Shared governance as vertical alignment of nursing group power and nurse practice council effectiveness

AIM(S): This study validates an instrument for measuring the effectiveness of nursing practice councils and offers a framework for measuring and understanding shared governance. BACKGROUND: Empowerment results from the vertical alignment of nursing group power with nursing unit power practices. The field lacks an instrument for measuring nurses' practice of power. METHOD(S): Two studies (n1 = 119; n2 = 248) are used to validate the Nursing Practice Council effectiveness scale (NPCes). RESULTS: NPCes is a valid and reliable index of nursing practice council effectiveness. This study suggests specific diagnostic tools to understand two levels for actualized power, one at the group or departmental level and one at the unit level. CONCLUSION(S): NPCes and the Sieloff-King Assessment of Group Power within Organizations (SKAGPO) can be used together to improve examination of shared governance. Examining group power as well as unit-level practices may give a more complete view of barriers to nurse empowerment. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Changing nursing power and practices in an organization may be made more effective by engaging and monitoring vertical alignment of strategies fostering power competencies among nurse leaders and simultaneously supporting nursing practice councils as a means of exercising nurse authority at the unit level.