Shared Governance

Our Shared Governance Model

Shared Governance has been enculturated within Einstein Healthcare Network's professional nursing practice since the early 1990s. Our Shared Governance structure engages nursing in shared decision-making at the point of care and ensures nurses have a voice at all levels within our organization involving their professional practice and in every area our nurses practice. We believe Shared Governances enhances our ability to improve lives through exceptional patient care within an interdisciplinary environment.

Our Shared Governance structure includes three levels. Unit Practice Committees (UPCs) are made up of staff members on a specific unit and represent all levels of staff who provide care at the bedside. Each nursing unit is expected to incorporate the tenets of Shared Governance and the decision-making model into their unit operations and to elect representatives to the Specialty Cluster level of this model. UPCs review and implement nursing policies and procedures, utilize evidence-based practice and standards of care, and review the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators™

(NDNQI®) Nursing Sensitive Indicators and develop and implement corrective action where necessary. UPCs also determine the education process for assuring clinical competency as defined by the approved standard of care.

Specialty Clusters are made up of representatives from multiple specialty UPCs, Nursing management and Nursing Education & Professional Development (NEPD) members. Each Cluster serves to integrate and coordinate the decisions, activities and recommendations of the UPCs and Network Council based on the Professional Practice Model and Duffy's Quality Caring© Model. Each Cluster is responsible for action items related to Service, Quality, People, Finance, Growth and Academics.

The Network Nursing Council (NNC) is made up of one or two nurses from each Cluster, the Chief Nurse Officer, the Managers Group Chair, and directors of Nursing Excellence and NEPD. The Network Nursing Council provides the structure for collaborative decision-making for all issues that span the nursing care delivery areas of the Network. The scope for decision-making includes accountability for the process and outcome of issues related to:

• Nursing practice
• Education
• Quality
• Research
• Management of nursing resources

The Network Nursing Council integrates, coordinates and communicates the decisions, activities and recommendations of all Clusters concerning the professional practice of nursing directly related to patient care outcomes.