Engagement, empowerment, and job satisfaction before implementing an academic model of shared governance.

AIM: Baseline information was obtained from a School of Nursing faculty and staff about perceptions of job satisfaction, empowerment, and engagement in the workplace before the introduction of an integrated faculty and staff shared governance system.

BACKGROUND: Governance structure in schools of nursing has the potential to enhance or impose constraints on the work environment for faculty, staff, and stakeholders.

RESEARCH METHODS: RESULTS: Faculty and staff perceptions of job satisfaction and engagement in the workplace before the introduction of a new model of shared governance are presented. Statistical differences were found between faculty and staff responses on the overall or total scales and select subscales, and group patterns of relationships differed.

CONCLUSIONS: We provided a description of the first shared governance structure derived from the perspective of shared governance as defined and operationalized in Magnet Hospital health care systems and includes administrators, faculty, and staff in decision-making councils. As academia embarks on this change in governance structure from hierarchical to a more flattened approach findings support examining levels of work engagement, structural and psychological empowerment, and job satisfaction as key monitors of the work environment.