Nursing
An Overview of Our Shared Governance Model
A professional governance model maintains and enhances nursing practice at Boston Children's Hospital through empowerment and point of service decision-making. The organizational structure of nursing councils and committees includes all levels of practice and places the authority, responsibility, and accountability for patient care with the practicing clinician.
Nurses are represented in a wide-variety of councils and committees, providing ample opportunity to impact decision-making on issues that affect their practice. Councils and committees include:
- Nurse Executive Committee
- Nurse Executive Committee for Quality
- Nursing Leadership Council
- Director Council
- Staff Nurse Council
- Nursing Practice Quality and Outcomes Management Committee
- Education Council
- Nursing Research Council
- Nurse Manager/Clinical Coordinators Committee
- Professional Advancement Committee
- Clinical Products Committee
- Policy and Procedure Subcommittee
- Ethics Committee
The Impact of Staff Nurse Council as described by former co-chairs
The Staff Nurse Council provides an opportunity for the exchange of information, concerns, and ideas between the staff nurses and senior nursing leadership. This unique forum is always informative for both the staff nurses as well as the CNO. The SNC is made up of representative staff nurses from each unit and meets monthly with the Chief Nursing Officer to discuss issues and changes impacting practice. Information shared in the meetings is taken back by the staff nurses to the individual units for further discussion and to the Nursing Leadership Council by the CNO.
CHB is a unique institution that gives front line nurses access to their leadership and this speaks to the commitment of the hospital to not only recruit and retain the best nurses but to actually ask for their opinions and hear what they say. These monthly meetings with the CNO allow nursing staff to hear about the vision for nursing as well as the how's and why's of decisions and gives the opportunity for staff nurses to give input into ongoing projects. This is very rewarding and inspiring and compels us to grow and to continue to raise the bar of professionalism.
CeCe Waithe, RN & Rebecca Lekowski, RN
