Magnet forces: a structure for a transformation in inpatient psychiatric nursing

Recovery is a cornerstone of the federal government's transformation vision for mental health care. Recovery is most often depicted as a process by which people with serious mental illness reengage with activities that create a meaningful existence and a purpose in life. Psychiatric nurses are expected to partner with patients in the recovery process during inpatient treatment. This may prove difficult given the current emphasis on medical models of care and the state of the science in inpatient psychiatric nursing. In this article, the authors describe how magnet forces that focus on empowering nurses, empowering evidence-based care, and strengthening unit-based leadership have the potential for generating transformational change at the point of service. Engaging in the recovery movement within the magnet structure may generate innovations critical to the growth of the specialty. J Am Psychiatr Nurses Assoc, 2008; 14(5), 346-352.