Shared Governance
Samaritan Hospital's Shared Governance program was designed to give professional nurses autonomy in their nursing practice, and shared responsibility for patient outcomes.
Our mission is to provide excellence in nursing care, creating positive outcomes for patients and their families. We achieve this by giving our nurses responsibility for their decisions and for patient outcomes.
Shared Governance is organized into councils. Each council has a representative from each of the nursing units. The unit representative communicates with his/her peers on the unit about the council’s work, solicits their feedback, and then brings that feedback to the council. The end result is:
- shared problem solving;
- recognition of and response to ideas;
- and most importantly, excellent patient, and family care.
Coordinating Council: Consists of Chief Nurse Officers (CNO) and the chairs and facilitators from the other councils described below. The Coordinating Council has oversight of these councils and connects the voice of the bedside nurses with the CNOs. The individual councils consist of members of nursing leadership and staff from Albany Memorial, Samaritan, and St. Mary’s hospitals.
Clinical Policies/Standards Council: Reviews, revises and approves policies for the three community hospitals.
Clinical Transformation/IT Council: Reviews, develops and approves any proposed nursing documentation and changes to Meditech.
Research/Quality Council: Enhances quality of care by reviewing and implementing evidence-based practice and research findings. Educates staff about evidence-based practice and disseminates ongoing research projects.
Nursing Professional Development: Oversees nursing professional development including orientation, competency and ongoing nursing education.
Nursing Professional Practice Council: Improves the professional practice of nurses through development of clinical ladder and supporting advanced education and certification.
Transition Council: Facilitates a positive restructuring of the two Acute Care Troy campuses by developing systems and staff support.