Magnet Status
Hunterdon Medical Center has been designated a Magnet™ Hospital for outstanding nursing care. Only 8.9% of hospitals* in the country achieve Magnet™ status. In addition to being a Magnet™ hospital, Hunterdon Medical Center is NICHE certified (Nurses Improving Care for Health System Elders) and accredited by the Joint Commission.
The Department of Nursing adheres to the mission of the Hunterdon Health System. We acknowledge that the primary responsibility of nursing is to the patient and family. Nursing care is rendered to the patient in a holistic manner. We believe acknowledging the individuality and uniqueness of each person fulfills this responsibility. We will collaborate with other disciplines to address the unique health needs of the patient. Nursing assists the patient and family in planning the patient’s care to enable the patient to return to the community.
The Department of Nursing accepts responsibility to monitor current social and economic trends; therefore, the Department of Nursing specifically acknowledges its fiscal responsibility to manage resources creatively to benefit the organization as a whole.
At Hunterdon Medical Center, nursing leadership and staff are committed to providing high-quality care through lifelong learning and clinical competence. Our nurses are committed to serving patients from birth to death by creating a culture that values each patient’s individual uniqueness and prides itself on patient satisfaction.
Nurses at Hunterdon support a professional nursing practice that emphasizes the following key principles:
- Holistic patient-centered care along the continuum
- Adherence to ethical principles in decision making
- Foster excellent patient experiences
- Provision of patient advocacy
- Commitment to excellent patient outcomes
- Interdisciplinary and intradisciplinary collaboration
- Continuous evaluation and improvement of nursing practice
- Provision of safe and innovative care
- Commitment to Stewardship of resources
- A commitment to the principles of a High-Reliability Organization
- Provision of mentorship and support for nursing students
- Commitment to lifelong learning and mentorship of nursing professionals
- Commitment to the ongoing education of patients, families, and community
- Accountability for own practice and holding others accountable
- Ongoing opportunities for professional growth and development
The Compass illustrates Hunterdon Health’s Nursing Professional Practice Model (PPM). While the Hunterdon nurse stands firmly grounded in Florence Nightingale’s theory of care focusing on unity, wellness, and the interrelationship of human beings and their environment, the compass guides the direction of nursing as it supports the mission of Hunterdon and its Division of Nursing. Working within Nursing Shared Governance (and its interdisciplinary collaboration), teamwork is fostered and gives Hunterdon Nursing a voice so that wherever Hunterdon nurses are found, the compass provides guidance to assure the delivery of care is interdisciplinary, holistic, patient, and family-focused while grounded in evidence and scientific nursing knowledge. The guidance provided by the compass supports the growth of the professional registered nurse through further education, certification, publication of new and tested nursing knowledge, and interventions that promote the empowerment of the patient and family in self-care decisions. The compass represents nursing’s ethical and moral decisions to provide safe care while supporting patient autonomy. As Hunterdon grows in new directions, the compass directs nursing as it continues to meet the diverse and ever-changing needs of the communities Hunterdon serves.
Since 1989, nursing Shared Governance and its interdisciplinary collaboration is what fosters teamwork, stimulates new creative ideas, and gives nursing its voice. This Shared Governance model is not a program but a way of life at Hunterdon Medical Center.
This accountability-based model supports the professional nurse in the work environment. Shared Governance gives our staff its voice to determine how nursing is practiced at Hunterdon Medical Center. Nursing at all levels and settings within the organization is involved in establishing, monitoring, and evaluating practice standards and patient care policies at the unit and organizational levels.
We uphold the basic tenets of shared governance:
- Accountability based practice
- Open communication
- Collaboration
- Mutual respect and trust
- Coaching and mentoring
- Team building
- Therapeutic humor
We have adopted the councilor model, having a PI/Research Council, Nurse Practice Council, Education Council, Management Council, Professional Development Council, Nursing Workplace Environment and Staffing Council (NWESC), Unit Based Practice Council and the Coordinating Council.