Alumna Deena Gilland Leads Emory Clinic Ambulatory Nursing Care to National Recognition
As health care’s gold standard, Magnet stands for professionalism, teamwork, and superiority in patient care. Driven by data and based on evidence, it signals to nurses a commitment to their well-being and professional growth.
For six years, Deena Gilland 07MSN 18DNP had led Emory Clinic’s pursuit of this rigorous achievement for ambulatory nursing care when the coronavirus threatened to derail it all.
In March 2020, her team was deep into compiling years of carefully collected data, stories, and other proof of nursing practice, research, and patient outcomes.
“Then bam! The world changed,” says Gilland, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, vice president of patient services and chief nursing officer of Emory Ambulatory Care Practice. “We had a pivotal point of asking ourselves, ‘What do we do? Do we keep on trying?’ It was chaos. That was our lowest point.”
Gilland and the Emory Clinic nursing teams steered through. In May 2022, the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) announced that Emory Clinic was the first ambulatory or outpatient practice in Georgia to receive Magnet status. The clinic network relies on 1,000 nurses and more than 500 nurse practitioners. “Tangible evidence of our nurses’ commitment to providing the very best care to our patients and their families,” Sharon Pappas, PhD, RN, FAAN, chief nurse executive for Emory Healthcare, called it.
Long before Gilland started visualizing Emory Clinic’s journey to Magnet status in 2014, others saw and nurtured her leadership potential. Her uninterrupted 34 years at Emory Healthcare began as a clinical nurse at Emory University Hospital; in 2007, her MSN degree led to leadership positions including one with oncology nursing at Winship Cancer Institute.
“I saw Deena’s skill and compassion as a clinical nurse,” recalls mentor Mary Gullatte, 81MN, PhD, RN, AOCN, FAAN, Emory Healthcare corporate director of nursing research and evidence-based practice. “She always seemed to look for ways to improve care for patients while also engaging staff in change. I wanted to help give her the confidence to soar — and soar she has.”
When the pandemic jeopardized the Magnet goal, Gilland negotiated with the AANC for four extra months to prepare documentation. She weighed asking more of nurses and team members who were already stretched so thin. Would six years of building trust and creating a shared vision be enough fuel?
“Whether we receive Magnet designation or not, we’re committed to improving care and our practice environment for nurses, patients, and care teams,” Gilland says she concluded. “That was my ‘aha’ moment. To continue to improve patient care and enhance nurses’ professional governance and development, that's the right thing to do.”
Magnet appraisers visited and conducted interviews with nurses, physicians, leaders, and care team members. They subsequently recognized Emory Clinic for excellence in quality of care in its ambulatory surgery centers, opportunities for nursing professional development, and a fair and just culture environment where nurses practice. Going forward, Magnet standards represent “our North Star,” Gilland says.
“We have a responsibility to direct and guide newer nurses, but not overwhelm them,” adds Gilland. “Emory nurses practice at a high level, which the Magnet designation exemplifies. We have a responsibility to share that expertise with others.”
