Faculty governance: a key to professional autonomy

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Organizational Governance

Background:

• Faculty governance influences student nurses' professional socialization.
• Nurse educators may favor bureaucratic over collegial governance models.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the role of faculty governance in modeling professional autonomy for student nurses.
• To advocate for the study and adoption of collegial governance in nursing.

Main Methods:

• Literature review on faculty governance models.
• Analysis of the impact of governance on nursing education.

Main Results:

• Collegial governance models can effectively model professional autonomy.
• Shared governance enhances academic maturity in nursing programs.

Conclusions:

• Faculty governance is crucial for developing professional autonomy in student nurses.
• Collegial or shared governance models warrant further attention and research in nursing education.