Premier Health Shared Governance: Voice for Nursing

By Annette Drake, MS, RN, CRRN, CBIS, and Annie Neff, BSN, RN

The Premier Health Nursing Shared Governance structure creates an inclusive framework for empowering nurses to identify, assess, analyze, develop, implement, evaluate, and problem solve regarding nursing professional practice. It allows nurses from all levels and practice settings to meaningfully participate in evidence-based clinical decision making through the support of the chief nursing officers. Nursing Shared Governance meets monthly, rotating at each hospital. Nurses can submit clinical issues through the opportunity submission online.

Transformational Leadership Council

• Develop structures and processes, enabling nurses to deliver patient care across care settings as an integrated system
• Establish a forum to ensure creative problem-solving input from nurses to address priority nursing and organizational issues
• Create programs for meeting the unique needs and common requirements of clinical nurse leaders in each setting
• Responsible and accountable for monitoring compliance with Magnet component “Transformational Leadership"
  • Wherever nursing is practiced, there are structures, processes, and expectations for staff nurse input and decisional involvement 

Structural Empowerment Council

• Support nurses’ professional growth/development
• Responsible and accountable for monitoring compliance with Magnet component “Structural Empowerment”
  • Nurses are involved in self-governance and decision-making structures and processes that establish standards of practice and address issues of concern

New Knowledge, Innovations, and Improvements Council

• Provide infrastructure that facilitates the conduction and utilization of research to support delivery of evidenced-based and quality-outcome driven nursing care
• Provide guidance into policy approval/development/or assignment to another council
• Responsible and accountable for monitoring compliance with Magnet component “New Knowledge, Innovations, and Improvements”
  • Nurses are educated about evidence-based practice and research, enabling them to appropriately explore the safest and best practices for their patients and practice environment, and to generate new knowledge

Exemplary Professional Practice Council

• Improve clinical nursing performance
• Develop and approve nursing clinical practice standards for providing quality patient care
• Responsible and accountable for monitoring compliance with Magnet component “Exemplary Professional Practice”
  • Nurses create patient care delivery systems that delineate the nurses’ authority and accountability for clinical decision-making and outcomes
  • Nurses have significant control over staffing and scheduling processes and work in collaboration with interdisciplinary partners to achieve high-quality patient outcomes
  • The autonomous nurse makes judgments about how to provide care based on the unique needs and attributes of the patient and family
  

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