Canadian nurses visit Children's Mercy

Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics nurses want to help their neighbors to the north excel.

Nurses from Children’s Mercy provided a tour of their facility to nurses from Canada’s Victorian Order of Nurses and Jewish General Hospital. The Canadians visited Jan. 25-26.

Both Canadian facilities want to pursue the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet Recognition program.

There are currently no facilities in Canada that have achieved magnet designation, which recognizes facilities for nursing excellence.

The process to become a magnet hospital can take years and requires thousands and thousands of pages of documentation.

“We’ve been exploring the idea of a magnet certification,” said Sharon Goodwin, RN, MN, vice president of quality and risk and chief practice executive for the Victorian Order of Nurses, commonly referred to as the VON.

Children’s Mercy Director of Patient Care Services Research Pat Messmer, RN-BC, FAAN, Ph.D., works for the credentialing center. Messmer connected the nurses at the VON and Jewish General Hospital with the staff at Children’s Mercy.

“We wanted to talk to an organization who has achieved magnet status,” Messmer said.

Children’s Mercy Hospital achieved magnet designation in 2003 and has maintained the status since.

“Whether we are going to go for magnet or not, we wanted to learn from Mercy,” said Richard McConnell, vice president of people and organizations for the VON.

Jewish General Hospital Nursing Director Valerie Frunchak agreed.

“There’s really a lot to be gained from visiting Mercy,” she said. “It’s been really beneficial.”

Jewish General Hospital is a 637-bed adult facility in Quebec and the VON is a nonprofit home care organization based in Ontario.

Guests from both organizations said they gleaned beneficial information about policies and procedures from the nurses at Children’s Mercy.

“They’re just so dedicated and so passionate about their work,” Goodwin said.

Children’s Mercy Magnet Project Manager Paula Blizzard, RN, MS, NE-BC, said Children’s Mercy benefited from the visit as well.

“We’ve learned just as much from them as they’ve learned from us,” Blizzard said.

Children’s Mercy Home Care Director Debbie Largo-Mesley, RN, MSN, said she benefited from the dialogue with the nurses from VON. Largo-Mesley directs a 30-person home care staff, while the VON employs more than 5,000.

“We consider ourselves to be the leaders of community nursing in Canada,” Goodwin said.

Children’s Mercy has provided tours for nurses from other hospitals. Blizzard said she likes to mentor nurses at other facilities, especially those who want to achieve magnet designation.

“We are more than willing to support others in their journey to become magnet,” Blizzard said. “For me, as a nurse, I would prefer all hospitals be magnet.”

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