Effect of Shared Governance on Nurse-Sensitive Indicator and Satisfaction Outcomes by Magnet® Recognition Status.

Objective Researchers examined associations between Index for Professional Nursing Governance (IPNG) types and outcomes. Background Effects of professional nursing governance on nurse-related outcomes by Magnet® status are not well studied. Methods Associations were evaluated between average IPNG scores from 2170 RNs, and nurse-sensitive indicators (NSIs) as well as patient and RN satisfaction outcomes (N = 205 study units; 20 hospitals), following Magnet requirements. Results Magnet hospitals had significantly better IPNG shared governance scores than non-Magnet hospitals (Magnet, 106.7; non-Magnet, 101.3). For Magnet hospitals, units scoring as shared governance outperformed traditional governance for 9 of 19 outcomes (47.4%) (NSI, 2; patient satisfaction, 3; RN satisfaction, 4). Self-governance outperformed shared governance for 8 of 15 outcomes (53.3%) (NSI, 2; patient satisfaction, 6; RN satisfaction, 0). For non-Magnet hospitals, shared governance significantly outperformed traditional governance for 1 of 15 outcomes (6.7%) (patient satisfaction). Conclusions Having shared or self-governance is a strategy that can be considered by nurse leaders to improve select nurse-related outcomes.