Implementation Of Shared Governance In Nursing Care

Implementing good effective shared governance can help to identify any poor practices quickly. Systems that encourage nurses to raise concerns and are willing to address these concerns raise healthcare performance across the board (Snow, 2012). Ott and Ross find that nurses most frequently raise concerns over patient care and safety. Shared governance councils improve nurses’ ownership of patient care which in turn increases the reporting care issues and safety concerns to unit-based groups. This allows these concerns to receive attention resulting in process improvement. Communication must be encouraged to allow staff nurses a method for bringing concerns to the councils. Improved outcomes are evident in areas where staff nurses feel that …show more content…
Agency-wide changes are seen in improved management styles in the second year after implementation, with professional and organizational satisfaction improving after two to three years. Cost savings are calculated after five years which gives enough time to measure impact for BayCare, though practicum effectiveness will be based only upon initial unit-based participation. There are three things that should be implemented when beginning unit-based shared governance. Initially, it will be instrumental to concentrate on educating the nursing staff on the benefits of shared governance, not only for the agency, but for their patients and their own professional growth. This education must include the fact that nursing participation on shared governance councils is expected, not requested (Ott & Ross, 2014). It is vital that the staff understands the function of the shared governance council, not only the goals, but the limitations on decision making processes. Members of the councils must understand when they can make decisions and when they are only able to offer input (Stanford, 2012). According to Brull, many organizations assume that nurses understand shared governance and do not allocate the time or finances to provide needed education and support (Brull, 2015). Secondly, having meeting times scheduled to allow for ease of participation, as well as using new technologies for attendance such as …show more content…
Staff nurses are encouraged through this access, resulting in improved outcomes for patients. Councils are capable of reviewing propositions and using evidence to choose the best of them, effectively crowdsourcing healthcare initiatives. Implementation is a long-term process requiring commitment from all levels of the system, from staff nurses up to executives. Though measurement of success in the practicum period will be limited to participation, shared governance will lead to easily understood improvements in the