Magnetic forces enhance nursing care and the working environment at Skåne University Hospital

Hospitals across the country as well as internationally are grappling with the question of how to hire and, above all, retain nurses. Skåne University Hospital is now starting a project in several departments of care to test and evaluate the so-called magnet model. The goal is to create conditions for a good working environment, highest quality nursing care, and clear and priority professional development.

From autumn, the magnet model will be tested in nine care departments at Scania University Hospital in Lund and Malmö. Rebecka Nilsson, an oncology 87 nurse and head of the magnet work subproject on the ward, believes that the model can provide increased working conditions while developing competence and implementing new knowledge and that it can contribute to a higher quality of nursing care.

“My hope is that the magnet model will contribute to a greater focus on nursing and close teamwork and that this will lead to enhanced professional pride and newfound development opportunities for staff and patients,” says Rebecca Nelson.

Installed model
The Magnet Model is an American organizational model that supports nurses in the training, development, and leadership of nursing work. Skåne University Hospital will test and evaluate the model to promote a systematic and evidence-based approach to nursing and to create conditions for long-term learning for all staff.

The care departments that are part of the project must identify, create conditions and evaluate working methods based on the five areas of the magnet model:

• leadership development
• Structures for personal development
• New knowledge, innovations and improvements
• Excellent nursing done
• Measurable results.

– Magnet is a nursing model with over 30 years of evidence and proven experience where an important part of working is to maintain and develop competence. The model fits well with the work already underway with us creating structures for personal development and empowerment, or the so-called professional services for nurses. It is one of our most important issues for a sustainable working environment and quality and safe care, says David Sparv, chief nurse at Skåne University Hospital.

Nursing in focus
Sarah Hanson, a specialist nurse and subproject manager on the 74th Infection Ward, hopes the magnet model will give better opportunities to work in an orderly manner with changing work, by seeing the different nursing needs at work.

For management, this will mean moving forward with hard work but also opportunities for project support to work with new areas of improvement. It also gives us the opportunity to build on the work found in the start-up pits in a structured manner, among other things, to ensure sustainable employment through scheduling with a focus on continuity and enable further skill development.

powerful tools
The idea is that the magnetic model should contribute to:

• Patients get a better experience of safety, continuity and engagement in healthcare contact
• Low employee turnover
• Employees experience less pressure
• There are structures for a sustainable learning environment for staff and students

The magnet model gives us powerful tools for implementation and follow-up, and I am very happy that Skåne University Hospital has taken this important step for the future, says David Sparv.

For more information please contact:
David Sparff, chief nurse, tel. 046-17 37 52
Rebecca Nelson, Nurse, Oncology Department 87, Tel. 0703-88 21 90
Sarah Hanson, Specialist Nurse, Infection Department 74, Tel. 0724-62 40 35

Facts: The magnetic model

• Magnet Hospitals are an American model of organizing care that has been around since the late 1980s.
• In the United States, a large number of hospitals are accredited according to Magnet. Several research studies show that these have better treatment outcomes and more satisfied patients than non-accredited hospitals and that good, safe care is associated with higher nursing efficiency.
• The model consists of five areas and 14 attractive forces, i.e. the specific success factors that attract nurses to apply to and stay in the hospital.
• During the fall semester, nine departments of care at Skåne University Hospital participate in a pilot project:
  Thoracic surgery department
  Resuscitation and Intensive Care Unit, Chest Department
  Department of Orthopedics 1, 2, 11
  circle of infection 74
  Hematology Department 3 and 4
  Oncology Department 87
• Additional departments will enter the project in early 2023.