Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital Achieves Magnet(R) Recognition

JACKSONVILLE, FLA., May 4, 2016 -- Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital achieved Magnet recognition on April 28, 2016, as a reflection of its nursing professionalism, teamwork and superiority in patient care. The American Nurses Credentialing Center's (ANCC) Magnet Recognition Program® is recognized as the gold standard of nursing excellence.

With this credential, Brook is one of only 436 healthcare organizations out of over 6,300 U.S. Hospitals to achieve Magnet recognition. Brooks is one of only four freestanding inpatient rehabilitation facilities in the country to achieve this designation.

"This achievement is a testament to the exemplary nursing care delivered at Brooks every day," said Corinne Romano, MSN, RN, CRRN, VP of Nursing for Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital. "It is evidence of our promise to deliver the highest quality care resulting in the best outcomes and patient experience, all while ensuring an excellent work environment for our nursing staff."

Research demonstrates that Magnet recognition provides specific benefits to healthcare organizations and their communities, such as higher patient satisfaction, higher nursing job satisfaction and lower risk of adverse events. Brooks was recognized for exemplary performance in the following key areas:

1. Professional nursing certifications, specifically an increase in the number of wound care certified nurses
2. Nursing satisfaction data that outperformed national benchmark statistics
3. Outcome measurements for bladder and bowel function that outperformed national benchmark data for all Brooks nursing units in all quarters for the past two years.

To achieve Magnet recognition, ANCC evaluates applicants across a number of components and dimensions to gauge an organization's nursing excellence. These include the quality of nursing leadership and coordination and collaboration across specialties, as well as processes for measuring and improving the quality and delivery of care.

Organizations must pass a rigorous and lengthy process that includes an electronic application, written patient care documentation, an on-site visit and a review by the Commission on Magnet Recognition. Brooks first applied for Magnet designation in 2013 and hosted a final site visit in February 2016.

About Brooks Rehabilitation
Brooks Rehabilitation has been serving the southeast for over 40 years. As a non-profit organization, Brooks Rehabilitation, based in Jacksonville, FL, operates one of the nation's largest inpatient rehabilitation hospitals in the US with 160 beds, one of the region's largest home healthcare agencies, 26 outpatient rehabilitation clinics, a skilled nursing unit dedicated to orthopedic rehabilitation, a rehabilitation medicine physician practice and a campus designed for senior services with skilled nursing, assisted living and memory care. In addition, Brooks Rehabilitation operates the Brooks Rehabilitation Clinical Research Center which specializes in research for stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury and more to advance the science of rehabilitation. Brooks Rehabilitation also provides many low or no cost community programs and services such as the Brooks Clubhouse and our Brooks Adaptive Sports and Recreation Program to improve the quality of life for people living with physical disabilities. For more information, visit BrooksRehab.org.

About ANCC's Magnet Recognition Program
The Magnet Recognition Program — administered by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the largest and most prominent nurses credentialing organization in the world — identifies health care organizations that provide the very best in nursing care and professionalism in nursing practice. The Magnet Recognition Program is the highest national honor for nursing excellence and provides consumers with the ultimate benchmark for measuring quality of care. For more information about the Magnet Recognition Program and current statistics, visit www.nursecredentialing.org/magnet.

CONTACT: Jill Matejcek
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