Last week, nurses at Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center celebrated earning a distinction given to less than one-tenth of U.S. hospitals.
The hospital has received the Magnet designation, a recognition program through the American Nurses Credentialing Center. The official announcement was met with balloons and confetti at the York County center Wednesday.
“Magnet is the most rigorous designation there is for a hospital nursing program,” said Donna Wilmoth, nurse executive at Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center, in a news release. “I could not be any more proud of our nursing team than I am today.”
The honor, which goes to about seven percent of hospitals nationwide, recognizes excellence in patient care, innovation in nursing practice and a supportive work environment for nurses.
To qualify, hospitals apply with thousands of pages of reports to show adherence to quality standards, followed by a three-day site visit with interviews of nursing team members, then a vote by a commission.
Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center is among four Sentara hospitals with the Magnet designation: Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville and Sentara Norfolk General Hospital received the distinction in 2006 and 2008 respectively, and Sentara RMH Medical Center in Harrisonburg earned it Friday.
