Nurse manager perspective of staff participation in unit level shared governance

To examine the nurse manager perspective surrounding implementation of unit level shared governance in one Veterans Health Administration facility.

Nursing shared governance is a formal model allowing nursing staff decision-making input into clinical practice, quality improvement, evidence-based practice and staff professional development. Unit level shared governance is a management process where decision authority is delegated to nursing staff at the unit level.

Convenience sampling was used to recruit ten nurse managers who participated in face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using content analysis and constant comparison techniques. Demographic data were described using descriptive statistics.

The participants included seven female and three male nurse managers with seven Caucasian and three African American. Participant quotes were clustered to identify sub-themes that were then grouped into four global themes to describe unit level shared governance. The global themes were: (1) motivation, (2) demotivation, (3) recommendations for success, and (4) outcomes.

These research findings resonate with previous studies that shared governance may be associated with increased nurse empowerment, self-management, engagement, and satisfaction.

These findings reflect the need for nurse managers to promote and recognize staff participation in unit level shared governance.