Q: What is meant by “Magnet?”
A: “Magnet” is a credentialing program of the ANCC (American Nurses Credentialing Center), an ANA subsidiary. ANA describes it as a recognition program for organizations that provide the “very best in nursing care” and that “uphold the tradition of professional nursing practice.” The MNA describes it as a revenue-generating publicity tool.

Q: Which Massachusetts hospitals are Magnet hospitals?
A: Massachusetts General, Winchester, Dana Farber, Jordan and Baystate.

Q: Why is the Massachusetts Nurses Association opposed to the Magnet program?
A: Magnet does not require safe RN-to-patient ratios, which is a critical patient safety requisite. Instead, Magnet is a consultant-driven, JCAHO look-alike—meaning that its standards look very much like JCAHO standards. Why the duplication? Because ANA figured a credentialing program of its own could be a revenue generator like JCAHO.

Q: What else do I need to know about the Magnet program?

• It trades on the public’s trust in nurses: The ANA and hospitals use that trust shamelessly as a PR gimmick to promote the hospital by using language such as the “gold standard.”
• It allows the ANA to cash in on the gold standard: Magnet is an enormous cash cow for ANA, as well as a huge income-generator for its own consultants. It is a costly, unnecessary expense for hospitals.
• It fosters unhealthy competition: The Magnet program encourages a market-based, competitive and corporate culture. Its basic message is, “Our nurses are better than your nurses. Our nurses are ‘VIP’ nurses.” In the MNA’s view, everyone should be working to raise the bar in all Massachusetts hospitals. In particular, the MNA believes that additional support should be provided to those hospitals where resources are scarce, rather than focus praise and recognition on elite hospitals that have enough money to waste on consultants and advertising gimmicks.
• It is used to co-opt nurses, avoid the important issues, and undercut your union rights: Patient care issues; staffing concerns; overtime; wages; pensions; and scheduling concerns all become non-essential issues as the Magnet process unfolds.
• It comes with no built-in enforcement mechanism: The Magnet program relies on self-policing. There are no guaranteed contractual rights for nursing staff as there are with labor agreements. Magnet does not offer the nurse legal protections, contract rights or the group solidarity that a labor union offers.