Shared Leadership for Nursing

Abstract

What is ‘shared leadership’, how does it work and how did five Intermountain Healthcare hospitals use it to help their employees become more engaged and their managers more efficient? Shared leadership — an organisational model that is designed to engage front-line staff in traditional management functions, improve communication and help individuals advance their careers — was implemented in 75 nursing units in 5 of Intermountain Healthcare’s hospitals in January 2014. The model involves three councils in each department: one focused on nursing practice issues, another on leadership issues and a third on patient and employee engagement. The goal of shared leadership is to increase involvement among front-line team members by giving them ownership for responsibilities that traditionally belong to nurse managers, and to give managers more time to lead by spending less time managing. The model also addressed two consistent challenges:
The region’s nurse managers faced the constant need to do more with less.
Employee surveys in the region showed that more employees wanted more control over their. Falling scores on one survey question — At work, do my opinions seem to count? — were a specific concern.
A year after shared leadership was implemented, the model has produced four major benefits:
1. It engages the front-line staff
2. It creates value for the organisation
3. It improves communication
4. It develops individuals