2023 ANCC Magnet Conference Recap | TNA’s Impact on Future Generations

By Dr. Laura Kincheloe, Ed.D, MSN, RN, NE-BC

The 2023 ANCC Magnet Conference was held this year in Chicago, Illinois and was attended by over 13,000 nurses. TNA’s new Directors of Professional Development and Nursing Practice had the opportunity to attend the conference, connecting with nurses from all over the world.

Back in 2002, TNA's Committee on Practice Issues and TNA's Practice Department began a new focus on workplace advocacy. This idea developed into the Nurse Friendly™ Hospital Criteria, which again expanded in 2004 and led to hospital designations of a Nurse Friendly™ Hospital. In 2007 the program transitioned to ANCC (American Nurses Credentialing Center) and evolved into the National Pathway to Excellence® program.

As we reflect on this year’s conference, we honor the past contributions of nurses from Texas and our greater impact on the profession and the practice of nurses around the world.

According to Dr. Jamie Roney-Hernandez, DNP, MSN-Ed., RN, NPD-BC, CCRN-K, TNA’s Director of Professional Development, “The ANCC Pathways and Magnet Conference always brings an energy and enthusiasm to nurses that is centered around excellence and recognition, and around nurses being key to any hospital’s success.”

While walking through McCormick Place, it was not uncommon to see large groups of nurses in matching shirts or jackets walking together, often led by their CNO. Kit Bredimus, DNP, RN, CNML, NE-BC, CENP, NEA-BC, FACHE, FAONL, FNAP, TNA Board Member and CNO at Midland Memorial Hospital shared his perspective of this huge event. “I look forward to this conference every year. It’s great to see nurses from across the globe share best practices and lessons learned. It’s also a celebration of all the great work nurses are doing in all areas of practice.”

Front-line nurses were actively engaged in the many educational offerings. There were specialty specific offerings as well as educational sessions generalized to all nurses. Two nurses from Children’s Health had several takeaways.

“As a pediatric organization, we spend so much time caring for children and their families and advocating for them to ensure they are receiving safe quality care. Advocacy is at the heart of every nurse, yet we rarely advocate for ourselves and our practice. Nurses have a powerful voice but for that voice to be heard, nurses need to understand advocacy.

“What I really took away from my experience is that we need to share the great things we are doing with each other and across the country,” said Latieia Key, MSN, RN, CCRN-K, CPPS, Program Director of Children’s Health.

Many nurses were looking forward to taking what they learned at the conference and applying it to their current practice. Kirbe Cross, BSN, RN, CPN, CPPS, CPHQ, described one learning event as a presentation that, “Really resonated with me as a night shift nurse and recent team leader. We had heard from our tenured staff that they were feeling burned out from precepting every shift when we had multiple new hires and new graduates start in a short time frame. I believe our unit, and other units in our organization, would have benefited from a dedicated clinical education facilitator during the overnight hours. They would help empower the new graduate nurses and support tenured nurses by collaborating with the teams to focus on the areas that needed the most resources. There are so many resources available to nurses during the day but having a dedicated group at night to lend that same level of support would be invaluable.” Perhaps this learning will spark new initiatives for nurses around Texas.

There are many projects and initiatives happening in healthcare organizations around Texas. In many ways, we are the leaders of our practice and it’s important that we continue to step up, engage, and spread the findings of our work.

What are best practices in your areas of expertise? Who have you shared your work with? Consider connecting with TNA and engaging in discussion in how we can help you disseminate your research. Don’t forget to take time for your own professional growth and development. Start by bringing a friend with you to the TNA Annual Conference in San Antonio, Texas this spring!