On 2015 Mar 30, University of Kansas School of Nursing Journal Club commented:

University of Kansas School of Nursing Undergraduate Program Team 12: Stacy Hanson, Chelsi Puskas, Shannan Orpin, Sami Johnson, Chandler Schoen, Jen Huynh, and Valerie Melin

Introduction:<br> The purpose of this Journal Club Literature Review was to take a closer look at shared governance by evaluating the functionality Unit Practice Councils through a study by Beverly Fray (2011). Not only did the article create a credible tool for rating this specific hospital’s system, it also obtained important qualitative data that the hospital can use to identify weaknesses in their Unit Practice Councils. This information is crucial for the hospital that this survey serves because this hospital system is on their Magnet journey. This survey is working to fill the gap in knowledge of a credible survey to access functionality of Unit Practice Councils. Our team chose this article after listening to two presentations about Shared Governance from the University of Kansas Hospital and Children’s Mercy Hospital, we were interested on how effectiveness of Shared Governance, specifically Unity Practice Councils, can be measured. We were also interested in this article because it was looking at a hospital system that had not yet achieved Magnet status, unlike the University of Kansas Hospital and Children’s Mercy Hospital. We were interested in a non-magnet status hospital because according to Clavelle, O’Grady, and Drenkard (2013), magnet hospitals have shown to have higher rates of shared governance, resulting in higher levels of nurse-physician relationships and greater positive work environments. Therefore, we were wondering how non-magnet status hospitals approached shared governance.

For this Journal Club Literature Review, we used ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Source for search for the article. To retrieve this specific article, we typed “shared governance and nurse satisfaction” in the search bar, and then we restricted the search to only include articles that were peer reviewed and published in the last 5 years. This was a descriptive study, describing the Functionality of the Unity Practice Councils and testing the validity of the newly created survey. The target population is Jackson Health System, a health system attempting to achieve magnet status. While Jackson Health System wanted to identify strengths and weaknesses in Unit Practice Councils, they believe that this survey could be used in other hospitals to identify ways to strengthen Unit Practice Councils. This is important because Unit Practice Councils are one of the primary ways that voices are given to nurses, and if the Unit Practice Council is not functioning properly, some of the ideas brought by nurses may not be properly implemented. It is also important because this tool would be able to be used in other hospitals, and weak Unit Practice Council would be able to use strong Unit Practice Councils as resources. Data for the study was collected by surveys based on traits that were observed from highly functional and successful Unit Practice Councils. These surveys results were compared between the Unit Practice Council Coordinator and then the Center for Nursing Excellence.

Findings:<br> The Center for Nursing Excellence and the Unit Practice Council Coordinators reached a 78% concurrence level for functionality of Unit Practice Councils. The study found that 38% of the Unit Practice Councils were low functioning, 22% were middle functioning, and 40% were high functioning. It is also notable to look at what the Unit Practice Councils focus on: 96% focus on improving clinical practice or patient, staff, and physician satisfaction; 92% had invited management to their meetings; 64% use their communication network; and 68% reported being innovative in making tangible improvements at the bedside. While this study was not compared to other settings, the survey would be able to be implemented in other locations to compare the functionality of Unit Practice Councils. The limitations of this study included a low survey response rate and more research needs to be completed to establish reliability of the instrument. Implications: This study is important to nursing because it identifies the functionality of Unit Practice Councils. Because the importance of Shared Governance has been identified, it is important to look at the Unit Practice Council as a source for nursing ideas and empowerment. This survey can be used to identify strength and weaknesses of Unit Practice Councils. The tool is simple enough that it could also be used to measure improvement in Unit Practice Councils, and evaluate nursing practice outcomes. and can be used as objective tool to access quality of Unit Practice Councils. A functional Practice Council can leads to nurse-lead changes on the unit. These changes promote nurse satisfaction and patient-centered care, leading to a positive work environment. Any tool that can promote the higher functioning of Practice Councils is worth studying.

Reference: Clavelle, J., O’Grady, P., Drenkard, K. (2013). Structural empowerment and the nursing practice environment in Magnet organizations. The Journal of Nursing Administration. 43(11), 566-573.

On 2015 Mar 30, University of Kansas School of Nursing Journal Club commented:

University of Kansas School of Nursing Undergraduate Program Team 12: Stacy Hanson, Chelsi Puskas, Shannan Orpin, Sami Johnson, Chandler Schoen, Jen Huynh, and Valerie Melin

Introduction:<br> The purpose of this Journal Club Literature Review was to take a closer look at shared governance by evaluating the functionality Unit Practice Councils through a study by Beverly Fray (2011). Not only did the article create a credible tool for rating this specific hospital’s system, it also obtained important qualitative data that the hospital can use to identify weaknesses in their Unit Practice Councils. This information is crucial for the hospital that this survey serves because this hospital system is on their Magnet journey. This survey is working to fill the gap in knowledge of a credible survey to access functionality of Unit Practice Councils. Our team chose this article after listening to two presentations about Shared Governance from the University of Kansas Hospital and Children’s Mercy Hospital, we were interested on how effectiveness of Shared Governance, specifically Unity Practice Councils, can be measured. We were also interested in this article because it was looking at a hospital system that had not yet achieved Magnet status, unlike the University of Kansas Hospital and Children’s Mercy Hospital. We were interested in a non-magnet status hospital because according to Clavelle, O’Grady, and Drenkard (2013), magnet hospitals have shown to have higher rates of shared governance, resulting in higher levels of nurse-physician relationships and greater positive work environments. Therefore, we were wondering how non-magnet status hospitals approached shared governance.

For this Journal Club Literature Review, we used ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Source for search for the article. To retrieve this specific article, we typed “shared governance and nurse satisfaction” in the search bar, and then we restricted the search to only include articles that were peer reviewed and published in the last 5 years. This was a descriptive study, describing the Functionality of the Unity Practice Councils and testing the validity of the newly created survey. The target population is Jackson Health System, a health system attempting to achieve magnet status. While Jackson Health System wanted to identify strengths and weaknesses in Unit Practice Councils, they believe that this survey could be used in other hospitals to identify ways to strengthen Unit Practice Councils. This is important because Unit Practice Councils are one of the primary ways that voices are given to nurses, and if the Unit Practice Council is not functioning properly, some of the ideas brought by nurses may not be properly implemented. It is also important because this tool would be able to be used in other hospitals, and weak Unit Practice Council would be able to use strong Unit Practice Councils as resources. Data for the study was collected by surveys based on traits that were observed from highly functional and successful Unit Practice Councils. These surveys results were compared between the Unit Practice Council Coordinator and then the Center for Nursing Excellence.

Findings:<br> The Center for Nursing Excellence and the Unit Practice Council Coordinators reached a 78% concurrence level for functionality of Unit Practice Councils. The study found that 38% of the Unit Practice Councils were low functioning, 22% were middle functioning, and 40% were high functioning. It is also notable to look at what the Unit Practice Councils focus on: 96% focus on improving clinical practice or patient, staff, and physician satisfaction; 92% had invited management to their meetings; 64% use their communication network; and 68% reported being innovative in making tangible improvements at the bedside. While this study was not compared to other settings, the survey would be able to be implemented in other locations to compare the functionality of Unit Practice Councils. The limitations of this study included a low survey response rate and more research needs to be completed to establish reliability of the instrument. Implications: This study is important to nursing because it identifies the functionality of Unit Practice Councils. Because the importance of Shared Governance has been identified, it is important to look at the Unit Practice Council as a source for nursing ideas and empowerment. This survey can be used to identify strength and weaknesses of Unit Practice Councils. The tool is simple enough that it could also be used to measure improvement in Unit Practice Councils, and evaluate nursing practice outcomes. and can be used as objective tool to access quality of Unit Practice Councils. A functional Practice Council can leads to nurse-lead changes on the unit. These changes promote nurse satisfaction and patient-centered care, leading to a positive work environment. Any tool that can promote the higher functioning of Practice Councils is worth studying.

Reference: Clavelle, J., O’Grady, P., Drenkard, K. (2013). Structural empowerment and the nursing practice environment in Magnet organizations. The Journal of Nursing Administration. 43(11), 566-573.