NUH Shared Governance Week was a landmark event at Nottingham University Hospitals, celebrating the introduction of shared governance in the UK.

Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) in the UK celebrated its first Shared Governance Week in February 2015. The week aimed to highlight shared governance, a new and innovative project at NUH. In addition, it sought to raise the profile of the work the councils had achieved and introduce shared governance into the culture of leadership at NUH. Specifically, the week consisted of internal communications updates on the intranet, a Twitter campaign, and a Celebrating Shared Governance conference on February 4.

Twitter Campaign

Throughout the week, the two shared governance facilitators and the assistant director of nursing visited wards across the two hospital sites. They asked staff to answer thought-provoking questions, such as: “Describe a good leader,” “What do you love about your job/team,” and “What does shared governance mean to you?” These questions aimed to celebrate nursing and midwifery by engaging front-line staff.

Celebrating Shared Governance Conference

The conference on February 4th was the highlight of the week. More than 100 nurses and midwives at NUH attended, and many left feeling energized, enthused, and inspired to take shared governance forward. Throughout the day, attendees heard presentations from each of the councils and talks from the chief executive and senior nursing leaders. Furthermore, the program included workshops on introductions to service improvement.