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Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Stanley who was flattened in a tragic accident. Stanley went on to thrive in classrooms around the country and travel to exotic locations around the world with generous patrons.
One such patron was Soudi Bogert, BSN, RN, Magnet and critical care clinical outcomes coordinator at St. Joseph Hospital, Orange. Bogert's kindergarten daughter Chloe brought Stanley home from school and Bogert invited him to attend the 2009 ANCC Magnet conference in Louisville, KY, with her and the St. Joseph Magnet team.
At the conference, the team met Magnet Maggie, a nurse looking for a hospital committed to nursing excellence. The nurses and Maggie hit it off, and Maggie was invited to come back to St. Joseph with them.
Unfortunately, Maggie suffered the same fate as Stanley, flattened by the St. Joseph Hospital Magnet binders as she worked in the hospital's Burlew Medical Library. A real trooper, Maggie decided to keep on working with the Magnet redesignation team despite her new flat condition. This is her story.
Friend to All
"Flat Stanley opened doors everywhere we went at the Magnet conference, and it became clear to us as we went through the weekend that we should do something like that for our own hospital's Magnet redesignation," explained Katie Skelton, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer. "So we huddled and Magnet Maggie was born."
"Everyone has embraced Maggie," said Vivian Norman, MSN, RN, CCRN, critical care educator. "She was created to raise awareness of Magnet, keep our nurses enthusiastic about the process and aware of all the good work they're doing."
Magnet Maggie goes from unit to unit, "talking" with the nurses about what they do.
"They all look forward to Maggie's visits," Bogert added. "Everyone is getting a real kick out of her, plus they're getting to know each other better. Maggie is here to help with the Magnet journey. She's a teacher, helps with training and gives a voice to nurses to share their stories."
"Magnet Maggie helps keep things fresh," Norman said. "She adds a fun dimension to our serious life-and-death work."
Magnet Maggie has fans throughout the facility. The Magnet Ambassadors had a "wardrobe" session, making a variety of scrubs and other appropriate outfits for the tiny nurse. She has her own mask to go to the operating room and her own designated chemotherapy gown for visits to the cancer center. She's attended the blessing of the hands during National Nurses Week and goes to meetings throughout the hospital. The hospital's Intranet is filled with pictures of her in a variety of settings, and she has a blog dedicated to her travels.
"I get emails from committees asking for Maggie to attend," Bogert said. "Staff members take her on personal and professional trips. You bring her out and people gather."
Norman recently took Maggie to the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses National (AACN) Teaching Institute conference in Washington, DC. She took Maggie to see the area's monuments and even introduced her to AACN's president and president-elect.
"Since we traveled to the 2009 National Magnet Conference with Flat Stanley and returned home to fabricate Flat Magnet Maggie, she's taken on new dimensions," Bogert said. "At the spring 2010 AACN National Teaching Institute and Critical Care Exposition in Washington, DC, AACN introduced "Stan Tall" and Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo arrived with "Flat Florence."
Magnet Mentor
Maggie has become an integral part of the Magnet Redesignation team.
"It became clear to us in our initial site visit that our staff knew their own units very well, but there wasn't a global understanding of what St. Joseph Hospital was," Skelton said. "Maggie helps bridge that gap."
"Maggie is a used across the hospital to bring Magnet to everyone's mind," Norman said. "We tend to work in silos, and Maggie has lifted morale in each unit and across units, and builds friendships across units."
To date, Maggie has reached out to the orthopedic unit, the outpatient surgery center, the medical pulmonary unit, the emergency department, endoscopy, the oncology unit and has participated in a number of special hospital events.
"Everyone has fun with her," Skelton said. "No matter what their role or what part of the hospital they work in, Maggie has something to offer them. Part of the fun is making Maggie their own. It plays into a spirit of improvement and competitive good nature."
Maggie helps nurses think about their work in ways that fit the Magnet model, Bogert said.
"Maggie asks questions about each unit, and the nurses tell her what they're doing," she continued. "We want to know what Maggie learned about them, what evidence-based practice strategies are in place and what nurses are proud of."
Maggie stays on each unit for a week or two, depending on the unit's size. Nurses take pictures of Maggie to show how Magnet is alive on the unit.
"This will help with our redesignation," Bogert said. "Maggie helps highlight professional growth and teamwork and increases awareness and highlights what's already happening toward the Magnet goals. She helps show Magnet is inculturated here - our nurses feel it and live it every day."
Bogert uses the pictures to make PowerPoint presentations with fun music, inserting unit data, which are shown on the hospital's Intranet.
"We want Maggie to be everywhere with out staff," she said. "Staff nurses can learn from her. This is an avenue to give nurses a voice. We all contribute to Magnet. Maggie helps everyone know we're all one team."
"It's not in our culture to brag about what we're doing," Norman added. "Maggie allows everyone to showcase the excellent care they provide. We live our core values of dignity, service, excellence and justice. Nurses can speak through Maggie; she helps us tell our story."
Candy Goulette is regional editor for ADVANCE.
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