To understand what Magnet status means to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP), all you have to do is take a good long gander into Victoria Rich's mirror.

There is no better reflection of it.

Rich, RN, PhD, FAAN, has served as chief nursing officer for the Philadelphia hospital for six-and-a-half years. She's an associate executive director at HUP and assistant dean of clinical practice for the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. She's also the very image of confidence, which she makes every effort to pass along to her staff. Talk to her for even a few minutes and it's plain to see Rich passionately believes in the "culture of excellence" that's thriving at HUP, a testament to her drive to bring the best possible care to patients.

Reaching the pinnacle

In 2007, that drive was rewarded as the American Nurses Credentialing Center conferred Magnet status upon HUP — the highest institutional honor awarded for nursing excellence. Rich and her staff put in more than one year of work on documentation and review to seal the achievement.

"What it has meant to me is to have that pride in reaching the pinnacle, to say that we are among the best of the best," Rich says. "I didn't want us to get Magnet just for the sake of it. I wanted us to be the best. My pride in it is that the staff engaged in it, believed in it, and actualized it, and that we were able to facilitate it for our patients."

Only 4% of hospitals nationwide have achieved Magnet status. There are just 15 Magnet hospitals in Pennsylvania, and HUP is the third in Philadelphia to receive the recognition, after Fox Chase Cancer Center in 2000 and Children's Hospital in 2004. Four others in the region — Abington Memorial in 2003 and the Main Line Hospitals of Bryn Mawr, Lankenau, and Paoli in 2005 — also have been accorded the honor.

"I never wanted to go to Magnet unless we actualized what Magnet was really about," Rich says. "It's about the whole organization supporting and being focused on the care of the patient."

Now that her team has committed to maintaining that excellence in patient care, it is undertaking a new Magnet challenge — reaching out to its West Philadelphia community.

Taking it to the streets

In June, to mark its first year as a Magnet facility, HUP threw a gala. But instead of being merely celebratory, the black-tie event served as a fundraiser for the "Magnet Community Outreach Fund" and netted $40,000 in seed money to get some grassroots health programs off the ground.

For example, one group of HUP staff nurses residing in West Philadelphia is now known as the "Circle of Women." Their mission is to work with area churches to start an effort to monitor blood pressure in black women in the area. Another opportunity — called the "Seedlings" program — offers young people with an interest in nursing the chance to work 20 hours per week at HUP to learn more about the profession.

"We're just beginning," Rich says. "We're thinking of a multitude of ways to extend ourselves and our program."

Rich earned a biology degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania before entering nursing in 1979. Rich says she never had any doubt she would earn her PhD, although she thought she would be working in the psychology field.

But, she jokes, chief nurses use elements of psychology and psychiatry on the job anyway.

Looking back on her career, Rich says her biggest challenge — and greatest joy — has been watching nurses gain respect on par with physicians and other caregivers and reaching their professional potential.

She offers a bit of advice to young nurses starting off on their professional paths: "Have a vision and a passion, and know that you are here to make the lives of our patients better," Rich says. "It's a tough job. The challenge is to constantly be resilient and tenacious and not to give up."