Sharing in nursing governance: creating opportunities for change

Shared governance has created a radical shift in the management and systems thinking of organisations by empowering employees through increased accountability, ownership and decision making. This paper outlines the process of introducing the concept of shared governance to the nursing division of a large not-for-profit private hospital in Victoria. The objectives for change and the philosophy of shared governance are explained so as to clarify the reasons for selection of the shared governance model. The steps involved in planning for the introduction of the change process, implementation and integration of the model at both organisational departmental levels, and the actual structure of the working model of shared governance are described.