Abstract
The purpose of this project was to describe and evaluate the process of shared governance implementation in a clinic system. Shared governance in healthcare empowers nurses to share in the decision making process, which results in decentralized management and collective accountability. Share governance practices have been present in hospitals since the late 1970's; however, shared governance in ambulatory care clinics has not been well established.|The subjects of this project included staff and administrative nurses in a clinic system. The Stakeholder Committee chose what model of shared governance to implement and educated clinic staff. The Index of Professional Nursing Governance (IPNG) measured a shared governance score pre and post implementation of the Clinic Nursing Council (CNC). The CNC met bimonthly for three months during this project to discuss issues and make decisions related to nursing staff.|The IPNG scores indicated traditional governance pre and post implementation of the CNC, which is to be expected. The stakeholder committee was beneficial to the initial implementation process and facilitated staff nurse involvement. Shared governance is an evolutionary process that develops empowered nurses and nurse leaders.