Magnet Nursing Podcast

Top 10 Things to Know Before You Write for Magnet | Magnet Nursing Podcast Ep. 4

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 22:00:00 -0500

If you have ever been handed the Magnet manual and told to start writing, this episode is for you. Host Franklin Nduku, MSN, RN, Magnet Program Director and national Magnet consultant, counts down the ten most important things you need to know before you write a single word for Magnet. It does not matter whether you are a Magnet Program Director, a chief nurse, a manager, or frontline staff who got pulled into the work: these are the things that separate a write-up that holds from one that gets sent back.

This episode also celebrates the launch of the Magnet Writing Academy, a guided course that teaches this whole method from the ground up, with practice on real cases and a reviewer that reads your work until it holds. The episode ends with a clip from inside the course.

Join the Magnet Writing Academy: https://www.clinicalexcellencecoach.com/magnet-writing-academy
Free Magnet resources and guides: https://www.clinicalexcellencecoach.com/resources

New here? This is the Magnet Nursing Podcast, where we talk about Magnet nursing and nursing excellence in plain language, for the people who actually do the work. If this helped, hit subscribe, like the video, and leave a comment with your questions. Franklin reads them and answers them on future episodes.

Know someone who would find this useful, a fellow Magnet Program Director, a writing team member, or a leader at a Magnet hospital? Share it with them.

Clinical Excellence Coaching is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of ANCC or the Magnet Recognition Program. This content is educational and does not determine designation outcomes.

#MagnetNursing #NursingExcellence #MagnetProgramDirector #NurseLeadership #MagnetRecognition #NursingPodcast #MagnetWritingAcademy #ANCC #Nursing #ClinicalExcellence

Building Shared Governance from Scratch: Easy Steps for Starting a Nursing Unit Based Council

Mon, 22 Jun 2026 15:00:00 -0500

Building a shared governance structure from scratch is one of the hardest things a hospital can take on. Or so it seems. There are so many moving parts that nurse leaders and Magnet Program Directors keep stalling on the same question: where do we even start? Host Franklin Nduku, MSN, RN, EBP-C, argues the build is not the hard part.

In this episode he walks through the exact sequence for standing up a unit-based council from zero, the single cell that the entire shared governance body is built from. The secret isn't a complex apparatus. It's a linear set of steps, most of which use resources your hospital already has, followed by the leadership commitment that decides whether the council actually survives.

New episodes once a week from Clinical Excellence Coaching.

Host: Franklin Nduku, MSN, RN, EBP-C

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Website: https://www.clinicalexcellencecoach.com/

Free comprehensive shared governance guide, with agenda, minutes, bylaws, and SOP templates: https://www.clinicalexcellencecoach.com/resources

Free Magnet resources and a free gap analysis tool: https://www.clinicalexcellencecoach.com/resources

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franklinnnduku/
Chapters:

0:00 The hardest build in the hospital

0:45 Why unit-based councils are the lifeblood

3:16 The leadership commitment: protected time and resources

5:45 Step 1: Identify your chair (find your rock stars)

7:02 Step 2: Build a lean council, not a roster

11:31 Step 3: Set a standing meeting date

13:53 Step 4: Build the first agenda (the chair owns the meeting)

18:18 Step 5: Run the first meeting with light structure

21:48 Be supporter in chief

22:54 Step 6: Collect the minutes (your evidence repository)

25:15 Sustainment: consistency, teeth, and easy wins

27:50 Closing challenge and resources
Subscribe and turn on notifications so you don't miss the next episode.

Note: This is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the ANCC or the Magnet Recognition Program.

#MagnetNursing #NurseLeadership #SharedGovernance #UnitBasedCouncils #MagnetProgramDirector

50+ Magnet Write-Ups a Year! (Without Chasing Anyone)

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 13:00:00 -0500

Magnet Program Directors spend their days chasing nurses and executives for write-ups people promised months ago. Host Franklin Nduku, MSN, RN, EBP-C, argues it doesn't have to work that way. In this episode he breaks down the exact structure he built to generate 50 or more Magnet write-ups in a single year, without hunting anyone down.

The secret isn't working harder. It's connecting two structures most hospitals already have, evidence-based practice and shared governance, so the stories that match the Magnet standards start producing themselves out of work your nurses are already doing.

In this episode:

Why finding stories, not understanding standards, is the real Magnet challenge

Reaching a "critical mass" of EBP through a hospital-based mentor model

The shared governance move that changes everything: evidence as the price of admission

How one nurse's project generates evidence for half a dozen standards at once

What this means for Empirical Outcomes (EOs) and the data they require

Why strengthening shared governance lifts nearly everything the Magnet manual cares about

Whether you're a current or aspiring MPD, a nurse executive, a CNO, or part of a Magnet writing team, this series is built to make Magnet make sense.

New episodes about once a week from Clinical Excellence Coaching.

Host: Franklin Nduku, MSN, RN, EBP-C

Resources mentioned in this episode:
Companion article, "Your Clinical Nurses Aren't Disengaged. They've Just Stopped Believing You.": https://www.clinicalexcellencecoach.com/insights/nurses-stopped-believing-you

Links:
Website: https://www.clinicalexcellencecoach.com/
Free Magnet resources and a free gap analysis tool: https://www.clinicalexcellencecoach.com/resources
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franklinnnduku/

Subscribe and turn on notifications so you don't miss the next episode.

Note: This is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the ANCC or the Magnet Recognition Program.

#MagnetNursing #NurseLeadership #MagnetProgramDirector #EvidenceBasedPractice #SharedGovernance

Magnet Nursing: Why Isn't Your Hospital Magnet Yet

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 12:00:00 -0500

Why aren't there more Magnet hospitals? There are only about 670, and host Franklin Nduku, MSN, RN, MPD argues there should be thousands. The Magnet Program Director (MPD) role is poorly defined. This episode fixes that.

In this first episode of the Magnet Nursing Podcast, Franklin breaks down what really stands between a hospital and Magnet designation, and why the Magnet Program Director (MPD) role is the most misunderstood job in nursing leadership. This is the real Magnet journey, not the manual version.

In this episode:
- Why MPDs need their own educational space
- The Magnet manual vs. real-life Magnet work inside a hospital
- "Walk the beat": why you can't MPD from your desk
- Why hospitals talk themselves out of Magnet (and the false barriers they invent)
- The truth about certification rates, degree requirements, and data
- First-time designation vs. redesignation
- The 9 steps before you apply, and the pre-application game plan
- Data vendors, contracts, and application timing
- How the 48-month window shapes the work
- Why the pursuit is Magnet
- Why the MPD role is far more than writing pretty narratives
- Magnet is not perfection. It's fixing what's broken.

Whether you're a current or aspiring MPD, a nurse executive, a CNO, or part of a Magnet writing team, this series is built to make Magnet make sense.

New episodes about once a week from Clinical Excellence Coaching.

Host: Franklin Nduku, MSN, RN, MPD

Website: https://www.clinicalexcellencecoach.com/
Free Magnet resources and a free gap analysis tool: https://www.clinicalexcellencecoach.com/resources
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franklinnnduku/

Subscribe and turn on notifications so you don't miss the next episode.

Note: This is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the ANCC or the Magnet Recognition Program.

#MagnetNursing #NurseLeadership #MagnetProgramDirector