Structural Empowerment and the Nursing Practice Environment in Magnet® Organizations

Abstract

The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of shared governance and its relationship with nursing practice environments in Magnet® organizations. Structural empowerment is a core Magnet model component illustrated through shared governance. A paucity of literature exists describing it and its relationship to the nursing practice environment in Magnet organizations. E-mail surveys of Magnet chief nursing officers and leaders of their organization's nursing practice council were conducted using the Index of Professional Nursing Governance (IPNG) and the nursing Work Index-Revised (NWI-R). In Magnet organizations, the primary governance distribution is shared governance, with most subscales in the IPNG within the shared governance range. Total and subscale scores on the NWI-R ranged from 1.35 to 1.48, with significant, positive correlation between total IPNG score and total NWI-R score (r = 0.416, P < .001), as well as the NWI-R and IPNG subscales. This study provides new evidence that demonstrates the positive relationship between shared governance and the nursing practice environment in Magnet organizations.