Empowering Staff Nurses: A Newly Opened Hospital's Journey to Shared Governance

Purpose:
Creating and sustaining a culture of safety is essential and a shared governance model empowers staff nurses to have a voice in determining safe outcomes for patients. Thus, a shared governance model was implemented into a new hospital to ensure a high level of professional nursing.

Significance:
Shared Governance is a dynamic structure that is centered on 4 critical principles: partnership, accountability, equity, and ownership. One of its fundamental beliefs is that an organization's staff nurses should govern their practice and be included in decisions that affect their practice.

Strategy and Implementation:
The journey to Shared Governance-SG is strategically carried out in three phases: Phase I: Initiation •Literature search of EBP Shared Governance Models •Develop SG Model •Develop Timeline Phase II: Implementation •Develop SG Education •Election of the Unit Based Practice Council's (UBPC) leaders •SG Workshop: Leadership •SG Workshop: UBPC chairs, co-chairs, and secretaries •Nursing Standards & Improvement Coordinator serves as facilitator for UBPCs Phase III: Viability and Vibrancy. •Strong collaboration support from Leadership •Follow up Workshop: UBPC chairs •UBPC chairs attended ANA 2011 Quality Conference •Showcasing UBPC Projects •Continued evaluation of structures & process Implementation of each phase was carefully planned with education and support as the key to successfully empowering nurses. Notwithstanding the expense, leadership recognized that sending all our UBPC chairs to the ANA Quality Conference was a contribution to nursing as a profession.

Evaluation:
In October 2011, our first NDNQI RN Survey for nursing participation in hospital affairs was 3.37 PES (Practice Environment Scales score) indicating an above the 90th percentile ranking.

Implications for Practice:
Implications for Nursing: • Improved collaboration and team building • Improved quality of care and clinical effectiveness • Increased staff confidence, personal and professional growth • Development of new knowledge and skills • Increased professionalism and accountability