Shared Governance at South Shore Hospital
Living Shared Governance at South Shore Hospital
In 1990, South Shore Hospital was among the first hospitals in the nation to create a shared governance model of nursing practice. Today, we are re-committing to the fundamental belief behind a shared governance structure — patients are best served when practice decisions are made by the health care team members closest to their side.
Nurses provide care as part of an integrated team of medical and clinical colleagues. Effective and efficient decision-making requires a coordinated and organized approach to this important and complex work.
Shared governance provides the needed structure for nurses throughout South Shore Hospital to collaborate about professional practice issues and contribute a distinctive perspective to interdisciplinary care.
Clinical nurses from various departments at South Shore Hospital met in Fall 2004 to determine how shared governance could make a difference to nurses and the patients we serve. These nurses are the designers of our shared governance structure.
Why Get Involved?
Professional practice is expected of all nurses by the patients and families we serve, and especially so at South Shore Hospital.
- Shared governance offers the means to influence the quality of care you and
others provide. - Serving as a council member or council chairperson is a recognized leadership role within South Shore Hospital and in other organizations.
- Actively participating in shared governance is an opportunity to develop career-building skills in practice, research, quality, education, and leadership.
- Rather than being one who reacts to change initiated by others, the door is open for you to become a partner in the process.
- The ability to lead and influence others is a necessary step in clinical advancement and in your own professional development.
For more information about Shared Governance or opportunities to be involved, speak
with your nurse manager or Gail Slotnick, RN, director/nursing programs at (781)
624-8627.
Shared Governance
Professional Practice Environment
The addition of specialty-based Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNSs) has provided an overarching layer of expertise and educational depth to our practice. They drive our professional growth.
Characteristics of Professional Practice
Shared governance comes alive in the activities of its councils, committees, and project teams. Activities are clustered according to the characteristics of professional practice and the individual accountabilities of all professional nurses:
- Clinical practice based on current knowledge and evidence;
- Fulfilling our obligation to those we serve to monitor our practice;
- Advancing practice and the profession through nursing research and its use;
and - Lifelong learning.
The Councils
Six governance councils, along with a coordinating executive committee, are accountable for integrating the functions and activities related to patient care services and support those who provide care.
Managers assume responsibility for providing the necessary resources, while clinical nurses have the authority and responsibility to define, monitor, and advance the practice of care.
Six councils of clinical nurses and supporting managers comprise South Shore Hospital's shared governance structure:
- Clinical Practice Council
- Clinical Nurse Specialists
- Home Care Division Practice Council
- Nursing Research Council
- Professional Development Council
- Quality Improvement Council
These six councils are coordinated through the Nursing Executive Committee. A clinical nurse from each council is an active, full voting member of the Nursing Executive Committee.
Council Initiatives
Clinical Practice Council
- Designs the nursing practice model
- Develops standards of nursing care
- Applies research in practice
Clinical Nurse Specialists
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Promote and support evidence based nursing practice by evaluating practice according to professional standards, implementing interventions to develop nursing practice, advocating for resources that impact nursing practice, and role modeling optimal nursing practice in a manner that promotes optimal patient outcomes.
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Serve as a change agent by linking bedside practice to the system. Address change through an upstream and collaborative approach and provide focused initiatives that impact nursing practice and patient outcomes.
Home Care Division Practice Council
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Provides a mechanism for clinicians to contribute to decisions that improve direct patient care and the work environment.
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Assesses and recommends modifications of systems which impact clinical practice.
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Initiates or participates in projects to incorporate evidence based practices, standards of care and research findings into clinical processes and documentation tools.
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Sponsors and supports educational programs with a focus on improvement or expanding clinical practice.
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Nursing Research Council
- Identifies issues for investigation
- Supports evidence-based practice
- Encourages nurse involvement in applied nursing research
Professional Development Council
- Improves outcomes through learning
- Encourages continual professional development
- Leads transitional programs (preceptorships, orientation)
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Quality Improvement Council
- Identifies improvement opportunities
- Evaluates the effectiveness of care
- Teaches performance improvement principles and activities
Nursing Executive Committee
- Aligns council work internally and with collaborating disciplines
- Monitors the need for council resources
- Guides the strategic development of professional nursing practice
