Have a nursing Magnet question? Just ask Danielle. Or Priscilla.

Here at Yale New Haven Health, there’s something about Magnet that attracts Danielles.

In 2025, Bridgeport, Greenwich and Yale New Haven hospitals will submit their applications to the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), for Magnet Recognition, a prestigious designation that denotes exceptional nursing.

For the past 10 years, Danielle Huseman-Maratea, RN, has played a key role in YNHH’s effort, first as a Magnet coordinator, now as manager, Office of Nursing Excellence.

Five years ago, Huseman-Maratea received some much-needed assistance when Danielle Morton, RN, from Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, was hired as a Magnet Program specialist. Having two Danielles in the Magnet program elicited some amusement and occasionally confusion:

“I have a question about Magnet.”
“You need to talk to Danielle in the Magnet office.”
“Which one?”

“I promise, I’m not being biased,” said Huseman-Maratea, who has been involved in interviewing the Magnet position candidates.

“What’s funny is that not one of us grew up with any other Danielles,” Burness said.

Having three Magnet Danielles isn’t as confusing as you might think. They refer to one another as “Danielle H,” “Danielle B” and “Danielle M.” To simplify things, Christopher Mulhall, RN, former chair of YNHH’s Nursing Professional Governance Coordinating Council, created a billboard-worthy tagline: “Have a Magnet question? Just ask Danielle.”

Just when everyone had worked out a system for differentiating among YNHH’s three Danielles, Bridgeport Hospital in 2024 named the coordinator to lead its journey to Magnet. Her name is …

wait for it …

Danielle.

“They didn’t tell me that having this name is a requirement for the job,” said Danielle Jimenez, RN, BH Magnet coordinator.

“We swear, that’s not in the fine print of the job description,” Morton said.

If you need proof, meet the nurse overseeing Greenwich Hospital’s Magnet effort: Priscilla Bagatelle, RN, Magnet Program coordinator/Nursing Operations.

“When they hired a fourth Danielle for Magnet I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’” said Bagatelle, who has 30-plus years of experience in a variety of nursing areas.

All joking aside, seeking Magnet Recognition is serious business and an enormous effort that involves clinical nurses, nursing leaders and other leaders and staff throughout each hospital and the health system.

Next year will be especially busy for everyone involved, with Bridgeport Hospital’s Magnet application due in February, YNHH’s in June and Greenwich Hospital’s in August.

“It’s good that we’ll all be submitting within six months of one another,” Bagatelle said. “The Magnet process allows us to highlight what makes each of our organizations unique, but also brings us all together.”

Far from feeling left out of the Danielle Cartel, she works closely with her colleagues at Bridgeport and Yale New Haven hospitals, sharing ideas, information and best practices related to nursing excellence and Magnet. In the spirit of cooperation, Bagatelle offered to change her first name to Danielle – then realized there’s already a “Danielle B” at YNHH.

Anyway, the name change probably isn’t necessary. After all, what rhymes with “Danielle?”

That’s right. “Bagatelle.”