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Morristown Medical Center Receives Fifth Consecutive Magnet Designation

January 16, 2019

Morristown Medical Center Joins Only 13 Hospitals Nationwide Designated Five Times 

January 16, 2019, Morristown, NJ – Atlantic Health System’s Morristown Medical Center today announced it has been redesignated as a Magnet® hospital for the fifth consecutive time by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). The ANCC’s Magnet Recognition Program® honors healthcare organizations for quality patient care, nursing excellence and innovations in professional nursing practice.

Only 13 out of 482 Magnet-designated hospitals have been accredited five times.

Jeanette Ives Erickson, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, Chair of the Commission for the Magnet Recognition Program, shared the news with over 100 of Morristown Medical Center’s 1,800 nurses on Wednesday morning.

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Morristown Medical Center Recognized by the ANCC’s Magnet Recognition Program for 5th Time

“Our fifth consecutive Magnet designation is a powerful testament to our communities that Morristown Medical Center nurses are committed to clinical excellence and exceptional patient care,” said Carol Jones, RN, Chief Nursing Officer, Morristown Medical Center. “For nurses, this redesignation shows that we attract and retain well-qualified nurses who promote quality patient care. For physicians, it means they can be confident they are working with a well-qualified group of nurses who work across specialties and multidisciplinary teams to deliver the best patient outcomes.”

“As the President of Morristown Medical Center, and as a nurse, I am extremely proud of Morristown Medical Center and our commitment to excellent patient care, improvement in care delivery, focus on education and research, strong partnership with our medical staff and communities, and continued opportunities for nurse empowerment and innovation,” said Trish O’Keefe, PhD, RN, president of Morristown Medical Center and nurse at the medical center for over 30 years.

To achieve Magnet recognition, organizations must pass a rigorous and lengthy process that requires widespread participation from leadership and staff.

Magnet redesignation is based on several factors including staff empowerment, shared decision making, professional development, nurse recruitment/retention, and a higher standard of practice.

Examples of these in practice at Morristown Medical Center include:

  • A robust Shared Governance model for nurse empowerment that gives decision-making responsibility to the bedside nurse, which fosters accountability, promotes collaborative care, and results in more effective and efficient patient care.
  • A nursing empowerment model that fosters a culture of nursing excellence that encourages and rewards nurses who go beyond existing performance standards.
  • A professional practice model with patients and families at the center, driving all aspects of nursing care.
  • In 2018, the nursing administration at Morristown Medical Center created a Center for Nursing Innovation and Research—a designated space for nurses to design and conduct nursing research to improve patient outcomes, explore evidence-based practice, and create innovations for nurses within Atlantic Health System and across the nation.
  • Continued and higher education opportunities are plentiful and encouraged. 

“Adaptation and innovation have been part of our nursing culture for years and the goal now is to prepare our nursing practice for the future of nursing excellence,” said Jones.

“When patients are cared for by Magnet nurses in a Magnet hospital, they know that they are being cared for by a nursing staff that is well-supported by administration, and well-respected by the physician colleagues they work with every day,” said Brandee Fetherman, RN, Director of Nursing, Morristown Medical Center. “Simply put, Magnet nurses make a significant contribution to patient outcomes every day.”

Learn more about nursing at Morristown Medical Center >

About the American Nurses Credentialing Center's (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program®

The Magnet Recognition Program® administered by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), the largest and most prominent nurses credentialing organization in the world, recognizes healthcare organizations that provide the very best in nursing care and professionalism in nursing practice. The Magnet Recognition Program serves as the gold standard for nursing excellence and provides consumers with the ultimate benchmark for measuring quality of care.

The Magnet Recognition Program designates organizations worldwide where nursing leaders successfully align their nursing strategic goals to improve the organization’s patient outcomes. The Magnet Recognition Program provides a roadmap to nursing excellence, which benefits the whole of an organization.

About Atlantic Health System

Atlantic Health System, headquartered in Morristown, N.J., is an integrated health care delivery system powered by a workforce of more than 16,500 team members and 4,800 affiliated physicians dedicated to building healthier communities. The system serves a population of five million, with over 400 sites of care, including six hospitals: Morristown Medical Center, Overlook Medical Center, Newton Medical Center, Chilton Medical Center, Hackettstown Medical Center and Goryeb Children’s Hospital.

Atlantic Health System provides care for the full continuum of health care needs including 11 urgent care centers, Atlantic Rehabilitation and Atlantic Home Care and Hospice. Facilitating the connection between these services on both land and air is the transportation fleet of Atlantic Mobile Health.

In addition to the employed workforce, Atlantic Alliance, a Clinically Integrated Network, represents more than 2,500 health care providers throughout northern and central NJ. Atlantic Health System leads the Healthcare Transformation Consortium, a partnership of six regional hospitals and health systems dedicated to improving access and affordability, and is a founding member of both the PIER Consortium – Partners in Innovation, Education, and Research – a streamlined clinical trial system that will expand access to groundbreaking research across six health systems in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and AllSpire Health Partners, a consortium of five leading health care organizations dedicated to serving patients, families and communities in New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania.