Only East Tennessee Medical Center to Achieve Highest Honor for Nursing Excellence

The University of Tennessee Medical Center (UTMC) has received one of the highest national honors for nursing excellence a hospital can receive. UTMC received notification today from a representative of the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program® that the organization has achieved Magnet® recognition for the third time. The highly coveted Magnet® designation is granted only to those organizations that demonstrate sustained excellence in nursing care and outcomes. This recognition reflects UTMC’s nursing professionalism, teamwork and superiority in patient care.

“It is such an honor to receive this recognition for the third time,” said Dr. Sandy Leake, Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer of UTMC. “This third recognition places us in the top two percent of all hospitals in the United States. Magnet is by no means a prize but rather a rigorous data – and process – driven measurement of patient outcomes and nursing excellence. Most importantly, this recognition demonstrates to our patients that they are in the best nursing hands anywhere at The University of Tennessee Medical Center. We are deeply honored to receive this highly coveted third Magnet recognition.”

Research demonstrates that Magnet recognition provides specific benefits to patients, health care organizations and their communities, such as:

• Higher patient satisfaction with nurse communication, availability of help and receipt of discharge information.
• Lower risk of 30-day mortality and lower failure to rescue rates.
• Higher job satisfaction among nurses.
• Lower nurse reports of intentions to leave their positions.

In 2011, UTMC was designated as a Magnet facility and received its second Magnet designation in 2016. The Magnet Recognition Program® provides a roadmap to nursing excellence, which benefits patients and the entire 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.

“The University of Tennessee Medical Center is the only hospital in the Knoxville and the East Tennessee region to achieve Magnet® status,” said Joe Landsman, President and Chief Executive Officer of UTMC. “The Magnet Recognition Program® serves as the gold standard for nursing excellence and provides our community with the ultimate benchmark for measuring the quality-of-care patients can expect to receive at our hospital. I am extremely proud of our nurses, physicians and clinicians.”

About ANCC’s Magnet Recognition Program

The Magnet Recognition Program — administered by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the largest and most prominent nurses credentialing organization in the world — identifies health care 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. For more information about the Magnet Recognition Program and current statistics, visit www.nursingworld.org/magnet.