PHILADELPHIA -- Nurses sponsored by the American International Health Alliance, including those from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, have helped four hospitals in Armenia and Russia change the work environment for nurses and improve patient outcomes. 

Their efforts helped the hospitals  earn the "Journey to Excellence" award from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. 

The hospitals successful implemented standard set forth from the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program, suggesting replication of the program could lead to substantial improvements in the quality of hospital care in limited-resource settings worldwide.

"This project has successfully demonstrated that the introduction of evidence-based nursing practice standards based on ANCC Magnet Recognition Program can substantially improve both the quality of care and level of patient satisfaction in countries where the development of professional nursing lags behind international norms," said Linda H. Aiken, coordinator of AIHA Nursing Quality Improvement Program and director of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research.

The 14 evidence-based standards of nursing care and professional performance that are at the core of the Magnet Program have proven effective in English-speaking countries where more than 100 institutions have gained Magnet status through a rigorous, peer-reviewed accreditation process.

Although nursing is acknowledged as the cornerstone of efforts to improve the quality of hospital care and nurses represent the largest group of health-care providers in hospital settings, countries in the former Soviet Union are characterized by a longstanding under-investment in professional nursing.

By introducing key evidence-based nursing-care protocols, this three-year pilot program which represents the first study of the applicability of ANCC Magnet Recognition Program standards to hospitals in Eurasia has resulted in improvements in both quality of care and patient satisfaction at four demonstration sites in the former Soviet Union: Central Clinical Hospital (Moscow), Erebouni Medical Center (Yerevan, Armenia), St. Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center (Yerevan, Armenia) and Sokolov Medical Center (St. Petersburg).