Evaluating Shared Governance For Nursing Excellence

The national challenges of nursing shortages, decreased staffing levels, and increased patient acuities have contributed to nurse's increased workload and job dissatisfaction. Nurses have become frustrated with the professional practice environment. The inability to make decisions about issues that affect their nursing practice and the care provided to their patients results in nurses leaving the work environment in search of higher job satisfaction. Employers are becoming more creative in their strategies to improve the work environment and retain nurses within their organizations. Healthcare leaders have implemented management strategies such as shared governance models. These models focus on providing a satisfying work environment that empowers employees in the decision-making of nursing practice.This was a descriptive study to evaluate the current state of shared governance in three hospitals in Las Vegas and Henderson, NV. The study used the Index of Professional Nursing Governance (IPNG) survey tool to obtain a baseline measurement of shared governance and a gap analysis using the American Nurses Credentialing Center iv(ANCC) Magnet Model© and the Forces of Magnetism© to evaluate structures and processes that support the infrastructure for shared governance.The results of the survey indicate that despite having shared governance structures in place, the overall governance scale at each of the three campuses scored below the minimum score of 173, which places the organization in a state of traditional governance, where decisions are primarily made by management and administration. Overall, opportunities exist in the organization to increase shared decision-making across all six subscales of the IPNG tool and to strengthen the infrastructure by closing gaps identified in the Magnet framework for structural empowerment and exemplary professional practice.