Sun Joo Kang compared shared governance and nursing unit culture across three Korean hospitals in this 1995 master’s thesis from Yonsei University.

Sun Joo Kang. A Comparison of Shared Governance and Nursing Unit Culture in Three Hospitals. Master’s thesis (1995), Yonsei University; Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

The primary purpose of this descriptive study was to identify, describe, and compare the patterns of shared governance and nursing unit culture in hospital settings. Additionally, the research sought to determine whether nurses shared the participation style or responsibility style of nursing management activities in a consistent way.

The methodology included a survey using the Index of Professional Nursing Governance and in-depth interviews with a total of 145 members from 15 nursing units in three hospitals. Specifically, one was a national hospital, another was a corporation hospital, and the third was a teaching hospital.

Conclusions

1. The degree of shared governance in nursing management activities was the highest in the corporation hospital.
2. In the participation style of nursing management activities, ‘all participation’ was the highest in the corporation hospital. ‘Nursing administration only’ was the highest in the national hospital.
3. Distribution of responsibility style differed from that of participation style. Three hospitals showed high in nursing management activities such as ‘nursing administration only’ and ‘head nurse only’ style.
4. Five experts surveyed showed that the ideal level of nurses’ participation in nursing management activities was a traditional nursing governance pattern.
5. There was a distinct difference in the nursing unit culture throughout the institutions in the professional growth.
6. There was no significant difference in the same nursing units of three hospitals in nursing unit culture.

Implications

1. In nursing administration, there should be an emphasis on changing staff nurses’ present level of responsibility in nursing management activities through continuing education so that staff nurses’ autonomy and responsibility will be developed and increased.
2. There should be an emphasis on the contents of nursing management curriculum for preparing nursing students.
3. It is necessary to develop a strategic nursing unit for improving nursing quality in hospital setting.
4. The relationship of shared governance, nursing unit culture, and nursing outcome should be researched further.