title: An integrated system's nursing shared governance model: a system chief nursing officer's synergistic vehicle for leading a complex health care system.
abstract: Seton Nursing reengineered previous models of care and leadership to accommodate rapid growth of its health care system from individual acute care sites to a health care system with consistent quality and standardization of like units across the system. Shared governance promotes collaboration with shared decision making and accountability; however, the role and methods of a system chief nursing officer to connect shared governance across a new system has not been previously described. A system chief nursing officer can significantly influence and guide the nursing strategic direction at all the health care system-related facilities by utilizing a single, systemwide nursing shared governance structure. Using this structure provides a venue to maximize the influence of a transformational leader and creates efficiencies in workforce development, resource management, best practice identification, and spread of initiatives and improvements to adapt to an ever-changing health care landscape. This is the story of one such system chief nursing officer.
authors.affiliation: Seton Healthcare family, Austin, Texas 78723, USA. kburkman@seton.org
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Burkman
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sellers
authors.forename: Cheryl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rowder
authors.forename: Joyce
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Batcheller
mesh_terms: D054976:Clinical Governance; D003142:Communication; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D019033:Delivery of Health Care, Integrated / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006296:Health Services; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D016294:Models, Nursing; D017146:Models, Organizational; D009718:Nurse Administrators / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013781:Texas