Our Magnet Journey

Alquietta BrownInova Mount Vernon Hospital was proud to receive its first Magnet® designation in 2022. I am incredibly proud of and grateful for our talented team here. To achieve this distinction during some of the most complicated and difficult years of our nation’s history truly exemplifies an extraordinary level of dedication, resilience and support for one another.

The Magnet document submitted to ANCC represents the great work and contributions that all nurses make to improving the patient experience and outcomes. I am proud of the partnerships that nurses have with our colleagues all striving to provide the best care possible. It is an honor to be part of this amazing team.

Alquietta Brown, PhD, MHSA, BSN, RN, NEA-BC
Chief Nursing Officer, Inova Mount Vernon Hospital

What is Magnet Recognition?

ANCC Magnet Recognition is the most prestigious distinction a healthcare organization can receive for nursing excellence and high-quality patient care. With only 9% of U.S. hospitals earning Magnet designation (approximately 505 hospitals), it’s clearly a distinction to be proud of.

What does Magnet Recognition mean to patients?

Today, patients are much more educated and informed when it comes to seeking objective benchmarks that will aide them in choosing a healthcare provider. Studies have shown Magnet hospitals provide:

  • A higher standard and level of patient care
  • Better patient outcomes
  • A safer environment
  • Higher nurse-to-patient ratios
  • Lower mortality rates
  • Shorter stays

What does Magnet Recognition mean to nurses and hospitals?

Magnet designation means that a culture of excellence pervades the organization. Benefits to nurses include:

  • Higher RN satisfaction
  • Higher RN retention rates and decreased turnover
  • Greater autonomy and responsibility
  • Higher participation in decision-making
  • Clinical collaboration
  • Increased opportunities for professional development and education

Magnet Components

Our Chief Nursing Officer (CNO), Alquietta Brown, PhD, MHSA, BSN, RN, NEA‑BC, has been the strongest champion of our second Magnet® journey. Through her consistent commitment to fostering a culture of support, professional growth, and collaboration, she empowers nurses to excel in their practice and advance the organization’s mission. Her unwavering dedication to the well‑being and safety of nurses is evident in all aspects of her leadership.

In recent years, Dr. Brown implemented a hospital‑wide Safety Coach Program designed to support frontline staff in managing disruptive patient behaviors. This initiative has significantly strengthened the healthy work environment across all clinical units and reinforced a culture of mutual respect, teamwork, and safety.

Dr. Brown empowers nurse leaders at every level with the autonomy to make decisions, secure necessary resources, and advocate for their teams. She encourages them to lead change, elevate practice standards, and advance the professional practice environment to ensure optimal patient outcomes. Under her leadership, nursing leaders throughout the organization embrace shared goals, supports professional development, and promotes a robust shared decision-making structure that drives excellence in care.

Inova Mount Vernon Hospital fosters a culture of professional governance. Nurses at all levels are included in shared governance and unit-based councils. The councils foster the professional practice of nursing and strive to improve nursing care and patient outcomes. Inova’s clinical ladder, ADVANCE, which stands for Achievements Demonstrating Versatile Accomplishments in Nursing Clinical Excellence, was revised in 2022 – 2023 with clinical nurse input, and two new levels were added to include more nurses. Level 2 was added specifically for the newer nurse and does not require a BSN or a certification. Level 5 was added for staff who are more heavily involved in unit/hospital activities. In 2025, 72 nurses advanced on the clinical ladder. This is a 45% increase over 2024.

Our nurses’ commitment to professional advancement is evident in our BSN rate of 93% and our certification rate of 38%. 20 RNs from Inova Mount Vernon Hospital attended conferences in 2025 including the Vizient nurse residency conference; the Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses conference; the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses conference; the Association of Operating Room Nurses; the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses National Teaching Institute; the Emergency Nurses Association conference and the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet conference. Inova Mount Vernon Hospital is currently writing our second Magnet document, to be submitted in April 2026.

Two people at stroke awareness event table

The IMVH nursing team works in partnership with colleagues across the organization to advocate for high-quality patient outcomes. Nurses at all levels participate in, and lead, interprofessional teams focused on improving patient care and safety. Nurses lead the interprofessional Stroke Committee, MSET Team and Sepsis Team.

In 2024, our Emergency Department team reduced the time it takes for severe sepsis and septic shock patients to receive antibiotics by 15%. Nurses, working alongside providers and team members from multiple disciplines, have led the way with these lifesaving initiatives. IMVH officially received its two-year Joint Commission recertification as a Primary Stroke Center and was redesignated as a Center of Excellence for hip/knee surgery.

Nurses are acutely aware of their unit-based quality data and review strategies geared toward improvement at their council meetings. We consistently outperform benchmarks on nursing-sensitive indicators including falls with injury, HAPIs, CAUTIs, and CLABSIs, and have active plans in place to sustain our excellent outcomes. This performance is indicative of front-line nurses’ commitment to evidence-based practice and exemplary professional practice.

In the 2024 National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators RN satisfaction survey, IMVH nurses exceeded benchmark in the Magnet domains of adequate staffing, manager/leader, foundations for quality care, participation in hospital affairs, autonomy, professional development opportunities and interprofessional relationships.

Inova Mount Vernon Hospital’s nurse residency program celebrated 60 graduates in 2024. Together with the other four Inova hospitals, our residency program achieved the Practice Transition Accreditation Program designation in August 2024. Through the collaborative efforts of our professional practice team, nurse residency program facilitators, preceptors and leaders, overall nursing turnover dropped to its lowest level since before the COVID-19 pandemic, now standing at 15.02%.

Innovation in nursing practice and patient care is the hallmark of an organization on the Magnet® journey. IMVH nurses continued to integrate evidence-based practice (EBP) in their clinical practice. Nurses from the ICU participated in an EBP project around proactive rounding led to a decrease in patients needing to go to a higher level of care.

Our culture of clinical inquiry climbed with an ongoing research projects led by clinical nurses. The IMVH Nursing Research & EBP Council has seen an increase in front-line staff membership and research study participation. In the 2025 Shared Governance Maturation Study- we saw 3 IMVH clinical nurses acting as sub-investigators. In the past two years several nurses completed a quality improvement or EBP project as part of their DNP program.

In 2023, Inova was awarded a seven-year contract to work with the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute Health System Implementation Initiative to build an interprofessional commitment to learning and growing in implementation science. This project enables us to participate in implementation projects valued up to $5 million each. Inova accelerator events led to the implementation of virtual nursing, leveraging technology to reduce the documentation burden and increase patient safety. Our inpatient wound care nurses participated in an implementation science project by initiating virtual wound care consults. This new workflow has increased the speed at which patients receive care.

IMVH nurses are honored to share our research findings and EBP outcomes with a variety of internal and external audiences. Below is a sample of our research and EBP poster and podium presentations.

Publications

Dontoh, M. E., Fortune, D. A., Ampomah, D., & Schaab, S. (2024). Enhancing Caregiver Readiness: The Role of Simulation-Based Training With Mannequins and Models in Patient Discharge Education. Rehabilitation Nursing Journal, 10-1097.

Mowery, B. D., Brand, E., Gisila, D., Healy, K., Mannaye, T. R., Bhuvanesh, A., ... & Russell-Babin, K. (2025). Improving Discharge Education and Outcomes for Patients with Heart Failure. AJN The American Journal of Nursing, 125(3), 40-46.

Podium Presentations

Feucht, D.C. Time is Brain: Implementing a Competitive, Interactive Approach to Enhance Nurse Engagement in Stroke Education. Presented at the AANN Advances in Stroke Care Conference. July 28-30, 2025. Phoenix, AZ.

Feucht, D.C., Sohn, M. Dysphagia: A Hard Pill to Swallow, Integrating Care with Speech Language Pathologist to Lessen the Gulp. Presented at the AANN Advances in Stroke Care Conference. July 28-30, 2025. Phoenix, AZ.

Babb, R., Bourdelais, K, Fernandez, P., Wilson, J. Winkler, A.M., Sanya, B. Davis, T., Viars, M., Trachsel, J. Green, P., Madry, C. Improving Nursing Shared Governance Through Research in a Multi-Site Healthcare System. Presented at the Inova Nursing Research and EBP Symposium. October 17, 2025. Virtual.

Feucht, D.C., Muldoon Laccone, R. A Wolf's in Sheep Clothing Identifying the Pitfalls to Early Recognition of Posterior Circulation Strokes. Presented at the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses Annual Conference. March 16-18, 2025. New Orleans, LA.

Posters

Jean-Baptiste, C., Gaines, M., Gabrielli, C., Sandor-Scoma, R. A Mobility Workflow Resign to Reduce Fall on an Adult Medical-Surgical Unit. Presented at the 9th Annual Nursing Research and Innovation Conference. March 13, 2026. Bethesda, MD.

Mulhern, S.G., Golino, A. From Reflex to Rationale: De-Implementing Routine MRSA Nares Screening in the ICU. Presented at the 2026 NACNS Annual Conference. March 9-12, 2026. San Diego, CA.

Ampomah, D., Dixon J. Rehabilitation Nursing Fellowship Program Retains Nurses. Presented at the ANCC National Magnet Conference. October 30- November 1, 2024.

Kelley, S., Lawrence, J. Mowery, B., Artiga, E., Baricaua, C., Bell, C., Workalemahu, T., Bryant, Z., Gollenberg, A. Proactive Rounding Benefits Patients. Presented at the Inova Health System Nursing Research and EBP Symposium. October 2024. Falls Church, VA.

We asked our IMVH Nursing Team: What does working at a Magnet hospital mean to you?

Nurse Lauren SchwindtMagnet means the highest of standards. When you set the bar high, people rise to expectations. It means a solid, inherent commitment to excellence for every patient, their family members and every visitor to Inova. I take pride in the care of my patients and the entire patient experience. This means treating patients and their support system with dignity and respect, while providing physical and emotional support, education, access to additional services and a caring and compassionate heart. Magnet for me is the standard of excellence that we provide always.

Lauren Schwindt, BSN, RN, CEN

 

Nurse Edith ArtigaA nurse who works in a Magnet hospital is very proud to be part of that team, because it means that the organization takes care of their employees and their employees take good care of patients. It's like a change reaction. Positive energy can be contagious. The nurses and interprofessional team are knowledgeable, supportive and current with evidence-based practice, which ensures excellent patient care and a supportive, dynamic nursing practice environment.

Edith Artiga, BSN, RN

 

Nurse Juliet HallI am a part of a great work environment, and I have the support of my nursing leaders to empower my patients and the community I serve. Being Magnet would mean that everyone would know all that we do is done with compassion, competence and is grounded in evidence-based practice. As a direct care nurse, Magnet means I am supported in my professional development through education, peer feedback, certification resources and a clinical ladder for advancement.

Juliet Hall, RN, CAPA

 

Nurse Monica DontohTo me, being a Magnet nurse means providing excellence in nursing care and quality care, using evidence-based practice to achieve results at bedside. As a Magnet nurse, I am empowered to collaborate with other disciplines and teams to bring the best to my patients. I am part of shared governance for my department and my opinion is treasured and incorporated in making decisions or changes. My organization offers me the opportunity to grow as a nurse through advancement, certification, research and leadership opportunities. I’m rewarded for my achievements. I feel love, care and support from my organization. I’m able to channel the same to my patients at the bedside, to give them excellent care for optimum patient satisfaction.

Monica Dontoh, BSN, RN, CRRN