The Magnet 4 Europe study, established in 2020, is based on United States hospitals that received ‘Magnet Status’, which is the most esteemed award an institute can receive for care excellence.
Many organisations have used this Magnet model to enhance critical criteria, including patient safety, results, colleague engagement and retention. These hospitals reported that the changes made had a positive impact on both healthcare professionals’ mental health and patient treatments.
The Magnet 4 Europe study is about adopting, where appropriate, and testing these principles in over 60 European Hospitals with the hope of achieving the same positive effects.
As part of the study, DBTH has joined only 14 NHS trusts in England, with aspirations to improve the mental health and wellbeing of nurses and doctors.
In the final round of data collection for the study, hospitals involved were asked to collect confidential surveys from nurses and doctors about how hospital care and the demands placed on clinical colleagues experience.
To help with engagement, the Trust’s dedicated Research and Innovation team visited a number of areas and services across the organisations three hospital sites in Doncaster and Bassetlaw with a tea trolley to inspire and educate colleagues on this initiative and the opportunities it offers.
Due to the efforts of the team, the Trust has achieved the highest return rate for surveys filled in by doctors and the second best for nurses, placing DBTH at a combined return rate of first place for the contributing institutes across Europe.
Karen Jessop, Chief Nurse at DBTH, who is leading the study alongside the Research and Innovation team, said about the recognition: ‘This achievement is a fantastic reflection of the Trust’s dedication to research and innovation, and emphasises our commitment to delivering evidence-based results to improve the health and wellbeing of both our colleagues and our patients.”
Colleagues are now looking to take key elements from the Magnet framework and implement them into core business via initiatives like a shared decision-making council which will be led by the Chief Nurse. There have already been three pilot wards who have agreed to take part and it will be exciting to see the impact that frontline staff can have within the organisation.
To find out more about how you can be involved in Research at DBTH please visit the dedicated page: https://www.dbth.nhs.uk/research-and-development/
