title: The power of professional nursing practice--an essential element of patient and family centered care.
abstract: Understanding power and learning how to use it is critical if nurses' efforts to shape their practice and work environments are to be successful. As part of our efforts to develop a Fast-Track BSN-to-PhD nursing program, we met with nurse leaders from six organizations to explore what power means, how nurses acquire it, and how they demonstrate it in their practice. Through these discussions, we identified eight characteristics of powerful nursing practice that, together, form a framework that can guide nurses' efforts to develop a powerful practice and shape the health care delivery settings and academic institutions in which they work. In this article we review recent studies of organizational power and share discussions which helped us better understand nursing power and the ways in which it is manifested. We also reflect on what power means for individual nurses and the profession and discuss how our insights influenced our Fast-Track program.
authors.affiliation: Patient Care Services, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, USA. Pat_Reid_Ponte@dfci.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Pat
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Reid Ponte
authors.forename: Greer
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Glazer
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dann
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McCollum
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.forename: Rosalie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tyrrell
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Branowicki
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Noga
authors.forename: Marion
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Winfrey
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cooley
authors.forename: Suzelle
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saint-Eloi
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hayes
authors.forename: Patrice K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Nicolas
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Washington
mesh_terms: D004511:Education, Nursing, Graduate / Q000379:methods; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008404:Massachusetts; D008611:Mentors; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009729:Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D015279:Organizational Culture; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011364:Professional Practice