Collaborative Decision Making Through Shared Governance

Occasionally, organizations adopt shared decision-making intending to reduce errors. Others implement it to reach evidence-informed medical decisions (Grad et al., 2017). With such a move, decisions are made after an agreement with all the collaborative decision-making members.  Montori, Kunneman & Brito (2017) argue that shared governance helps the clinicians to understand the patients’ issues and agree on the effective ways of addressing them. In a study that Amirabadi et al. (2016) conducted, shared governance is used in instances when a firm is experiencing a challenging situation. In this COVID-19 pandemic period, many healthcare facilities tend to adopt the shared thinking approach to develop strategies for reducing infections. This paper intends to present a comprehensive review of a collaborative meeting on reducing COVID-19 rising infection cases held at our organization. Despite having many professionals and opinions, the committee members were willing to note down all the proceedings and later offer a genuine opinion. In this shared governance meeting, the committee involved five key members including the patient care technician, respiratory therapists, charge nurse and nurses, and a doctor. Through shared governance, healthcare organizations tend to attain evidence-based and value-congruent decisions.

The Attendees’ Role and Committee’s Function

In the healthcare sector, teamwork is a common occurrence (Wetmore, 2018). Such a move is taken to reduce errors as stated earlier (Amirabadi et al., 2016). In shared governance in our organization, the committee had different experts, and the primary function, as previously mentioned was to reduce COVID-19 cases. On listening to the experts, it is evident that they respected each other despite their diverse opinions, questions, concerns, and recommendations.

When the committee was being formed, the members selected the committee’s leader and a deputy. A secretary was also selected to ensure that all the meeting’s agendas were noted down. She also noted down the members present, them with an apology and absent ones. The patient care technician worked together with the nurse and recommended disaster preparedness measures and strategies for handling infected COVID-19 patients. The two also proposed predictive modeling to identify the disease pattern. An example of a proposal that the two offered regarded home-based isolation and quality care for COVID-19 infected patients. After presenting this recommendation, some members of the committee, for instance, the doctor agreed to the proposal. However, the respiratory specialists argued that some patients’ cases might deteriorate with time if they don’t receive specialized treatment probably at a hospital setting. 

When the doctor was given a chance to speak, he proposed various measures, including teaching patients to refrain from smoking since it may weaken their lungs. He also recommended that the public should be told to retain social distancing behaviors even as the COVID-19 cases start to reduce. In these two recommendations, all the members were in support. Before finalizing a decision, the shared governance members were requested to share their opinions and questions concerning various recommendations. If some instances, the members voted for or against proposed recommendations. 

Individual Observation of the Shared Governance Members’ Interaction

The shared governance convention offered all the five experts a chance to air their views. One of the most admirable elements of this committee is how the members respectfully interacted with their colleagues. Even when rejecting a proposal, they did it in a very courteous manner. The speakers, in this case, included the doctor, PCT, charge nurse, and nurses, and respiratory therapists. The meeting was led by the committee leader or his deputy, who later requested the members for feedback.

One of the elements that make such meeting shared governance is the fact that all the experts were given a chance to contribute, and their proposals deliberated on. From a closer examination, committee members seemed to enjoy the discussion. Another thing that makes the meeting shared governance is that the proposals adopted were not based on the individual who proposed them but on the elements of the opinions aired. In case various recommendations resulted in negative consequences, all the shared governance members would bear the consequences. 

Shared Governance Decisions

In the healthcare sector, committees are adopted to enhance the healthcare workplace setting, job satisfaction, and reducing employee turnover (Wetmore, 2018). In their work, Amirabadi et al. (2016) argued that shared governance decision impedes beliefs and norms. In this case, the nurses can effectively work towards offering quality care. The collaborative approach seems to be an effective approach when it comes to decision-making from the analysis of the committee’s work and the above studies. In such a case, the experts can express their views and opinions.

Conclusion

Committees have, for many years, worked towards reducing errors and improving the organization’s plans. Such committees also work towards exploring various issues and concerns towards enhancing the patients’ care. In summary, the shared governance committee meeting towards reducing COVID-19 infection cases did a great job. I believe that the recommendations agreed on will effectively work towards reducing the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.  

References

Amirabadi, H., Maleki, M., Salehi, M., & Watankhah, S. (2016). An Exploration of the Role of Hospital Committees to Enhance Productivity. NCBI Journal. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4804034/

Wetmore, M. (2018). The Impact of Shared Governance on Nursing Satisfaction and Retention. Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies.