12/05/2016

Wentworth-Douglass Hospital Achieves Magnet® Recognition

Wentworth-Douglass Hospital achieved Magnet® recognition in November, the nation’s highest honor for excellence in nursing, with unanimous approval from the Commission on Magnet Recognition. The American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet Recognition Program® distinguishes organizations that meet rigorous standards for nursing excellence, professionalism, teamwork and superiority in patient care.

With this credential, Wentworth-Douglass joins just 447 U.S. health care organizations out of more than 6,300 U.S. hospitals to have achieved Magnet recognition.

“I am so proud of the nursing staff and the entire organization for the hard work that went into making this possible. Exceptional patient care and experiences are the result of exceptional teamwork,” says Sheila Woolley, RN, BSN, MPH, NEA-BC, Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President of Patient Care Services.

Research demonstrates that Magnet recognition provides specific benefits to health care organizations and their communities, including higher patient satisfaction, lower risk of 30-day mortality, and better job satisfaction among nurses.

To achieve this distinction, Wentworth-Douglass passed a rigorous and lengthy process which involved widespread participation from leadership and staff at all levels. The ANCC evaluates applicants across a number of areas it deems essential to nursing excellence and delivering superior patient care. These include the quality of nursing leadership and coordination and collaboration across specialties, as well as processes for measuring and improving the quality and delivery of care.

Wentworth-Douglass Hospital’s Nursing Department includes more than 500 highly skilled and compassionate nurses. “Magnet recognition is tangible evidence of our nurses’ dedication and the entire organization’s commitment to providing the very best care to our patients,” says Woolley. 

About Wentworth-Douglass Hospital

Wentworth-Douglass Hospital is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit charitable health care organization located in the Seacoast community of Dover, New Hampshire with a 110-year history of compassionate care and innovation.  Serving its communities since 1906, it is a family of 250 providers and over 2,300 employees and volunteers dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of residents and visitors to the Seacoast area of New Hampshire and Southern Maine. Wentworth-Douglass Health System is comprised of Wentworth-Douglass Hospital (a 178-bed hospital) Wentworth Health Partners (28 primary care and specialty care provider practices), Wentworth-Douglass Foundation, and The Works Family Health & Fitness Center.

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 is the highest national honor 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.nursecredentialing.org/magnet.