According to the Magnet program, the true essence of a Magnet organization stems from Exemplary Professional Practice (EP) within nursing. This means a comprehensive understanding of the role of nursing; the application of this role with patients, families, communities and the interdisciplinary team; and the application of new knowledge and evidence.

Below, you will find standards within this component of Magnet and examples of how we meet or exceed them in our work each day.

Standards and Examples

EP17: Nurse-Driven Initiative Improves Storage of Patient-Supplied Medications

EP17:
Provide one example, with supporting evidence, of a nurse-driven initiative based on patient feedback that was received as a result of a service recovery effort. 

Example:
Nursing leaders and the Department of Quality and Safety worked together to investigate an event where a patient’s medication was lost and create a workgroup to improve the storage of patient-supplied medications in Oncology. Read more.

EP3: Partnering with Families to Improve Their Postpartum Experience

EP3:
Provide an example of nurses partnering with patients, families or both to influence change.

Example:
When a group of mothers wrote to the Brigham about elements of the postpartum experience that were difficult for them, nurses and nursing leaders took their feedback to heart and set out to create a more supportive environment. Read more.

EP1EOb: Operating Room Implements Fall Prevention Best Practices

EP1EOb:
Provide two examples of an improved outcome associated with an evidenced-based change made by clinical nurses in alignment with the organization’s professional practice model. (See EP1EOa below for the second example.)

Example: 
Seeking to decrease the OR patient fall rate, clinical nurses and leaders established a Perioperative Fall Prevention Taskforce and implemented evidence-based interventions. Read more.

EP1EOa: Evidence-based Practice Changes Improve Pain Management After Orthopaedic Surgery 

EP1EOa:
Provide two examples of an improved outcome associated with an evidence-based change made by clinical nurses in alignment with the organization’s professional practice model. (See EP1EOb above for the second example.)

Example:
To reduce rebound pain for patients, the Braunwald Tower 12BC unit-based practice council collaborated with the Post Operative Pain Service and multidisciplinary colleagues to implement evidence-based practice changes. Read more. 

EP12: Autonomy and Authority to Make Nursing Care Decisions

EP12:
Provide an example of clinical nurses having the authority and freedom to make nursing care decisions within the full scope of their practice.

Example:
Nurse practitioners in the Center for Advanced Heart Disease initiated the center’s evidence-based protocol for oral diuretics to resolve a patient’s symptoms. The protocol authorizes nurses to titrate oral diuretics to support and expedite the treatment of patients requiring routine management. Read more.

EP16: Decreasing CAUTI Rates On Shapiro 9W/10EW

EP16:
Provide an example of clinical nurses improving patient safety.

Example:
After nurses noticed an increase in CAUTI cases in Shapiro 9W/10EW, they worked with their Unit-Based Practice Council and the CAUTI Prevention Task Force to decrease CAUTI rates. Read more.