UCC School of Nursing and Midwifery Annual Report 2019

Healthcare Experience, Engagement and Reform

Magnet4Europe

The Team: Professor Jonathan Drennan is part of an international research team that was awarded ¤4 million from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Programme to improve hospital work environments. The grant will support the international partnership of some of the world’s leading Universities led by KU Leuven and the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing’s Centre for Health Outcomes and Policy Research. The School of Nursing and Midwifery, University College Cork are leading the Irish arm of the study.

The aim of the initiative is to redesign hospital workplaces to improve the mental health and wellbeing of nurses and physicians and to improve patient safety. This initiative begins in January 2020, aligning with 2020 being the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife as designated by the World Health Organization. The U.S. National Academy of Medicine has prioritized enhancing health professionals’ mental health and wellbeing as a public health goal. Burnout, depression, and fatigue are far too common among nurses and physicians in fast-paced hospital settings. Patient safety depends upon vigilance, quick thinking, and intense attention to detail by health professionals, which is made more difficult by stressful work settings. Magnet4Europe will implement an evidence-based intervention based on the successful Magnet Recognition Program ® , a voluntary hospital designation for nursing care excellence by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Countless studies have shown that Magnet-recognized hospitals have lower health professional burnout and safer patient care. Sixty hospitals in five European countries (Belgium, England, Germany, Ireland, and Sweden) will receive a full-blown redesign of their workplaces supported by one to one twinning with an experienced Magnet recognized hospital and an annual learning collaborative. A rigorous research evaluation will determine the success of the initiative. There are currently 502 Magnet Recognized hospitals in 8 countries, with most located in the US. Only one hospital in Europe has achieved Magnet recognition. This initiative will test the feasibility and sustainability of the Magnet Model ® for organizational redesign in the context of health care in Europe.

Magnet4Europe Meeting in Washington DC. Pictured (l-r): Dr Danny Van Heusden – University Hospital Antwerp; Professor Linda Aiken – University of Pennsylvania; D Kaat Siebens - University Hospital Antwerp; Professor Jonathan Drennan – University College Cork.

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