Recently I have had several questions regarding the role of the Magnet® or Pathway to Excellence® champion on a journey to excellence and wanted to respond with some thoughts.
The Role of the Magnet® or Pathway to Excellence® Champion
Whether you call them champions, ambassadors, or anything else, these individuals are critical to the success of your journey. Champions/Ambassadors are clinical staff and interprofessional partners who are the leaders of the journey from a staff perspective. They are in a unique position, as they are educated and informed on the logistics, meaning, and importance of the journey to the organization. They are prepared to answer questions from their peers and inform others what the journey is all about. They are versed in how to respond to naysayers and those wanting more information regarding the journey.
Champions/Ambassadors are informal leaders in the organization and on their units who can help spread the why and the excitement regarding the journey. They are great for bringing examples of excellence forward when writing a document and are excellent communicators at all phases of the process of designation and redesignation when taking information back to their units.
In some organizations they are part of the shared governance councils and have an ongoing presence as decision-makers in the organization. In other organizations they may form at some point prior to document writing. (Hopefully at least two years prior to designation/redesignation).
This group is usually led by the Magnet ® or Pathway to Excellence® Program Directors with a clinical staff member as a co-lead. As with any other group, getting started is the hardest part.
Who should be in the group?
Informal leaders in the organization, staff members that are looked up to by their peers, council members/chairs and anyone interested in the process. Be sure to include inpatient and ambulatory areas and representatives from as many areas as possible.
What should they talk about?
Here are a few topics to get your group started.
Information about the journey- The who, what, why, and significance to the organization. Educate the group regarding all phases of the journey and what is important in each phase. Aligning the journey with excellence and not a designation/award/reward.
Data – Nursing sensitive indicators, core measures, patient experience, employee engagement, turnover, retention, left without being seen, any indicator that measures success in their area/department/clinic. How is data displayed and disseminated? Do they have quality boards, huddle boards, staff meetings where they share information regarding outcome data? How does the clinical staff know about their outcome data?
The champions/ambassadors can help educate/reinforce the ANA code of ethics, and what to do in an ethical situation. What resources are available in an ethical situation?
They must know what is happening in the unit councils and organizational level councils. Have the champions report on the UBC projects, work groups, improved outcomes, initiatives, etc. Champions are responsible for making sure everyone is prepared for the journey, for the document, for the site visit or the survey. Knowing what is happening in the Unit Council and organization wide councils is essential.
Nursing research and evidence-based practice are great topics for the champions/ambassadors to share. Not only what is currently happening and how research and EBP is utilized by clinical staff, but also what the difference is between EBP/Research/QI projects.
Understanding the Professional Practice Model, care delivery model, and the Shared Governance model are crucial. Have them give examples and align each of these with their practice.
These are a few topics champions/ambassadors need to be able to understand and talk about. Make the meetings interactive, where members take turns leading the discussion. Have them report back at the meeting on what is happening in their unit and share ideas about what is working well.
For more discussion/questions regarding the role of the champion/ambassador contact me at mmedeiros@chcm.com
Marky has expertise in aligning people and processes, identifying emerging issues, and assessing the effectiveness of organizational interventions. The result: enduring measurable improvement. Marky uses her deep health care experience along with evidence-based practices to co-create a customized improvement plan with clients.
