Magnet definition, a body, as a piece of iron or steel, that possesses the property of attracting certain substances, as iron. With more than 40 years of collective experience in the printing and promotions industry, The Magnet Guys always come through with extraordinary customer service and prompt delivery of economical, high-quality magnetic products. The Magnet Recognition Program designates organizations worldwide where nursing leaders successfully align their nursing strategic goals to improve the organization’s patient outcomes. The Magnet Recognition Program provides a roadmap to nursing.
In the early 1980’s the term “Magnet” was developed by the American Academy of Nursing to describe hospitals that could attract and retain nurses, An initial study of 163 hospitals found that 41 of those hospitals possessed similar qualities that enabled greater capacity to attract and retain nurses, during a nursing shortage because of the quality of the nurse work environment. The similar characteristics that distinguished these organizations from others are known to this day as the '14 Forces of Magnetism.' These 14 Forces have been organized into 5 Model Components; Transformational Leadership, Structural Empowerment, Exemplary Professional Practice, New Knowledge, Innovations and Improvements and Empirical Outcomes.
The Magnet Recognition Program recognizes health-care organizations for quality patient care, nursing excellence and innovations in professional nursing practice.
The Magnet Recognition Program was developed by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), based primarily on the research conducted by the American Academy of Nursing, to recognize healthcare organizations that provide nursing excellence. The Magnet Recognition Program recognizes health-care organizations for quality patient care, nursing excellence and innovations in professional nursing practice. Consumers rely on Magnet designation as the ultimate credential for high quality nursing. Achieving Magnet status is the highest level of honor awarded by the ANCC and is recognized nationally as the “gold standard” of nursing excellence.
To achieve Magnet Recognition, we must pass a rigorous and lengthy process that demands widespread participation from staff. The process begins with an application, followed by written documentation demonstrating qualitative and quantitative evidence regarding patient care and outcomes. If scores from the written documentation fall within a range of excellence, an on-site visit will occur to thoroughly assess our organization. After this rigorous on-site review process, the Commission on Magnet will review the completed appraisal report and vote to determine whether Magnet recognition will be granted.
Article
- Magnetic forces
- Magnetic properties of matter
- Ferromagnetism
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Join Britannica's Publishing Partner Program and our community of experts to gain a global audience for your work! Edwin KashySee All ContributorsMagnetism, phenomenon associated with magnetic fields, which arise from the motion of electric charges. This motion can take many forms. It can be an electric current in a conductor or charged particles moving through space, or it can be the motion of an electron in an atomicorbital. Magnetism is also associated with elementary particles, such as the electron, that have a property called spin.
The Magnetic Monster 1953
Fundamentals
Basic to magnetism are magnetic fields and their effects on matter, as, for instance, the deflection of moving charges and torques on other magnetic objects. Evidence for the presence of a magnetic field is the magnetic force on charges moving in that field; the force is at right angles to both the field and the velocity of the charge. This force deflects the particles without changing their speed. The deflection can be observed in the torque on a compass needle that acts to align the needle with the magnetic field of Earth. The needle is a thin piece of iron that has been magnetized—i.e., a small bar magnet. One end of the magnet is called a north pole and the other end a south pole. The force between a north and a south pole is attractive, whereas the force between like poles is repulsive. The magnetic field is sometimes referred to as magnetic induction or magnetic flux density; it is always symbolized by B. Magnetic fields are measured in units of tesla (T). (Another unit of measure commonly used for B is the gauss, though it is no longer considered a standard unit. One gauss equals 10−4 tesla.)
British Acapella Group
A fundamental property of a magnetic field is that its flux through any closed surface vanishes. (A closed surface is one that completely surrounds a volume.) This is expressed mathematically by div B = 0 and can be understood physically in terms of the field lines representing B. These lines always close on themselves, so that if they enter a certain volume at some point, they must also leave that volume. In this respect, a magnetic field is quite different from an electric field. Electric field lines can begin and end on a charge, but no equivalent magnetic charge has been found in spite of many searches for so-called magnetic monopoles.
The most common source of magnetic fields is the electric current loop. It may be an electric current in a circular conductor or the motion of an orbiting electron in an atom. Associated with both these types of current loops is a magnetic dipole moment, the value of which is iA, the product of the current i and the area of the loop A. In addition, electrons, protons, and neutrons in atoms have a magnetic dipole moment associated with their intrinsic spin; such magnetic dipole moments represent another important source of magnetic fields. A particle with a magnetic dipole moment is often referred to as a magnetic dipole. (A magnetic dipole may be thought of as a tiny bar magnet. It has the same magnetic field as such a magnet and behaves the same way in external magnetic fields.) When placed in an external magnetic field, a magnetic dipole can be subjected to a torque that tends to align it with the field; if the external field is not uniform, the dipole also can be subjected to a force.
All matter exhibits magnetic properties to some degree. When placed in an inhomogeneous field, matter is either attracted or repelled in the direction of the gradient of the field. This property is described by the magnetic susceptibility of the matter and depends on the degree of magnetization of the matter in the field. Magnetization depends on the size of the dipole moments of the atoms in a substance and the degree to which the dipole moments are aligned with respect to each other. Certain materials, such as iron, exhibit very strong magnetic properties because of the alignment of the magnetic moments of their atoms within certain small regions called domains. Under normal conditions, the various domains have fields that cancel, but they can be aligned with each other to produce extremely large magnetic fields. Various alloys, like NdFeB (an alloy of neodymium, iron, and boron), keep their domains aligned and are used to make permanent magnets. The strong magnetic field produced by a typical three-millimetre-thick magnet of this material is comparable to an electromagnet made of a copper loop carrying a current of several thousand amperes. In comparison, the current in a typical light bulb is 0.5 ampere. Since aligning the domains of a material produces a magnet, disorganizing the orderly alignment destroys the magnetic properties of the material. Thermal agitation that results from heating a magnet to a high temperature destroys its magnetic properties.
Magnetic fields vary widely in strength. Some representative values are given in the Table.
The Magnet Group
| Typical magnetic fields | |
|---|---|
| inside atomic nuclei | 1011 T |
| in superconducting solenoids | 20 T |
| in a superconducting coil cyclotron | 5 T |
| near a small ceramic magnet | 0.1 T |
| Earth's field at the Equator | 4(10−5) T |
| in interstellar space | 2(10−10) T |
The Magnetar
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