Innovation amidst radical cost containment in health care.

The changing health care environment is requiring nurse executives within a hospital setting to design and implement innovative workforce practices that will both improve patient outcomes and lower costs. Since registered nurses comprise the largest percentage of a hospital's workforce, finding ways to incorporate them in these efforts is essential. The Magnet Recognition Program through the American Nurses Credentialing Center is one successful evidence-based strategy that can be adopted to engage nurses in quality improvement processes.

Bridging the theory-practice gap: a practice-relevant research course for RN to BSN students.

Wanting to create passion for research and evidence-based practice (EBP), the authors describe how a nursing instructor and the director for research and EBP in a community hospital partnered together to teach a practice-relevant research course for RN to BSN students. Students participated in the steps of the EBP process and presented formal reports in class of their EBP project results. One student described her research experience as awesome-evidence that this course bridged the theory-practice gap.

Consumer trust in healthcare organizations is waning. How will 21st century leaders bridge the gap?

Consumer trust in healthcare is crucial to the health and healing of individuals. This article explores the current status of consumer trust in healthcare and proposes several approaches to regaining trust that has been lost.

The magnet application: pitfalls to avoid.

The process of seeking magnet designation through the American Nurses Credentialing Center begins with completion of a 1-page application. The second phase, the most tedious and time-consuming phase, consists of submitting written documentation. The written documentation must demonstrate implementation of the Scope and Standards for Nurse Administrators and how the "forces of magnetism" are incorporated within nursing services.