Vicki Lundmark

Credentialing: The need for a national research agenda

A national research agenda is needed to promote inquiry into the impact of credentialing on health care outcomes for nurses, patients, and organizations. Credentialing is used here to refer to individual credentialing, such as certification for nurses, and organizational credentialing, such as American Nurses Credentialing Center Magnet recognition for health care organizations or accreditation of providers of continuing education in nursing. Although it is hypothesized that credentialing leads to a higher quality of care, more uniform practice, and better patient outcomes, the research evidence to validate these views is limited. This article proposes a conceptual model in which both credentials and standards are posited to affect outcomes in health care. Potential research questions as well as issues in research design, measurement, data collection, and analysis are discussed. Credentialing in nursing has implications for the health care professions and national policy. A growing body of independent research that clarifies the relationship of credentialing in nursing to outcomes can make important contributions to the improvement of health care quality.

Funding big research with small money.

This department highlights change management strategies that may be successful in strategically planning and executing organizational change initiatives. With the goal of presenting practical approaches helpful to nurse leaders advancing organizational change, content includes evidence-based projects, tools, and resources that mobilize and sustain organizational change initiatives. In this article, the guest authors introduce crowd sourcing as a strategy for funding big research with small money.

The Magnet Recognition Program: understanding the appraisal process.

THE MAGNET RECOGNITION PROGRAM® of the American Nurses Credentialing Center awards Magnet status to healthcare organizations for excellence in nursing services. Originating in the early 1980s from a study of nurse retention during a period of shortage,1 the concept of a Magnet environment encompasses many organizational features that facilitate the professional practice of nursing in addition to the organization and delivery of nursing services itself.2 To receive Magnet Recognition, an applicant must demonstrate that a Magnet environment—as defined by current program criteria—has been achieved and embedded throughout the organization wherever nursing is practiced. The purpose of this article is to describe the details of the Magnet appraisal process and the approaches it incorporates

Starting a national conversation: the Institute of Medicine workshop on the future directions of credentialing research in nursing.

In this months column, the director of research for the American Nurses Credentialing Center discusses outcomes of the Institute of Medicine Workshop on Credentialing Research in Nursing.

The Magnet Recognition Program: developing a national magnet research agenda.

The authors thank MaryMoon Allison, MHSE, BSN, RN; David W. Chapman, PhD, MA; Mary Ann T. Donohue, PhD, RN, APN,C; Cynthia Hagstrom, MSN, RN,BC; Karen B. Haller, PhD, RN, FAAN; Donna Sullivan Havens, PhD, RN, FAAN; Jean E. Johnson, PhD, FAAN; Christina Joy, DNSc, RN; Mary Koithan, PhD, RN APRN,BC; Patricia Quigley, PhD, ARNP, CRRN; Mary Jean Schumann, MSN, MBA, RN, CPNP; Patricia Underwood, PhD, RN, FAAN; Linda D. Urden, DNSc, RN, CNA-BC, FAAN; Patricia S. Yoder-Wise, EdD, RN, CNAA-BC, FAAN; and Margarete Lieb Zalon, PhD, RN, APRN,BC, for their comments during various stages of survey development and data analysis.

Building Research Infrastructure in Magnet® Hospitals: Current Status and Future Directions

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to describe the infrastructures supporting research in Magnet® hospitals. BACKGROUND Hospitals undertaking the journey toward Magnet designation must build research and evidence-based practice (EBP) infrastructures that support the infusion of research and EBP into clinical practice. METHODS An electronic survey was developed and distributed to the chief nursing officer or Magnet coordinator of all Magnet hospitals between June 10, 2015, and July 8, 2015. RESULTS Of the 418 Magnet hospitals invited, 249 responses (60%) were received. Resources dedicated to nursing research were difficult to isolate from those for EBP. Supporting clinical nurses’ time away from the bedside remains a challenge. Nearly half (44%) indicated that research is conducted within the nurses’ usual clinical hours, and 40% indicated that nurses participate on their own time. CONCLUSIONS Hospitals use a variety of resources and mentor arrangements to support research and EBP, often the same resources. More targeted resources are needed to fully integrate research into clinical practice.