Excogitating on Shared Governance or How Thinking Together, You Can Contrive New Ways to Work
- Explore the emotional dimensions within the workplace that set up resistance to change.
- Identify 3 organizational techniques that can be used to generate excitement about shared governance.
- Learn how one organization was able to redirect, revitalize and restructure their Women's and Children's Services.
Proposed change: Group think, "attitude" and blame are just a few of the issues that must be dealt with before achieving a culture of shared decision making. Go from apathy to awareness. With the advent of the Joint Advisory Council and other joint councils, staff can learn to work collaboratively across hospitals to ensure a standard of care and an environment that is supportive, caring and fun.
Implementation, outcomes and evaluation: Including representation from each unit to create joint councils has led to increased nurse satisfaction, shared resources, better prodcutivity and enhanced communication.
Implications for nursing practice: Through collaborative efforts, the nursing staff create a standard for care, thereby minimizing the variablity and allowing for better predictability. They readily seek out evidence for their practice and their confidence increases as they identify requirements for nursing education and skills for best utilization of resources.
Keywords: Shared Governance; Leadership; Team building; Structure
