Nurses Agent of Change Through Governance
Monster Contributor Heather Stringer
April 20, 2009
In parallel, the ER council met with radiology and lab council reps as well as the hospital bed coordinator to work through how those units could speed up their processes so ER patients could be moved into hospital beds faster.
After many meetings, the emergency department council achieved its goal. Now the group continually evaluates the process and identifies areas for improvement.
“It takes patience and planning,” says Audrey Prairo, RN, a certified emergency nurse and nursing unit coordinator for the hospital’s emergency department. “But I find it very fulfilling to implement a new process that makes things run more smoothly. It improves morale, because we take pride and ownership in what we are doing.”
Ludlow
about 4 years ago
18 comments
What nurses really need is a council made up solely of bedside nurses who are not going to be influenced by the administrative needs of the hospital. These nurses discuss the real problems and come up with solutions that management HAS to take seriously.
Often these shared governance councils just become an other way for administrations to force change that is not good for patients with seeming approval of the bedside nurses who are trying to advocate for their patients.
I don't want 'shared governance,' I want the administration to be responsible in giving me the tools I need to properly care for my patients. I want them to listen to the responsible things I say I need and act. I've found that having a committee made up of bedside nurses that is open to hearing all the patient care problems of bedside nurses and that has clout by contract with the administration (that is the administration has to respond to their findings), helps patients the most.
NevadaRN
over 5 years ago
118 comments
Agreed.