Harris Health has earned the reputation as a provider of high-quality healthcare. Less known, but equally as impressive, is the healthcare system’s commitment to its nurses. In 2020, Harris Health achieved impressive milestones, earning Magnet designation for its Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) and Ben Taub Hospitals and with its ambulatory care clinics receiving Pathway to Excellence designation in 2022. Earned by less than 10% of hospitals worldwide, this prestigious recognition symbolizes the highest level of nursing practice.

Salute to Nurses: Harris Health’s Dedication to Patients Demonstrated Through Its Commitment to Nurses

In Magnet-designated organizations, you're encouraged to pursue advancement from an education perspective."

By Monica Vanover on April 28, 2025

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"Magnet is the gold standard for nursing excellence worldwide," explains Tashiana Roberts-Jackson, director, Nursing Strategic Initiatives, LBJ Hospital. "It's like achieving an Emmy Award. It demonstrates that your organization has exceptional nursing practice, exceptional quality and patient outcomes, strong transformational leaders, and a focus on creating a culture of safety, innovation, and continuous quality improvement." The Magnet designation, awarded by the American Nurses Accrediting Center, requires years of preparation and implementation of evidence-based practices. For LBJ Hospital, the journey to their second designation involved establishing robust frameworks that empower nurses at all levels. "Shared governance is really important for nurses because it allows them a seat at the table to influence practice, policy, and change," Roberts-Jackson notes. "We solicit the feedback of the frontline nurse, the person closest to patient care, when making decisions that impact them." This nurse-centered approach creates an environment where excellence becomes the norm rather than the exception. Magnet-designated facilities prioritize professional development, continuing education and succession planning, resulting in higher nurse satisfaction and better patient outcomes.

Learn more about our Salute to Nurses initiative as we celebrate the nurses who serve our community and the healthcare systems who support them.

- Tashiana Roberts-Jackson

"Magnet is the gold standard for nursing excellence worldwide"

"You're supported to grow," says Roberts-Jackson, who herself progressed from nurse manager to director during her nearly ten years with Harris Health. "In Magnet-designated organizations, you're encouraged to pursue advancement from an education perspective." For patients, the designation provides assurance of quality care. "Patients should know they're being cared for by highly skilled, highly engaged nurses in an organization committed to being a high reliability institution focused on quality, safety and continuous improvement," explains Roberts-Jackson. The achievement reflects a system-wide commitment to excellence. "Our executive leadership team does an exceptional job creating conditions where we can thrive," Roberts-Jackson emphasizes. "It starts there—if we don't have leadership support, we can't be great."

- Jennifer LaHue

The Journey to Magnet

Harris Health's journey to Magnet designation involved an extensive, highly detailed process that validates nursing excellence across the organization. Sibil George, director, Nursing Strategic Initiatives, Ben Taub Hospital, provided insight into this meticulous certification process. "It's a culture of excellence," explains George. The designation recognizes healthcare organizations where "frontline staff has a voice" and plays a significant role in decision-making processes. Unlike other accreditation surveys, the Magnet site visit focuses primarily on frontline nurses. "When the site visit happens, they are specifically looking for frontline staff... 80% of the total survey time is dedicated to listening to the frontline staff," George notes.

Pathways to Excellence

Harris Health achieved another significant milestone with its Ambulatory Care Services receiving the ANCC Pathway to Excellence designation, marking a commitment to nursing excellence in outpatient settings. "We were the first outpatient organization to be awarded this recognition in Texas, and the second in the whole nation," explains Jennifer LaHue, director, Strategic Initiatives and Clinical Informatics, Ambulatory Care Services, who helped lead the six-year journey to this achievement.

The accreditation requires organizations to demonstrate exceptional performance in patient quality outcomes and experience scores. "For Magnet, they want to see how each unit outperforms. They don't want to see pockets of areas where patient care is not great," she explains. The documentation phase is particularly rigorous. "We had to submit almost 100 documents—it's very labor intensive," says George. Her team spent approximately 20 months preparing these documents, which totaled about 700 pages. George set an ambitious goal of zero deficiencies in their submission—a rare achievement. "That's what my biggest challenge was to make sure that we didn't have any deficiencies. Fortunately, we didn't have any," she proudly shares. The three-day site visit follows successful document submission, involving extensive preparation including interdisciplinary engagement. "We had a magnet fair where all interdisciplinary teams came together," George recalls, emphasizing that "nursing cannot survive by itself." This comprehensive process creates an environment where nurses feel valued. "The nurses know that if they join a magnet institution, the culture is different, the frontline staff will have a voice. They feel like coming to work where they feel valued, their opinion matters."

The Pathway to Excellence designation examines whether an organization has established structures that support nursing excellence. "The designation really looks at whether you have a positive practice culture and whether you're looking at your interprofessional relationships, your standards are high, and your outcomes are good when it comes to retaining your nurses and patient outcomes," LaHue explains. Like Magnet, a cornerstone of the designation is shared governance, where frontline staff have input on clinical decisions. "We have communities of practice," says LaHue. These forums allow nurses across Harris Health's 40-plus outpatient clinics to discuss challenges and best practices, which are then elevated to a steering committee. This collaborative approach has led to tangible improvements in patient care. LaHue cites an example where nurses developed a visual system to prevent medication errors: "They came up with a band, red on one side, white on the other, that a nurse prepping medication would wear. If the red side is showing, nobody interrupts that nurse so they can focus."

"We were the first outpatient organization to be awarded this recognition in Texas, and the second in the whole nation,"

The designation process involved extensive preparation and evaluation. "We did our own internal organizational self-assessment to see what areas we needed to strengthen," LaHue notes. When ANCC reviewed their application, Harris Health exceeded expectations with over 90% positive responses from nurses – well above the 50% requirement. While this designation lasts four years, LaHue is already preparing for the future: "We're already working on our renewal for December 2027, and I'm also hardwiring certain practices for magnet designation." The program's ultimate benefit extends beyond recognition. "It helps with prevention of compassion fatigue, burnout, and turnover if you have an environment that fosters a positive practice," LaHue concludes. Taken together, Harris Health’s Magnet and Pathway to Excellence designations are more than accreditations. They symbolize Harris Health’s commitment to providing both high quality care for their patients and a work environment that attracts and retains the best nurses in the country. “I am a strong believer in organizational excellence,” says Roberts-Jackson, “and Magnet is that. Magnet is the recognition that says you have a culture where excellence is the norm and not the exception. Magnet designated organizations have more satisfied nurses and better outcomes all around.”

- Tashiana Roberts-Jackson

"Magnet is the gold standard for nursing excellence worldwide"

Salute to Nurses: Harris Health’s Dedication to Patients Demonstrated Through Its Commitment to Nurses