Preparing for Documentation Submission

Sharon A. Cusanza

MSN, RN, NEA-BC, CHCP

Magnet^®, Accreditation^®, Pathway to Excellence^®

Sharon Cusanza brings over 40 years of nursing experience to her consultation practice, including nursing leadership, quality improvement, and Magnet^® experience. She is currently the head of risk management education at LAMMICO.

Sharon Cusanza brings over 40 years of nursing experience to her consultation practice. She has extensive experience as a leader/director including a background in quality improvement, education, and accreditation. Her experience also includes chairing institutional level quality, nursing leadership, and shared decision-making committees. She is currently the lead of risk management education at LAMMICO/Medical Interactive where she oversees ACCME accreditation with commendation and ANCC accreditation with distinction. She was formerly the Magnet Program Director at a large tertiary care hospital, where she successfully wrote two sets of Magnet application documents and coordinated the accompanying site visits. Sharon possesses in-depth understanding and analysis of the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program®, the Pathway to Excellence Program®, and the Accreditation® Program. She is a Fundamentals of Magnet® certificate holder. Fundamentals of Magnet® is a professional credential for consultants who guide hospitals as they apply for Magnet recognition. She also has over 15 years of experience developing local and regional conferences for professional organizations.

In addition to consulting and nursing education, she has presented her own nursing research studies and quality improvement projects at ANCC National Magnet Conferences, AONL, ACCME conferences, and the ANCC NPD Summit.

Summary of Services

Conducts gap analysis and readiness assessments and provides strategies for success.
Develops customized education and training to support organizational needs.
Assists organizations with document development and review.
Assists with electronic document submission.
Conducts comprehensive on-site reviews in preparation for site visits.
Works with all stakeholders to achieve organizational goals.

Education

BSN, Louisiana State University Health Science Center, New Orleans, LA
MSN in executive nursing, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL

Certifications

American Nurses Credentialing Center–Certificate Holder in Fundamentals of Magnet®
American Nurses Credentialing Center–Nurse Executive, Advanced
Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions-Certified Healthcare CPD Professional

Professional Memberships

Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions
Association for Nursing Professional Development
American Nursing Association
American Organization of Nurse Leaders
American Society for Healthcare Risk Management

As the final phase of your Magnet® application, document submission is extremely important. Please remember, you must follow the program guidelines from the 2014 Magnet Application Manual. To prepare for Magnet document submission, I suggest you do the following 12 to 18 months prior to your submission date:

Decide who will be the official writer(s) of the documents. Send them to an NKC Essentials of Documentation workshop.
Decide whether to submit electronically or in print.
If electronic submission, decide whether it will be produced internally or externally, and if externally, complete vendor selection and contracting.
Consider contracting for document review consultation through one of our expert consultants.
Create a table or spreadsheet with a list of all your possible sources of evidence (SOE) examples and the 20 Organizational Overview documents that are needed; note the status by each example as you proceed over time.
Create a timeline or Gantt chart that includes an editing and approval process for each SOE.
Begin writing narratives by the 12-month mark.

This article was originally published in October 2014.

*Use of ANA Consultation Services does not guarantee you will achieve an ANCC credential. ANA consultants and staff cannot influence the actions of ANCC program staff nor decisions of the Commission on Magnet® Recognition, Commission on Pathway to Excellence®, or Commission on Accreditation in Practice Transition Programs and the Commission for Nursing Continuing Professional Development..