The Verran Professional Governance Scale: Confirmatory and Exploratory Analysis.

This article describes psychometric testing and refinement of the Verran Professional Governance Scale (VPGS), which measures behaviors associated with professional governance. Phase 1 reduced the items on the scale based on floor and ceiling effects and redundancy of items. Phase 2 examined structural construct validity using exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

Transforming Shared Governance: Toward Professional Governance for Nursing.

For more than 40 years, shared governance has supported structural empowerment and engaged nurses in their practice. Although progress has been made in advancing nursing ownership of practice through shared governance, mature nursing autonomy has yet to be achieved. It is time to evolve to professional governance, emphasizing accountability, professional obligation, collateral relationships, and decision making.

Leveraging Technology to Sustain Extraordinary Care: A Qualitative Analysis of Meaningful Nurse Recognition.

Objective: Meaningful recognition of nurses submitted by patients and families using interactive patient care (IPC) technology was analyzed using artificial intelligence (AI) to identify the themes and behaviors associated with extraordinary nursing.

Background: Meaningful recognition positively impacts nursing and organizational outcomes. The use of AI techniques such as natural language processing and machine learning to identify and describe behaviors impacting patient experiences is an emerging science.

Leadership Practices and Engagement Among Magnet® Hospital Chief Nursing Officers.

Objective: Describe the relationship between leadership practices and engagement of chief nursing officers (CNOs) in Magnet® organizations.

Background: Transformational leadership practices and CNO engagement are vital in influencing nursing practice.

Methods: Magnet hospital CNOs were invited to participate in a quantitative descriptive study via an online survey published in 2 newsletters.

Leveraging Technology to Increase Patient and Family Engagement and Improve Outcomes.

Engaging persons in their health care influences the quality of care and improves patient safety, health outcomes, and the patient experience. Emerging technology is enabling patients to be more fully engaged in their care. At the same time, the rapid emergence of these solutions is impacting nursing professional practice, workflows, and care delivery models across the continuum.

Professional Governance Scale: Instrument Development and Content Validity Testing.

Instrument development and content validity testing resulted in a new instrument to measure the relatively new concept of professional governance. Professional governance is defined as the accountability, professional obligation, collateral relationships and decision making of a professional, foundational to autonomous practice and achievement of exemplary empirical outcomes. Fourteen experts with subject matter expertise either in measurement development or in creating professional practice environments assessed the validity of the proposed items and the instrument.

The Center for Nursing Excellence: A Health System Model for Intentional Improvement and Innovation.

An innovative Center for Nursing Excellence model that supports structural empowerment and the achievement of exemplary nursing, patient, and organizational outcomes was implemented in 2 separate health systems in the western United States. Formal leadership roles for nursing practice, research, professional education, and Magnet® continual readiness are aligned to ensure that Magnet designation is attained and maintained in system hospitals.

Evolution of Structural Empowerment: Moving From Shared to Professional Governance.

Objective: The aim of this study is to describe the maturation of the concept of shared governance to professional governance as a framework for structural empowerment.

Background: An analysis of the literature and concept clarification of structural empowerment and shared governance demonstrate that the concept and attributes of shared governance have evolved toward professional governance.

Methods: A comprehensive, deductive literature review and concept clarification of structural empowerment, shared governance, and related constructs was completed.

Shared Governance and Work Engagement in Emergency Nurses.

Introduction: Lack of work engagement in emergency nurses has been linked to increased job turnover, burnout, and lack of job satisfaction. Shared governance is a vehicle that can be used by emergency nursing leaders to increase work engagement among emergency nurses. Research is lacking about the relationship between perceptions of shared governance and work engagement in emergency nurses.

The Relationship of Clinical Nurses' Perceptions of Structural and Psychological Empowerment and Engagement on Their Unit.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe relationships between structural empowerment, psychological empowerment, and engagement among clinical nurses.

Background: Empowerment and engagement are key drivers of retention and quality in healthcare. Creating an empowering culture and an engaged staff supports initiatives that are essential for positive work environments.

Transformational leadership practices of nurse leaders in professional nursing associations.

Objective: This study describes the transformational leadership (TL) practices of nurse leaders in professional nursing associations (PNAs).

Background: Professional nursing associations are vehicles to provide educational opportunities for nurses as well as leadership opportunities for members. Little has been published about the leadership practices of PNA members.

Structural empowerment and the nursing practice environment in Magnet® organizations.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of shared governance and its relationship with nursing practice environments in Magnet® organizations.

Background: Structural empowerment is a core Magnet model component illustrated through shared governance. A paucity of literature exists describing it and its relationship to the nursing practice environment in Magnet organizations.

Nurse practitioner/physician collaborative practice: an integrative model for professional peer review.

As chief nursing officers partner with physician colleagues to create collaborative models of practice across the care continuum, the role of peer review in achieving quality outcomes cannot be overlooked. This article describes how an integrated healthcare system approached the creation of a unique integrative model for physician/nurse practitioner peer review.

Nursing professional attire: probing patient preferences to inform implementation.

Objective: The aim of this study was to increase understanding of patient perceptions of nursing professional image, appearance, and identification to inform implementation of professional clinical attire.

Background: There is growing evidence of patient preference for and organizational implementation of professional clinical attire.

Methods: A total of 350 randomly selected inpatients were surveyed using the professional image and patient preferences survey prior to a revision of the dress code for nursing.

Transformational leadership practices of chief nursing officers in Magnet® organizations.

Objective: This study describes the transformational leadership practices of Magnet® chief nursing officers (CNOs).

Background: It is believed that transformational leadership practices influence quality and are integral to Magnet designation.

Methods: E-mail surveys of 384 Magnet CNOs were conducted in 2011 using the leadership practices inventory (LPI).

Implementing Institute of Medicine Future of Nursing recommendations: a model for transforming nurse practitioner privileges.

The Institute of Medicine Future of Nursing report created a sense of urgency to remove barriers preventing advanced practice RNs from practicing to their full scope of practice. With the chief nursing officer as catalyst for change, this article describes a collaborative model and process that resulted in expanded clinical privileges for nurse practitioners in an integrated healthcare system.

Transformational leadership: visibility, accessibility, and communication.

The chief nursing officer of a Magnet® organization is a dynamic, transformational leader who develops and communicates a strong vision for nursing excellence and creates a foundation for exemplary nursing practice and excellent patient care. Transformational leadership is a core component of the Magnet Model®. The 3rd subcomponent--visibility, accessibility, and communication--is the focus of this article.

Transformational leadership practices of chief nursing officers in Magnet® organizations.

Objective: This study describes the transformational leadership practices of Magnet® chief nursing officers (CNOs).

Background: It is believed that transformational leadership practices influence quality and are integral to Magnet designation.

Methods: E-mail surveys of 384 Magnet CNOs were conducted in 2011 using the leadership practices inventory (LPI).

Preventing employee injury: implementation of a lift team.

A lift team was implemented at an urban medical center in the Pacific Northwest to reduce employee injuries. The lift team consisted of a lift technician and a nursing assistant both trained in lifting techniques. The trial lasted 1 year.