title: Decisional involvement of senior nurse leaders in Canadian acute care hospitals.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the present study was to describe the scope and degree of involvement of senior nurse leaders (SNLs) in executive level decisions in acute care organizations across Canada.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Significant changes in SNL roles including expansion of decision-making responsibilities have occurred but little is known about the patterns of SNL decision-making.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected by mailed survey from 63 SNLs and 49 chief executive officers (CEOs) in 66 healthcare organizations in 10 Canadian provinces. Regression analyses were used to examine whether timing, breadth of content expertise and the number of decision activities predicted SNL decision-making influence and quality of decisions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Breadth of content expertise and number of decision activities with which the SNL was involved were significant predictors of decision influence explaining 22% of the variance in influence. Overall, CEOs rated SNL involvement in decision-making higher than the SNL.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Senior nurse leaders contribute to organizational processes in healthcare organizations that are important for nurses and patients, through their participation in decision-making at the senior team level.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings may be useful to current and future SNLs learning to shape the nature and content of information shared with CEOs particularly in the area of professional practice issues.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada. cwong2@uwo.ca
authors.forename: Carol A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Laschinger
authors.forename: Greta G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Cummings
authors.forename: Leslie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vincent
authors.forename: Patty
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: O'Connor
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers / Q000458:organization & administration; D002170:Canada; D003422:Critical Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003659:Decision Making, Organizational; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006764:Hospitals, Community / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008875:Middle Aged; D017146:Models, Organizational; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009718:Nurse Administrators; D009745:Nursing, Supervisory / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015279:Organizational Culture; D010465:Perception; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013223:Statistics as Topic