In a world of value-based care, hospitals are continuously challenged to efficiently deliver high-quality care to reduce costs and improve outcomes. Nothing exemplifies these goals of value-based care more than hospitals that have achieved Magnet Recognition through the Magnet Recognition ProgramÂź from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).
The Magnet Recognition Program recognizes organizations where nursing leaders successfully align their nursing strategic goals to improve patient outcomes throughout the entire organization. Recognition signals an organizationâs commitment to the Quadruple Aim: improving the experience of care, improving the health of populations, and reducing per-capita costs of healthcare.
Magnet Recognition acknowledges a commitment to excellence in healthcare, process improvement, innovation, and dedication to nursing leadership. Itâs the most highly sought-after recognition for hospitals across the nation.
âThe Magnet Recognition Program provides a roadmap to nursing excellence, which benefits the whole of an organization. To nurses, Magnet Recognition means education and development through every career stage, which leads to greater autonomy at the bedside. To patients, it means the very best care, delivered by nurses who are supported to be the very best that they can be.â [1]
âMagnet organizations are progressive, visionary, inclusive and integrated from the bedside nurse all the way up to the executive. Theyâre the leaders â theyâre what everyone aspires to,â says Kathy Levine, RN, Healthcare & Technology Consultant, Outcomes Manager.
In the MagnetÂź certification process, facilities must complete a series of initiatives, including:
- Create infrastructure to support programs, such as quality improvement and evidence-based practice (EVP)
- Engage nurses in using this infrastructure to advance nursing practices within the organization
- Provide documentation of practices and improvements throughout the certification process
- Acknowledge achievements, and continually evaluate and improve
Health, wellness, and patient education videos are essential tools in supporting these initiatives, as well as the overall goal of Magnet hospitals to promote improved patient outcomes.
âMagnet hospitals are the best of the best,â explains Marissa Badders, MSHI, BSN, RN, CPN, Outcomes Manager. âThey take into consideration all the pillars of nursing goals, including quality, safety and evidence-based research. They want the best for their patients, and they put patients at the center of all their care.â
Patient education is a key component to the continuous improvement activities required to complete â and maintain â Magnet certification. Integrating video education into tools, apps, decision aids and dialogue with patients throughout the organization is a streamlined, comprehensive way to accomplish certain Magnet requirements. Whatâs more, these tools allow nurses to conduct research to improve their practice.
Providing access to patient education that can be viewed in follow-up, shared with family and care providers, and reviewed multiple times is a valuable strategy to improve care. Greater access to health education results in improved health literacy, improved adherence to cliniciansâ recommendations, and better health outcomes.
Health videos scripted to address patientsâ needs with evidence-based information aligned with national guidelines not only support nurses in delivering essential health information to patients but also ensure that information is delivered consistently and accurately across all patient populations.
With the integration of health technologies adding meaningful interactions at the point of care and throughout the care journey, video patient education with these platforms effectively presents relatable and reliable information at the exact time patients need key health information.
Research shows if interactive technology includes information tailored to meet a patientâs individual needs, itâs not only efficient in communicating with patients â it can increase overall patient satisfaction by up to 12%.[2] This, in turn, can support positive health outcomes.
For example, a recent study[3] showed that targeted patient education and public health outreach videos helped close lingering COVID-19 knowledge gaps in communities of color. In some cases, this education prompted patients to seek out more health-related information. These activities could potentially lead to better outcomes in these patient populations both during and after the pandemic.
In a Magnet organization, patient-centered video content helps:
- Enhance patient engagement and satisfaction
- Improve health outcomes
- Increase system-wide efficiency and consistency
- Improve financials with cost-effective tools
- Reduce redundancies
- Improve medication adherence, including the essential âfirst fillâ and lifetime customer value
- Enhance provider relations and staff retention
- Extend your organizationâs brand through reliable and relatable education
- Standardize patient education with consistent video content
- Promote your organization through Point of Care channels â and beyond
- Boost your health appâs impact with clinical videos
Considerations for content that aligns with Magnet initiatives
As such, a Magnet organizationâs standards for patient education are high. A comprehensive education and engagement solution should incorporate reliable, evidence-based patient education to meet the Magnet goals of improved patient satisfaction and outcomes.
âEngaging patients with patient education is part of the Quadruple Aim,â says Badders. âIf patients are better educated, they have the tools to be engaged in and manage their health, and we will achieve better outcomes.â
Standardized content. A unified presentation of clinically accurate video resources helps support consistent education and engagement across the care continuum. This makes it easy for nurses to provide standardized, engaging health education in any setting, across all departments in a facility. Each department has access to the same education tools to reduce or even eliminate individual approval processes.
Easy documentation. In the evidence-based practice of Magnet hospitals, itâs essential to document process improvement for both the certification and recertification processes. A digitally delivered patient education system easily integrates assignment, delivery, and documentation of activities, allowing nurses to implement the program, assess its success, make improvements, and plot progress against it.
Multiple delivery platforms. Delivering patient education on multiple platforms is key, as each patient has a different capacity for accessing and understanding the content. Videos should be viewable on any Internet-enabled device, so once a patient has access, they can go back and view it over, either alone or with caregivers. This digital connectivity allows you to deliver education directly to patients within your own telehealth platform or mobile apps, via on-demand platforms, or on your website and social media platforms.
Data collection. Simple tools, such as quizzes and surveys, are excellent data collection methods to assess patient satisfaction, as well as patientsâ understanding of their illnesses and treatments. This data offers unbiased insight into the patient experience, which organizations can use to benchmark quality improvement initiatives and modify and improve select areas.
EHR integration. Integration with the EHR makes it possible to track and chart patient engagement so nurses and leadership can easily identify and address issues to improve care. This component can also help automate integration by allowing nurses to set global settings.
For organizations going through the initial Magnet recognition or recertification process, or even for facilities starting to consider Magnet Recognition, integrating patient education videos into your practice is an essential tool in supporting Magnet standards.
References
[1] https://www.nursingworld.org/organizational-programs/magnet
[2] Dunn L. Study: Hospitalsâ use of interactive technology improves patient satisfaction. 2011. https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.theberylinstitute.org/resource/resmgr/white_paper_exec_summ/interactive_technology_-_exe.pdf.