Nursing Shared Governance Leader Checklists
Overview
- These orientation checklists were developed to guide shared governance leaders in their respective roles.
- We’ve packaged information and resources from the Shared Governance Website into an easy to navigate format.
Healthcare professionals, regardless of role, can lead from any vantage point. Our UUHC Nursing Shared Governance model provides all individuals the opportunity to lead empowered teams with shared decision-making at the local level. These leaders are the elected Team Council Chairs and members of the Mentor Council (mentors).
The UUHC Department of Nursing Shared Governance councilor model structure allows individuals the option and responsibility for becoming an active member of their local Team Council. The Shared Governance Support Team developed these toolkits for leaders in their respective roles to help lead and guide each staff member to engage in shared decision-making at the local level.
Shared Governance Leader Onboarding Toolkit
1. Review Roles
Become familiar with the roles and responsibilities of local level shared governance leaders and the support team that keeps everyone current and works to continually improve the structures and processes based on user feedback.
Mentor Preceptor: Orients and provides ongoing support to new mentors into their role and responsibilities.
Mentor Co-chair: Leads Mentor Council meeting and is the local mentor’s primary contact for guidance
Program Support Team: Oversees shared governance program operations.
- Operations Support: Assists with registration, communication, resources, and access to Teams and Empower U (NursingSharedGovernance@hsc.utah.edu).
- Tech Team: Helps to troubleshoot website issues, and welcomes ideas for improvement. Contact them using the feedback button within Empower U.
- Magnet Program Director: Oversees program development, education, and updates (Gigi Austria, gigi.austria@hsc.utah.edu).
Team Chair/Co-chair: Leads Shared Governance activities at the local level.
Mentor: Member of the Mentor Council and the team chair’s primary contact for orientation, guidance, and support. This is usually your manager or direct supervisor.
Program Support Team: Oversees shared governance program operations.
- Operations Support: Assists with registration, communication, resources, and access to Teams and Empower U (NursingSharedGovernance@hsc.utah.edu).
- Tech Team: Helps to troubleshoot website issues, and welcomes ideas for improvement. Contact them using the feedback button within Empower U.
- Magnet Program Director: Oversees program development, education, and updates (Gigi Austria, gigi.austria@hsc.utah.edu).
2. Obtain Access to Resources
Get connected to our communication channels by alerting the support team and connect with your immediate/local mentor for ongoing support.
Notify Shared Governance Program Support at NursingSharedGovernance@hsc.utah.edu to get added to:
- Mentor Microsoft Team
- Email list for updates and ongoing training
- Initial Shared Governance training (Boot Camp) is held every quarter (required)
- Quarterly Mentor Learning and Leading Together sessions are provided by the Magnet Program Director (required)
Contact your Mentor Council Co-chair so that you are included in the 1-hour monthly mentor meetings: Mentor Council Chair.pdf
Notify Shared Governance Program Support at Nursingsharedgovernance@hsc.utah.edu to get added to:
- Shared Governance Microsoft Teams
- Email list for updates and ongoing training
- Initial Shared Governance training (Boot Camp) is held every quarter (required)
- Quarterly Team Chair Learning and Leading Together sessions are provided by the Magnet Program Director (required)
Contact your mentor so that you can set up a cadence for check-ins or 1:1s to discuss your support needs and how shared governance is going in your department.
3. Review Basic Resources
Familiarize yourself with the Microsoft Teams platform so you can view and comment on posts from other leaders and review past education offerings of interest. There’s a wide library of resources on our Shared Governance website and we encourage you to browse through it. The following provides the fundamentals of our shared governance model, including our Shared Governance Bylaws that guide us.
Orient to Mentor Tour of Duty AND Team Council Chair Microsoft Teams sites:
- General files/documents and monthly Learning and Leading Together documents and recordings
- Shared posts/updates
- Mentor Council MS Teams channel for nursing your group (ambulatory, inpatient, nursing support, or perioperative & procedural).
Visit these resources:
- Nursing Community of Practice
- CNO message
- Shared Governance: Harnessing Our Collective Strengths
- Shared Governance: A Foundation for Nursing Excellence
Add the Shared Governance tile as a “favorite” in Pulse
Explore the Shared Governance Website and review the following:
- Shared Governance Basics
- Shared Governance Bylaws Pay particular attention to the Team Council sections
- Team Council Site/Tile Explore these resources and review the Team Chair Checklists in chronological order
Orient to the Team Chair site in Microsoft Teams.
- Access files/documents and monthly Learning and Leading Together documents and recordings
- View shared posts/updates
Visit these resources:
- Nursing Community of Practice
- CNO message
- Shared Governance: Harnessing Our Collective Strengths
- Shared Governance: A Foundation for Nursing Excellence
Add the Shared Governance tile as a “favorite” in Pulse
Explore the Shared Governance Website and review the following:
- Shared Governance Basics
- Shared Governance Bylaws Pay particular attention to the Team Council sections
- Team Council Site/Tile Explore these resources and review the Team Chair Checklists in chronological order
4. Prepare to Become a Resource
Part of being a Shared Governance Leader is empowering frontline staff by helping them acquire the knowledge and develop the skills needed to solve problems. But before you can do that, you need to have the information. These are the “must reads” if you are new to your shared governance leadership role and provide the essential information you’ll need to get started. We recommend you review these resources in the order they’re listed.
Learn what resources team chairs are using and what they are being asked to do in their role
Team Huddle: Empowering Staff by Leading from the Side
- Discuss mentor’s role -guidance vs directing.
- Mentors attend huddle but empower Team Chairs to lead. Facilitate sharing of ideas and collective decision-making.
- Mentors clarify any discrepancies with PINS and seek to understand the perspective of staff and team chair. Empower team chair to make PINS status or theme changes to within Empower U.
- Mentors review all posted PINS for their team and review L3s and L4s to classify as local work or advancement to Coordination Council.
Review these resources:
- Mentor Council Pulse site (review checklists in chronological order)
- Leading People and Creating a Safe Space
- Team Huddle Process
Mentors help guide team chairs and staff in resolving PINS within their scope and ability. Know what they are responsible for.
- Explore the Team Council Resource Center
Review these resources:
Learn what resources fellow team chairs are using and what you are being asked to do in your new role
Team Huddle: Become familiar with how to lead team huddles.
- Team Chairs lead huddle: facilitate discussion and decision-making about PINS and solicit volunteers to resolve PINS that are within the scope and ability of the unit/department
- Mentors do not run/lead huddle. They may attend and their role us to empower Team Chairs to lead. They help facilitate sharing of ideas and collective decision-making
Review these resources:
Addressing PINS: Team Chairs help staff to address PINS within their scope and ability by using resources on Pulse. Mentors may guide team chairs and staff in resolving PINS. Learn your responsibilities, how to identify which PINS you and your staff can work on right away, and what steps to take.
- Explore the Team Council Resource Center
Review these resources:
- Resolving PINS Toolkit
- Introduction to Shared Governance Decision-Making
- The 3 D's of Shared Governance Decision-Making
5. Empower U Website
Empower U houses and organizes all the problems, ideas, needs, and suggestions (PINS) shared by the experts in patient care – the frontline staff. Ensure you have access and can fully utilize the features that allow us to sort, solve PINS and share the great work accomplished through our councilor model.
Work with your assigned mentor preceptor to learn to navigate the Empower U website.
- Ensure access enabled, view is appropriate to role, and correct teams are assigned
- Logging in and using VPN for at home logins
- Using the mentor dashboard
- Viewing PINS
- Communicating back and forth with your team chairs using “comments”
- Exporting a PINS report
- Using the feedback button for website issues or suggestions for improvement
Work with your assigned mentor preceptor to learn to navigate the Empower U website.
- Ensure access enabled, view is appropriate to role, and correct teams are assigned
- Logging in and using VPN for at home logins
- Entering PINS and categorizing them according to level and theme
- Working with mentor to clarify discrepancies when they seek to understand the perspective of staff. Changing PINS status in Empower U, when warranted.
- Using the Team Chair dashboard
- Viewing PINS and using filters to narrow down your focus
- Communicating back and forth with your mentor using “comments”
- Using the feedback button for website issues or suggestions for improvement
6. Share Experiences
Discuss the following with your assigned mentor:
- How shared governance has impacted their teams and any positive outcomes
- Challenges and how they handled them
- Items that were difficult to understand (for example, advancing L3s and L4s)
- Tips and tricks they learned that helped them as mentors. For example: how to engage teams, how to curtail cynicism, etc.
Discuss the following with your assigned mentor, co-chair, or former/departing team chair:
- How shared governance has impacted your teams and any positive outcomes
- Challenges and how they handled them
- Items that were difficult to understand (for example, how to use the shared governance templates, how to use the PDSA model)
- Tips and tricks they learned that helped them as shared governance leader. For example: how to engage teams, how to curtail cynicism, etc.
Mary-Jean (Gigi) Austria
Health systems across the nation utilize shared governance programs to empower teams to make decisions impacting their practice and area of work, increase accountability and autonomy, and improve quality of patient care. The U of U Health Department of Nursing offers its model, along with tips, to assist any team in implementing shared decision-making in their respective areas.
As teams across the UUHC Department of Nursing work to implement shared governance in their areas, we’re talking with Team Chairs about their teams’ experiences and the impact shared governance has had so far. This month we sat down with Nursing Professional Development Practitioner, Jia Liu, to learn about Clinical Staff Education’s journey and processes.
Magnet program director Gigi Austria and quality manager Dane Falkner explain how problem-solving structures like Shared Governance and Value Culture complement each other. When practiced together, these approaches can be a recipe for optimal outcomes.
