I joked with one chief nurse and her best doc, a hospitalist, that I hoped they’d keep their facility in tiptop shape in case my parents, who at the time had a condo on the nearby New Jersey shore, ever needed it. How ironic that a few days later I would be in their hospital, thanking that hospitalist and praising the nursing staff for saving my dad’s life. I can testify that my dad had a seamless hospital experience, marked by a world-class nursing staff that was ranked as a Magnet hospital by the . Throughout a long weekend, those nurses kept my family involved with dad’s progress through flexible visiting hours, countless phone calls and e-mails — even in the middle of the night. Meanwhile, my father-in-law had his own close encounter with death at another Magnet hospital where he struggled with a left ventricle perfused by a mostly clogged coronary artery. He too stumbled through days of chancy survival amongst a whirlwind of healthcare providers as he laid near death in a critical care unit. Fortunately, with the help of a different team of world-class Magnet nurses, he made it.

Do you think I see value in the ANCC's Magnet Recognition Program®? You bet I do.

Magnet facilities carry the burden of doing these great things every day through countless encounters. It’s a heady status and provides plenty of material for the editorial staff at Nurse.com to explore.