The value of staff nurse involvement in decision making.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to explore the perceptions of hospital-based staff nurses regarding their involvement in decision making and to gain an understanding of the ways nurses would like to be involved in decision making.

Background: How nurses want to be involved and the extent to which hospital-based staff nurses are involved in formal and informal structures for decision making remain unknown.

Methods: Stratified cluster random sampling was used to identify hospitals to participate in the study. Staff nurses and chief nursing officers (CNOs) from 10 hospitals in Colorado were invited to participate in this qualitative descriptive study informed by grounded theory. Focus groups with staff nurses and individual interviews with CNOs were also conducted.

Results: Safe quality patient care was threaded throughout discussions among the staff nurses and CNOs.

Conclusions: Staff nurses viewed involvement in decision making through the lens of an egalitarian process, whereas administration viewed involvement as soliciting input but making decisions unilaterally.