unit Practice Councils are unit-based nursing committees that not only form the basis for shared governance at IU Health Goshen Hospital, but also help units take the lead on issues, such as peer review, patient safety, education, performance improvement, evidence-based practice and more. Nurses work together to provide ways to ease patients’ stays and improve the quality of their lives. Your ideas matter, and we are listening.

Our unique TUL Gold Standard culture encourages Colleagues to implement and lead change with the goal of exceeding best practices. Every Colleague is considered a leader at IU Health Goshen and has the ability to make changes to his or her practice area by submitting ideas. More than 2,000 Colleague-generated ideas were implemented in 2010. The acronym LEAD illustrates the process:

• Lead by example.
• Exceed best practices.
• Act to implement change.
• Use data to drive the process.

TUL addresses our Colleagues’ needs for a satisfying work environment; quality processes, services and products, and excellent customer service.