For Nurses
Shared Governance
At Highland Hospital, Nurses Rule
Here at Highland, all our nurses have a voice—as well as control, authority, and influence. That's because they're empowered to set goals and priorities and make decisions that affect nursing practice and patient care through our structure of shared governance.
Our shared governance approach was created by nurses for nurses. It lets bedside nurses create and maintain an environment that fosters autonomy, evidence-based decision making, and recruitment and retention of highly qualified nurses who value professional development and engage in mentorship of each new generation of nurses.
The fundamental belief behind a shared governance structure is that patients are best served when practice decisions are made by the health care team members closest to their side. Highland nurses take the lead in advancing the interdisciplinary care process while partnering with patients and their family members.
How Shared Governance Works at Highland
Shared governance provides the needed structure for nurses to share, learn, and collaborate; identify and integrate best practices; and enjoy a more fulfilling career. We do this through an interrelated group of policy-making bodies that include unit councils, central councils, and a core council.
Unit Councils
Each nursing unit has a council of from five to seven members. They are composed of nurses with a wide range of experience and talent. Each council's membership reflects the unit's mission, makes practice-related decisions for the unit, and creates a professional practice environment that will attract and retain nurses. The unit councils may take up subjects such as unit cleanliness, change of shift hand-offs, patient satisfaction, quality/performance improvement, and code of conduct. Issues that extend beyond the specific unit are taken to the central councils.
Central Councils
Issues and decisions that have impact across more than one unit or affect other departments and professional disciplines are brought to one of the central councils. There are four central councils:
- Professional Practice Council
- Quality Council
- Professional Development Council
- Research Council
- Management Council
Core Council
This council provides leadership, coordinates the work of the individual councils to ensure that initiatives are aligned with organizational goals, and represents the nursing body with hospital administration.
