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Weekly Q&A: Why shared governance is beneficial to healthcare facilities

HCPro's Weekly Update on the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program®*, December 12, 2006

This week, a reader wants to know why shared governance is beneficial to a healthcare facility. Read the response below from our advisor, Carolyn Lewis, PhD, RN, CNAA,BC, assistant dean of the nursing division at Bluegrass Community and Technical College in Lexington, KY, and principal, The P.R.I.N.E., LLC.

Q: What are some of the benefits of having a shared governance model?

A: To achieve ANCC Magnet Recognition Program®, it is not required that you have a shared governance model, but rather that you have a structure for your professional practice model that emphasizes principles of participatory management in areas related to governance and practice of nursing. These may be labeled as self-governance, participatory decision-making, staff bylaws, and decentralized nursing services, and are an attempt to involve nurses in the control of their practice.

Shared governance allows clinicians control over their practice setting. Research has demonstrated the impact of shared governance on staff nurses and has shown that shared governance increases the performance of the nurse and the quality of care. Shared governance becomes an accountability-based system for staff nurses.

This model only works when nursing management and staff nurses create an atmosphere of joint ownership that is based on trust, and not limited by structures that restrict true professional involvement. Shared governance requires the creation of a structure that is decision-based and constructed from the unit level, with authority resting in specified processes-not in identified individuals.

Effective governance systems balance nurses, teams, units, patient care groups, and encourage involvement and influence that are streamlined to reduce bureaucracy. Organizations with shared governance have a culture that has a supportive environment that empowers nurses at the bedside and encourages autonomous feelings of control over the practice setting. This organizational culture increases respect, improves problem solving, and directly affects the quality of care.

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