Shared Governance at NUH
At NUH, Shared Governance is defined as...
Staff having collective ownership to develop and improve practice, to ensure patients receive caring, safe and confident care. It places staff at the heart of the decision making process and sees managers having a facilitative leadership role.
Taylor, 2016
Staff volunteers from clinical settings link together to create a Shared Governance Council in their area. These Councils are then taught the skills they need to examine their practice and implement evidence based changes. It gives them ownership for improving their care delivery and builds their confidence and leadership skills.
Shared Governance Councils are supported by a dedicated team of Shared Governance Clinical Educators who provide them with training, guidance, coaching and signposting to help them fulfil their objectives and improvements. Recognition of their achievements is supported with opportunities to showcase Trust wide through Leadership Council, a monthly meeting chaired by the Chief Nurse, and nationally through conferences and awards.
Shared Governance is also known as Shared Leadership, Shared Decision Making and Shared Accountability.
Leadership at all levels
One of the principles of Shared Governance is recognising and developing leadership at all levels.
We recognise that across all of the frontline staff bands we have leaders. Whether that is a Band 2 Healthcare Support Worker carrying out audits as part of their link role or Band 6’s developing new pathways and practice. Shared Governance empowers staff to take their leadership to the next level.
The NUH Shared Governance Team has developed leadership development packages to guide individuals on their own leadership pathway.
The training provided through the Shared Governance Team also ensures that staff on Shared Governance Councils are equipped with a broad spectrum of skills to build their confidence in planning, preparing and chairing meetings, and collaborating on a wide variety of improvement works. In addition to this, we teach skills in evidence based practice, appreciative inquiry and inclusive leadership and allyship.
The Shared Governance Team also acts as a resource network to help frontline workers engage with the people and teams that they need in order to be effective in their improvements and innovations.
Shared Governance Training Courses
The Shared Governance Team offers a range of internal and external courses which can be found below.
Internal Training
The Shared Governance Team offers a three-day Professional Development Programme for all Shared Governance Councils and a Shared Governance Managers’ Workshop.
The training that the Shared Governance Team delivers provides key information on the Shared Governance framework, including:
- Why we have Shared Governance at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH)
- Councils’ responsibility to involve patients in changes and improvements
- Where and how to find evidence to support their improvements
- The basic tools for running the Council
- Knowledge required for a successful Quality Improvement
- Allyship and inclusive leadership